Revised Postglacial Sea-Level Rise and Meltwater Pulses from Barbados

Bibliographic Data

ID6095701
AuthorsPaul Blanchon (0000-0002-7792-5808, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, corresponding author), Alexis Medina-Valmaseda (0000-0003-3832-2972, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico), Fiona D Hibbert (0000-0002-3686-6514, University of York)
Year2021
Volume7
Pages1
Publication date2021-05-10
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen Quaternary (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2055-298X • E-ISSN: 2055-298X
PublisherUbiquity Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.5334/oq.87
OpenAlexW3161910090
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited34

Reconstructions of postglacial sea-level rise have provided key insight into the rapid disintegration of ice-sheets and the discharge of large meltwater pulses during the last deglaciation. The most complete reconstruction is from Barbados where thick, backstepping sequences of the reef-crest coral Acropora palmata have been recovered in cores from the insular shelf and slope off the Island’s south coast. Differences in the depth, timing, and magnitude of meltwater pulses between the Barbados reconstruction and other reefal records, however, has led to significant uncertainty in their origin, and the consequent timing of ice-sheet collapse. Here we re-analyse the published sedimentary, stratigraphic, and chronological data from Barbados, and find evidence for ex-situ data which indicates that reefal sequences contain coral clasts generated during hurricanes. By adjusting for biases caused by these ex-situ data, we provide a revised sea-level reconstruction which shows that MWP-1b was an 8–11 m rise from –53 m in ~250 years starting at 11.3 ka, which is 5 m smaller, and 150 years younger than previous estimates. It also shows that the onset of MWP-1a cannot be determined at Barbados because the downslope core sequences are not reef-crest deposits due to their association with deeper coral assemblages and lack of depositional relief. The end of this meltwater pulse can however be determined from the upslope reef, and occurred at a similar time and depth to that documented from Tahiti

Coral reef · Deglaciation · Glacial period · Ice sheet · Meltwater · Reef · Sea level · Sedimentary depositional environment · Geological and Geophysical Studies · Geological formations and processes · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology

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