Mailing address update: As of 1/22/24, the Bureau will have a new mailing address. See our contact page for details.

Carbonate Sedimentologic/Stratigraphic Record of Climate Change from Bahamas-Caicos Archipelago

January 21, 2022 9:00 AM

Presenter

Charles Kerans, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences
Senior Research Scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences
Robert K. Goldhammer Chair of Carbonate Geology, Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences

Description

One of the most compelling uncertainties of global warming scenarios is the magnitude and rate of sea-level rise if temperatures continue to increase at current rates unchecked. The most immediate insights into this ongoing crisis derive from careful monitoring and modeling of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, whose potential for rapid collapse pose an imminent threat to coastal inundation. Reconstructing the rate and magnitude of sea-level rise from the earth’s most recent warm periods, or interglacials, and in particular the well-studied last interglacial (LIG) or marine isotope stage 5e (MIS 5e), provides additional constraints.  The carbonate sedimentologic/stratigraphic record of the LIG is uniquely well suited to record the deep-time record of climate forcing with its high-fidelity track of shorelines and reefs. Studies conducted over the past 7 years within the carbonate group at UT Austin in collaboration with Exxon-Mobil and USF have generated significant insights into the role of such critical climate events as LIG peak sea-level, the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT), the Last Interglacial (LIG), and melt-water pulses (MWP’s) following T1 (the last glacial termination). Important questions regarding the global mean sea level response during peak LIG warming, and the impact of glacioisostatic adjustments (GIA) on this record and the Holocene record of sea level rise will be considered.

Charles Kerans

© 2021 Bureau of Economic Geology | Web Privacy Policy | Web Accessibility Policy