Global meltwater discharge and the deglacial sea‐level record from northwest Scotland

Abstract

Quantitative models of Earth–ice-sheet–ocean interactions predict that periods of rapid eustatic sea-level rise, indicating enhanced meltwater discharge to the oceans, should be manifest in the relative sea-level histories from sites within the limits of Late Devensian ice sheets. Analysis of a record of relative sea-level change for the last 16000 calendar years from Northwest Scotland constrains the magnitude and timing of two major pulses of meltwater, ca. 14000 and ca. 11300 cal. yr BP, inferred from coral records. The ca. 14000 cal. yr BP event saw a temporary doubling of the flux of meltwater, but existence of the second major event at ca. 11300 cal. yr BP is not supported by the data from northwest Scotland. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.