Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda

Daniel R. Muhs; Kathleen R. Simmons; R. Randall Schumann; Eugene S. Schweig; Mark P. Rowe

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106212

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70211218

Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda

Daniel R. Muhs·Kathleen R. Simmons·R. Randall Schumann·Eugene S. Schweig·Mark P. Rowe

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Part of the spatial variation in the apparent sea-level record of the last interglacial (LIG) period is due to the diverse response of coastlines to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) processes, particularly where coastlines were close to the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the past two glacial periods. We tested modeled LIG paleo-sea levels on New Providence Island (NPI), Bahamas and Bermuda by investigating emergent coral patch reefs and oolitic/peloidal beach deposits. Corals with closed-system histories collected from patch reefs on NPI have ages of 128-118 ka and ooids/peloids from beach ridges have closed-system ages of 128-116 ka. Elevations of patch reefs indicate a LIG paleo-sea level of at least ∼7 m to ∼9 m above present. Beach ridge sediments indicate paleo-sea levels of ∼5 m to ∼14 m (assuming subsidence, ∼7 m to ∼16 m) above present during the LIG. Some, though not all of these measurements are in good agreement with GIA models of paleo-sea level that have been simulated for the Bahamas. On Bermuda, corals with closed-system histories collected from marine deposits have ages of 126-114 ka. Although coral-bearing marine deposits on Bermuda lack the precise indication of paleo-sea level provided by patch reefs and oolitic beach ridges, these sediments nevertheless provide at least a first-order estimate of paleo-sea level. Paleo-sea level records on Bermuda are consistently lower (∼2 m to ∼7 m) than what GIA models simulate for the LIG. The reason for the reasonable agreement with models for the Bahamas and poor agreement for Bermuda is not understood, but needs further investigation in light of the probability of a higher sea level in the near future.

Explore related subjects

Quaternary Science Reviews Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 23.46324633155036° to 32.55838861348271° latitude; -79.21142578125° to -64.48699951171875° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Eugene S. Schweig, Mark P. Rowe. 2020. Testing glacial isostatic adjustment models of last-interglacial sea level history in the Bahamas and Bermuda. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106212

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

A 30,000-year continuous record of glacial history and water balance from Fish Lake, Utah documents the onset, development, and demise of LGM glaciation

Fish Lake provides a continuous, high-resolution freshwater paleoclimate archive of glacial and hydroclimate history from a catchment straddling the Colorado Plateau–Great Basin boundary in the western US. At >3600 m, the Fish Lake Plateau glaciates during stadials, making it an ideal site for tracking the region's glacial history. The high-resolution (>3.3 mm/decade) record contains multiple climate- and ecosystem-sensitive proxies. Geochronology relies on 210 Pb and AMS 14 C measurements on terrestrial macrofossils and charcoal, tephrochronology, and paleomagnetic measurements. Multiproxy analyses include indicators of glacial erosion (magnetic susceptibility, sediment density, % mineral matter, grainsize, scanning XRF) and biological productivity (biogenic silica, organic matter). These proxies show glacial inception during the local Last Glacial Maximum at 25.8 ka, coincident with Heinrich Stadial 2, with maximum down-valley ice expansion between 24.8 and 20.9 ka. Glaciers reached the shoreline but did not override the lake, and sedimentation rates did not exceed Holocene levels, as increased glacial erosion was offset by reduced productivity in the glaciated, turbid lake. Deglaciation began by 18.2 ka, was interrupted by a readvance under wetter conditions synchronous with Heinrich Stadial 1 and concluded with final catchment deglaciation ∼14.1 ka. After 13.7 ka, productivity proxies rise rapidly and remain high through the Holocene while erosion proxies drop abruptly. Comparison with the adjacent Bonneville pluvial lake-level record shows that glacial onset on the Fish Lake Plateau preceded the rise in Bonneville water levels at ∼24 ka by roughly a millennium, implying temperature decreases led P-E increases. Similarly, deglaciation onset preceded falling Bonneville water levels by several centuries.

Utah↗

USGS2026

Sedimentological reconstruction of hurricane storm surges from a carbonate reef coastline at Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Anegada is a small, low-lying carbonate island in the British Virgin Islands that is highly vulnerable to marine inundation from frequent hurricanes. A major challenge in forecasting the timing, intensity, and impacts of future hurricanes to islands such as Anegada is the limited short-term instrumental record that does not capture the full spectrum of inundation events from the frequent but low-magnitude to rare, but high-magnitude events. Washover deposits, which are transported onshore by hurricane-related storm surges and preserved within the onshore stratigraphy, can provide insight into the recurrence of these events. Here, we use grain size distributions, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data, and an inverse sediment transport model to characterize a series of anomalous sand deposits from shallow hypersaline ponds to determine the variability in storm surges impacting Anegada over at least the last 70 years. The analyses were successfully applied to modern analogues of storms impacting Anegada's southern shoreline (Hurricanes Donna in 1960 at Category 3; Earl in 2010 at Category 4; and Irma in 2017 at Category 5). These deposits are identified by coarse-grained material and elevated marine geochemical signals (Ca, Sr, ln(Br/Ti)). Inverse modelled flow parameters (average flow depth = 0.89–1.46 m relative to the reef flat, average flow speed = 2.95–3.78 m/s) agree with observational data and eyewitness accounts, and the deposit associated with Hurricane Donna indicates the greatest impacts occurred along the southern shoreline (modelled flow depth = 1.24–1.46 m relative to the reef flat, flow speed = 3.49–3.78 m/s). Using the modern analogues as a basis for comparison, we infer the origin of an older sand deposit to be from Hurricane Dog in 1950, when it tracked by Anegada as a Category 3 storm. This methodology provides a transferable framework for interpreting storm recurrence in carbonate-dominated coastlines worldwide that could be used to inform hurricane hazard assessments and risk management efforts.

Anegada↗

USGS2026

Temperature and precipitation source variability and glacial dynamics in the southwestern United States at Fish Lake, Utah, since late MIS 4

An improved understanding of hydroclimate response to natural climate forcings is needed to evaluate impacts of changing seasonal circulation patterns on current and future drought in the southwestern United States (‘the Southwest’). However, few terrestrial records from the Southwest preserve changes in moisture availability continuously prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼24.5 ka). Fish Lake, in the Upper Colorado River Basin, preserves a long (∼67 ka), continuous, high-resolution (∼3.3 cm/century) sedimentary record spanning from late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 to present. Here, we investigate the relative contributions of seasonal precipitation and moisture source using the hydrogen isotope value of the n -C 29 leaf wax alkane and changes in temperature using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs). During the warm post glacial period (14 ka to present), a greater contribution of annual precipitation is sourced from the North American Monsoon (NAM) in response to declining winter insolation and rising greenhouse gases, weakening westerly storms and shifting them northward. MIS 3 (∼61 to 29 ka) is also influenced by NAM inputs, however, to a smaller magnitude than during the post glacial period when temperatures were warmer. However, stadial periods (MIS 2, 29 to 14.1 ka) show 2 H-enriched values, suggesting warm conditions and large contributions of NAM precipitation during the LGM, contradicting other proxies and regional records. The LGM is the only period in the record where glaciers are present in the catchment, thus we hypothesize glacial erosion reworked pre-LGM aged soil organic matter and biased the record during this time.

Utah↗