High tide of the warm Pliocene: Implications of global sea level for Antarctic deglaciation

We obtained global sea-level (eustatic) estimates with a peak of ~22 m higher than present for the Pliocene interval 2.7–3.2 Ma from backstripping in Virginia (United States), New Zealand, and Enewetak Atoll (north Pacifi c Ocean), benthic foraminiferal δ 18 O values, and Mg/Ca-δ 18 O estimates. Statistical analysis indicates that it is likely (68% confi dence interval) that peak sea level was 22 ± 5 m higher than modern, and extremely likely (95%) that it was 22 ± 10 m higher than modern. Benthic foraminiferal δ 18 O values appear to require that the peak was <20–21 m. Our estimates imply loss of the equivalent of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and some volume loss from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and address the longstanding controversy concerning the Pliocene stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

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