Abstract
THE timing of the last deglaciation is important to our understanding of the dynamics of large ice sheets1 and their effects on the Earth's surface2,3. Moreover, the disappearance of the glacial ice sheets was responsible for dramatic increases in freshwater fluxes to the oceans, which probably disturbed the ocean's thermohaline circulation and, hence, global climate4–7. Sea-level increases bear witness to the melting of continental ice sheets, but only two such records—from Barbados8,9 and New Guinea10,11 corals—have been accurately dated. But these corals overlie active subduction zones, where tectonic movements are large and often discontinuous (especially in New Guinea), so the apparent sea-level records may be contaminated by a complex tectonic component. Here we date fossil corals from Tahiti, which is far from plate boundaries (and thus is likely to be tectonically relatively stable) and remote from the locations of large former ice sheets. The resulting record indicates a large sea-level jump shortly before 13,800 calendar years BP, which corresponds to meltwater pulse 1A in the Barbados coral records8,9. The timing of this event is more accurately constrained in the Tahiti record, revealing that the meltwater pulse coincides with a short and intense climate cooling event12–15 that followed the initiation of the Bølling–Allerød warm period12–16, but preceded the Younger Dryas cold event by about 1,000 years.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lindstrom, D. R. & MacAyeal, D. R. Nature 365, 214–215 (1993).
Lambeck, K. Tectonophysics 233, 15–37 (1993).
Peltier, W. R. Science 265, 195–201 (1994).
Stocker, T. F. & Wright, D. G. Nature 351, 729–732 (1991).
Manabe, S. & Stouffer, R. J. Nature 378, 165–167 (1995).
Rahmstorf, S. Nature 378, 145–149 (1995).
Schiller, A., Mikolajewicz, U. & Voss, R. Max-Planck für Meteorology Rep. 188, 1–42 (1996).
Fairbanks, R. G. Nature 342, 637–647 (1989).
Bard, E., Hamelin, B. & Fairbanks, R. G. Nature 346, 456–458 (1990).
Chappell, J. & Polach, H. Nature 349, 147–149 (1991).
Edwards, R. L. et al. Science 260, 962–968 (1993).
Johnsen, S. J. et al. Nature 359, 311–313 (1992).
Alley, R. B. et al. Nature 362, 527–529 (1993).
Taylor, K. C. et al. Nature 361, 432–436 (1993).
Grootes, P. M., Stuiver, M., White, J. W. C., Johnsen, S. & Jouzel, J. Nature 366, 552–554 (1993).
Broecker, W. S. Quat. Res. 38, 135–138 (1992).
Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Fairbanks, R. G., Zindler, A. Nature 345, 405–410 (1990).
Fairbanks, R. G. Paleoceanography 5, 937–948 (1990).
Blanchon, P. & Shaw, J. Geology 23, 4–8 (1995).
Broecker, W. S. Paleoceanography 5, 459–467 (1990).
Bard, E. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B52, 461–468 (1990).
Bard, E. et al. Geophys. Res. Let. 23(12), 1473–1476 (1996).
Chen, J. H., Edwards, R. L. & Wasserburg, G. J. Earth planet. Sci. Let. 80, 241–251 (1986).
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Fairbanks, R. G. & Hamelin, B. Radiocarbon 35, 191–199 (1993).
Goslar, T. M. et al. Nature 377, 414–417 (1995).
Cabioch, G., Join, Y., Ihilly, C. & Laurent, J.-L. Rapports de Missions ORSTOM 32 (ORSTOM, Nouméa, 1995).
Bard, E. et al. Nature 328, 791–794 (1987).
Clark, P. U. Geology 23, 957–959 (1995).
Mangerud, J., Andersen, S. T., Berglund, B. E. & Donner, J. J. Boreas 3, 109–128 (1974).
Ludwig, K. R. et al. Science 258, 284–287 (1992).
Pirazzoli, P. A. & Montaggioni, L. F. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 68, 153–175 (1988).
Le Roy, I. thesis, Univ. Paris XI (1994).
Bosscher, H. & Schlager, W. Sedimentology 39, 503–512 (1992).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Arnold, M. et al. Deglacial sea-level record from Tahiti corals and the timing of global meltwater discharge. Nature 382, 241–244 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382241a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/382241a0
This article is cited by
-
Submerged reef features in Apo and Tubbataha Reefs, Philippines, revealed paleo sea-level history during the last deglaciation
Geo-Marine Letters (2024)
-
Deglacial perspectives of future sea level for Singapore
Communications Earth & Environment (2023)
-
Slow and soft passage through tipping point of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a changing climate
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (2022)
-
Sedimentary record from Holocene to present-day Southeastern Tunisia: facies, paleoenvironments and climate changes
Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2022)
-
A reconciled solution of Meltwater Pulse 1A sources using sea-level fingerprinting
Nature Communications (2021)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.