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Monday, February 15, 2010

J. A. Dorale et al., Science, 327 (2010), Sea-level highstand 81,000 years ago in Mallorca

Science (12 February 2010), Vol. 327, No. 5967, pp. 860-863; DOI: 10.1126/science.1181725

Sea-level highstand 81,000 years ago in Mallorca

Jeffrey A. Dorale,1,* Bogdan P. Onac,2,* Joan J. Fornós,3 Joaquin Ginés,3 Angel Ginés,3 Paola Tuccimei,4 and David W. Peate1
 
Abstract
Global sea level and Earth’s climate are closely linked. Using speleothem encrustations from coastal caves on the island of Mallorca, we determined that western Mediterranean relative sea level was ~1 meter above modern sea level ~81,000 years ago during marine isotope stage (MIS) 5a. Although our findings seemingly conflict with the eustatic sea-level curve of far-field sites, they corroborate an alternative view that MIS 5a was at least as ice-free as the present, and they challenge the prevailing view of MIS 5 sea-level history and certain facets of ice-age theory.
 
1 Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa, 121 Trowbridge Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
2 Department of Geology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, SCA 528, Tampa, FL 33620, USA; and Department of Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology Cluj, Romania.
3 Departament de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Carretera Valldemossa km 7.5, Palma de Mallorca, 07122, Spain.
4 Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Università di Roma III, Largo St. Leonardo Murialdo, 1, 00146 Roma, Italy.


*Correspondence e-mail: jeffrey-dorale@uiowa.edu (J.A.D.); bonac@cas.usf.edu (B.P.O.). These authors contributed equally to this work.


Link:  http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5967/860

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