Nature 278, 441 - 443 (29 March 1979); doi:10.1038/278441a0

Sea-level changes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in the Strait of Malacca

M. A. GEYH^*, H. STREIF^* & H.-R. KUDRASS^†

^*Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Bodenforschung, 3000 Hannover 51, FRG
^†Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, 3000 Hannover 51, FRG

CURRENT concepts of late Pleistocene sea level history, generally referred to the ¹⁴C time scale, differ considerably¹. Some authors^2,3 assume that the sea level at about 30,000 BP was comparable with that of the present and others^4,5 assume a considerably lower sea level at that time. We have now obtained ¹⁴C dates from in situ roots and peat which indicate that the sea level was lowered eustaticly to at least 40−60 m below the present level between 36,000 and 10,000 BP. The sea level rose from -13 m to about +5 m from 8,000 to 4,000 BP and then approached its present level.

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