Late Quaternary Relative Sea-Level Changes at Mid-Latitudes

Relative sea-level (RSL) reconstructions from mid-latitude regions reveal spatial and temporal variations since the Last Glacial Maximum. On passive margins in North America and Europe, RSL fell by over 100. m in areas that were covered by major ice sheets because of isostatic rebound. In contrast, RSL reconstructions from regions peripheral to ice sheets exhibited variable rates of sea-level rise due to the balance among postglacial isostatic recovery, proglacial forebulge collapse, and hydro-isostatic loading. Southern Hemisphere RSL reconstructions from mid-latitudes recorded a mid-Holocene highstand of variable magnitude and timing. A common feature of reconstructions for the last 2000 years is an increase in modern rates of RSL rise that was likely initiated at the end of the nineteenth or early twentieth century.