U-series evidence for two high Last Interglacial sea levels in southeastern Tunisia

Abstract

Pleistocene raised marine deposits in southeastern Tunisia consist of a siliciclastic unit that culminates at +3 m asl, overlain by a carbonate-rich unit with Strombus bubonius that culminates at +5 m asl. 234U/ 238U ratios on fossil Ostraea shells from both units are compatible with a marine origin from the uranium incorporated into the shells and show narrowly clustered 230Th-ages, respectively, between 147 and 110 ka and 141 and 100 ka. The two units were therefore developed during Marine Isotopic Substage 5e (MISs 5e, Last Interglacial). Their heights are comparable to those of contemporaneous marine deposits found in many tectonically stable areas of the world such as in the Bahamas and in Bermuda and can therefore be used as indicators of eustatic changes during the Last Interglacial. It is argued that on the basis of this evidence, the Last Interglacial was characterised by two eustatic maxima.