The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Charlotte Sparrenbom

Charlotte Sparrenbom

Senior lecturer

Charlotte Sparrenbom

Relative sea-level changes since 15 000 cal. yr BP in the Nanortalik area, southern Greenland

Author

  • Charlotte Sparrenbom
  • O Bennike
  • Svante Björck
  • K Lambeck

Summary, in English

We present new results for relative sea-level change for Southern Greenland for the interval from 9000 cal. yr BP to the present. Together with earlier work from the same region this yields a nearly complete record from the time of deglaciation to the present. Isolation and/or transgression sequences in one lake and five tidal basins have been identified using lithostratigraphic analyses, sedimentary characteristics, magnetic susceptibility, saturated induced remanent magnetisation (SIRM), organic and carbonate content, and macrofossil analyses. AMS radiocarbon dating of macrofossils and bulk sediment samples provides the timescale. Relative sea level fell rapidly and reached present-day level at similar to 9300 cal.yr BP and continued falling until at least 9000 cal.yr BP. Between 8000and6000cal.yrBPsea level reached its lowest level of around similar to 10m below highest astronomical tide. At around 5000 cal. yr BP, sea level had reached above 7.8 m below highest astronomical tide and slowly continued to rise, not reaching present-day sea level until today. The isostatic rebound caused rapid isolation of the basins that are seen as distinct isolation contacts in the sediments. In contrast, the late Holocene transgressions are less well defined and occurred over longer time intervals. The late Holocene sea-level rise may be a consequence of isostatic reloading by advancing glaciers and/or an effect of the delayed response to isostatic rebound of the Laurentide ice sheet. One consequence of this transgression is that settlements of Palaeo-Eskimo Cultures may be missing in Southern Greenland. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Department/s

  • Quaternary Sciences

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

29-48

Publication/Series

Journal of Quaternary Science

Volume

21

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Geology

Keywords

  • Holocene
  • Lateglacial
  • sea level
  • isolation basin
  • Greenland

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1099-1417