Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Climate-forced sea-level lowstands in the Indian Ocean during the last two millennia

Nature Geoscience volume 13, pages 61–64 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Matters Arising to this article was published on 22 April 2021

Abstract

Sea-level reconstructions over the past two millennia provide a pre-industrial context to assess whether the magnitude and rate of modern sea-level change is unprecedented. Sea-level records from the Indian Ocean over the past 2,000 years are sparse, while records from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans show variations less than 0.25 m and no significant negative excursions. Here, we present evidence of two low sea-level phases in the Maldives, Indian Ocean, based on fossil coral microatolls. Microatoll growth is constrained by low water levels and, consequently, they are robust recorders of past sea level. U–Th dating of the Maldivian corals identified lowstands at ad 234–605 and ad 1481–1807 when sea level fell to maximum depths of −0.88 m and −0.89 m respectively. These lowstands are synchronous with reductions in radiative forcing and sea surface temperature associated with the Late Antiquity Little Ice Age and the Little Ice Age. Our results provide high-fidelity observations of lower sea levels during these cool periods and show rates of change of up to 4.24 mm yr−1. Our data also confirm the acceleration of relative sea-level rise over the past two centuries and suggest that the current magnitude and rate of sea-level rise is not unprecedented.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Field location and Holocene sea-level history of the Maldives archipelago, Indian Ocean.
Fig. 2: Reconstructed sea level in the central Indian Ocean and global paleoclimate variability over the past 2,500 years.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files.

References

  1. Kemp, A. C. et al. Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 11017–11022 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Church, J. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 1137–1216 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).

  3. Kopp, R. E. et al. Temperature-driven sea-level variability in the common era. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 1434–1441 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Lambeck, K., Rouby, H., Purcell, A., Sun, Y. & Sambridge, M. Sea level and global ice volumes from the last glacial maximum to the holocene. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 15296–15303 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hallmann, N. et al. Ice volume and climate changes from a 6000 year sea-level record in French Polynesia. Nat. Commun. 9, 285 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Mann, M. E. et al. Global signatures and dynamical origins of the Little Ice Age and medieval climate anomaly. Science 326, 1256–1260 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Horton, B. P. et al. Mapping sea-level change in time, space, and probability. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 43, 481–521 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Dutton, A., Webster, J. M., Zwartz, D., Lambeck, K. & Wohlfarth, B. Tropical tales of polar ice: evidence of last interglacial polar ice sheet retreat recorded by fossil reefs of the granitic Seychelles Islands. Quat. Sci. Rev. 107, 182–196 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Nicholls, R. J. et al. Sea-level scenarios for evaluating coastal impacts. Clim. Change 5, 129–150 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Schuerch, M. et al. Future response of global coastal wetlands to sea-level rise. Nature 561, 231–234 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hinkel, J. et al. The ability of societies to adapt to twenty-first-century sea level rise. Nat. Clim. Change 8, 570–578 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Khan, N. S. et al. Holocene relative sea level changes from near-, intermediate-, and far-field locations. Curr. Clim. Change Rep. 1, 247–262 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Kemp, A. C. et al. Relative sea-level change in Newfoundland, Canada during the past ~3000 years. Quat. Sci. Rev. 201, 89–110 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gerlach, M. J. et al. Reconstructing common era relative sea-level change on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Mar. Geol. 390, 254–269 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Woodroffe, C. D. Late quaternary sea-level highstands in the central and eastern Indian Ocean: a review. Glob. Planet Change 49, 121–138 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Woodroffe, C., McGregor, H. V., Lambeck, K., Smithers, S. G. & Fink, D. Mid-Pacific microatolls record sea-level stability over the past 5000 yr. Geology 40, 951–954 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kench, P. S. et al. Holocene reef growth in the Maldives: evidence of a mid-holocene sea level highstand in the central Indian Ocean. Geology 37, 455–458 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Gischler, G., Hudson, J. H. & Pisera, A. Late quaternary reef growth and sea level in the Maldives (Indian Ocean). Mar. Geol. 250, 104–113 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Yokohama, Y. et al. Holocene Indian Ocean sea level, Antarctic melting history and past tsunami deposits inferred using sea level reconstructions from the Sri Lanka, southeastern Indian and Maldivian coasts. Quat. Sci. Rev. 206, 150–161 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Meltzner, A. J. & Woodroffe, C. D. in Handbook of Sea-Level Research (eds Shennan, I. et al.) 125–145 (Wiley, 2015).

