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Shifting shores: delving into the past with mud cores

Geologist Nicole Khan examines coastal sediment samples to find out how sea levels have changed over the past 1,000 years.
  1. Amber Dance

    1. Amber Dance is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California.

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Nicole Khan and two colleagues, knee-deep in mud, collect samples from mudflats with the Hong skyline visible in distance

Nicole Khan is a geologist at the University of Hong Kong. Credit: Suzanne Lee/Panos Pictures

We often hear that sea levels will rise by a metre or two because of climate change. But that’s a global estimate: if you’re a city planner on, say, the China coast or in Miami, you want to know how sea level is going to change in your area. My work as a geologist helps us to predict future coastal changes by determining how much sea levels have risen and fallen in the past 1,000 years.

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Nature 595, 324 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01830-1

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