Abstract
230Th/234U dating of coral terraces at 2–9 m above sea level on ‘stable’ oceanic islands has suggested that the sea level during the last interglacial, 120,000–140,000 yr BP (refs 1–3) was slightly higher than at present. However, accurate dating of interglacial shoreline facies on continental coasts far removed from plate boundaries has been largely neglected (the west coast of Australia1 and Florida4 are exceptions). Attempts have been made to date interglacial shoreline deposits from SE Australia using molluscs5, but this has proved unreliable6. The recent discovery of buried corals at two localities on the E coast of Australia has provided an opportunity to determine more precise ages by 230Th/234U dating.
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
Veeh, H. H., J. geophys. Res., 71, 3379 (1966).
Thomson, G. M., and Walton, A., Nature, 240, 145 (1972).
Ku, T.-L., Kimmel, M. A., Easton, W. H., and O'Neil, T. J., Science, 183, 959 (1974).
Broecker, W. S., and Thurber, D. L., Science, 149, 58 (1965).
Gill, E. D., and Amin, B. S., Search, 6, 394 (1975).
Kaufman, A., Broecker, W. S., Ku, T.-L., and Thurber, D. L., Geochim. cosmochim. Acta, 35, 1155 (1971).
Thom, B. G., J. Proc. R. Soc. N.S.W., 98, 23 (1965).
Thom, B. G., and Chappell, J., Search, 6, 90 (1975).
Chappell, J., Geol Soc. Am. Bull., 85, 553 (1974).
Bloom, A. L., Broecker, W. S., Chappell, J. M. A., Matthews, R. K., and Mesolella, K. J., Quat. Res., 4, 185 (1974).
Moore, W. S., and Somayajulu, B. L. K., J. geophys. Res., 79, 5065 (1974).
Walcott, R. J., Quat. Res., 2, 1 (1972).
Chappell, J., Quat. Res., 4, 429 (1974).
Lewis, K. B., Earth Sci. Rev., 10, 37 (1974).
Shackleton, N. J., and Opdyke, N. D., Quat. Res., 3, 39 (1973).
Veeh, H. H., thesis, University of California, San Diego (1965).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
MARSHALL, J., THOM, B. The sea level in the last interglacial. Nature 263, 120–121 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/263120a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/263120a0
This article is cited by
-
Uranium-series ages of marine terraces, La Paz Peninsula, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Coral Reefs (1990)
-
Young age bias of radiocarbon dates in pre-holocene marine deposits of Hong Kong and implications for Pleistocene stratigraphy
Geo-Marine Letters (1990)
-
Last interglacial reef growth beneath modern reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef
Nature (1984)
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.