  21. Mann, M. E. et al. Proxy-based reconstructions of hemispheric and global surface temperature variations over the past two millennia. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 13252–13257 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Oppo, D. W., Rosenthal, Y. & Linsley, B. K. 2,000-year-long temperature and hydrology reconstructions from the Indo-Pacific warm pool. Nature 460, 1113–1116 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ljungqvist, F. C. A new reconstruction of temperature variability in the extra-tropical northern hemisphere during the last two millennia. Geogr. Ann. A 92, 339–351 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Sigl, M. et al. Timing and climate forcing of volcanic eruptions for the past 2,500 years. Nature 523, 543–549 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Büntgen, U. et al. Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD. Nat. Geosci. 9, 231–236 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Neukom, R. et al. Consistent multidecadal variability in global temperature reconstructions and simulations over the common era. Nat. Geosci. 12, 643–649 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Toohey, M. et al. Disproportionately strong climate forcing from extratropical explosive volcanic eruptions. Nat. Geosci. 12, 100–107 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Büntgen, U. et al. 2500 years of European climate variability and human susceptibility. Science 331, 578–582 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Miller, G. H. et al. Abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age triggered by volcanism and sustained by sea-ice/ocean feedbacks. Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L02708 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Steinhilber, F., Beer, J. & Fröhlich, C. Total solar irradiance during the holocene. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L19704 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gebble, G. & Huybers, P. The Little Ice Age and 20th century deep Pacific cooling. Science 363, 70–74 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Thompson, P. R. Forcing of recent decadal variability in the equatorial and northern Indian Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 121, 6762–6778 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Widlansky, M. J., Timmermann, A. & Cai, W. Future extreme sea-level seesaws in the tropical Pacific. Sci. Adv. 1, 500560 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Peltier, W. R., Argus, D. F. & Drummond, R. Space geodesy constrains ice-age terminal deglaciation: the global ICE-6G_C (VM5a) model. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 120, 450–487 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Roy, K. & Peltier, W. R. Space-geodetic and water level gauge constraints on continental uplift and tilting over North America: regional convergence of the ICE-6G_C (VM5a/VM6) models. Geophys. J. Int. 210, 1115–1142 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Linsley, B. K., Rosenthal, Y. & Oppo, D. W. Holocene evolution of the Indonesian throughflow and the Western Pacific warm pool. Nat. Geosci. 3, 578–583 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  37. Gautier, E. et al. 2600-years of stratospheric volcanism through sulfate isotopes. Nat. Commun. 10, 466 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  38. Edwards, R. L., Chen, J. H. & Wasserburg, G. J. 238U-234U-230Th-232Th systematics and the precise measurement of time over the past 500,000 years. Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 81, 175–192 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  39. Shen, C. C. et al. High-precision and high-resolution carbonate 230Th dating by MC-ICP-MS with SEM protocols. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 99, 71–86 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  40. Cheng, H. et al. Improvements in 230Th dating, 230Th and 234U half-life values, and U–Th isotopic measurements by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 371, 82–91 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  41. Chiang, H. W., Lu, Y., Wang, X., Lin, K. & Liu, X. Optimizing MC-ICP-MS with SEM protocols for determination of U and Th isotope ratios and 230Th ages in carbonates. Quat. Geochronol. 50, 75–90 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  42. Zhao, J. & Collins, L. in Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs (ed. Hopley, D.) 1128–1132 (Springer, 2011).

  43. Bessat, F. & Buigues, D. Two centuries of variation in coral growth in a massive porites colony from Moorea (French Polynesia): a response of ocean-atmosphere variability from south central Pacific. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 175, 381–392 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Morgan, K. M. & Kench, P. S. Skeletal extension and calcification of reef-building corals in the central Indian Ocean. Mar. Env. Res. 81, 71–82 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank LaMer Group and the Small Island Research Centre, Fares-Maathodaa, Huvadhoo atoll for logistical support, Government of the Maldives for research permission and A. Vila-Concejo, E. Beetham and T. Turner for field assistance. X.W. acknowledges funding support from the National Research Foundation of Singapore (grant nos. NRF2017NRF-NSFC001-047 and NRF-NRFF2011-08) and the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Paul S. Kench

  2. School of Science, University of New South Wales Canberra, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Roger F. McLean

  3. School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Susan D. Owen

  4. School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Emma Ryan

  5. Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Kyle M Morgan, Xianfeng Wang & Keven Roy

  6. Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Lin Ke & Xianfeng Wang

  7. Hiscox Group, London, UK

    Keven Roy

Authors
  1. Paul S. Kench
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roger F. McLean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susan D. Owen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Emma Ryan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kyle M Morgan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lin Ke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xianfeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Keven Roy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

P.K. conceived the project. P.K., R.M., S.O., E.R. and K.M. undertook fieldwork. X.W. and L.K. performed U–Th dating. K.R. undertook GIA modelling of field location. P.K., R.M. and S.O. led manuscript development and interpretation. All authors contributed to manuscript revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul S. Kench.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Primary Handling Editor: James Super.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–3, Field Setting and Tables 1–4.

Supplementary Dataset 1

230Th dates of microatoll samples from southern Maldives.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kench, P.S., McLean, R.F., Owen, S.D. et al. Climate-forced sea-level lowstands in the Indian Ocean during the last two millennia. Nat. Geosci. 13, 61–64 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0503-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0503-7

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene