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Nature 423, 853-858 (19 June 2003) | doi:10.1038/nature01690; Received 28 January 2003; Accepted 24 April 2003

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Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle

M. Siddall1, E. J. Rohling1, A. Almogi-Labin2, Ch. Hemleben3, D. Meischner4, I. Schmelzer3 & D. A. Smeed1

  1. Southampton Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
  2. Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
  3. Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Tuebingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, D-7400, Tuebingen, Germany
  4. Department of Sedimentary Geology, Institute for Geology and Paleontology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Correspondence to: M. Siddall1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.S. (Email: ms14@soc.soton.ac.uk).

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The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces6, 7, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolution8 or higher1. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of plusminus30 m, or plusminus1 °C in deep sea temperature9, 10. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth—and hence global sea level—over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within plusminus12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr-1, occurred, coincident with abrupt changes in climate.

  1. Southampton Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
  2. Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
  3. Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Tuebingen, Sigwartstrasse 10, D-7400, Tuebingen, Germany
  4. Department of Sedimentary Geology, Institute for Geology and Paleontology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Correspondence to: M. Siddall1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.S. (Email: ms14@soc.soton.ac.uk).