Quaternary Sea-Level Changes A Global Perspective

There have been significant changes in sea level over the past two million years, and a complete understanding of natural cycles of change as well as anthropogenic effects is imperative for future global development. This book reviews the history of research into these sea-level changes and summarises the methods and analytical approaches used to interpret evidence for sea-level changes. It provides an overview of changing climates during the Quaternary, examines processes responsible for global variability of sea-level records, and presents detailed reviews of sea-level changes for the Pleistocene and Holocene. The book concludes by discussing current trends in sea levels and likely future sea-level changes. This is an important and authoritative resource for academic researchers and graduate and advanced undergraduate students working in tectonics, stratigraphy, geomorphology, physical geography, environmental science and other aspects of Quaternary studies.

Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Sea-level changes: the emergence of a Quaternary perspective; 2. The causes of Quaternary sea-level changes; 3. Palaeo sea-level indicators; 4. Methods of dating Quaternary sea-level changes; 5. Vertical displacement of shorelines; 6. Pleistocene sea-level changes; 7. Sea-level changes since the Last Glacial Maximum; 8. Current and future sea-level changes; References; Index.

Colin V. Murray-Wallace is a Quaternary geologist and currently a Professor and Head of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the University of Wollongong. His long-standing research interests have centred on Quaternary sea-level changes, neotectonics, carbonate depositional systems and amino acid racemization dating, and he has undertaken coastal field investigations in southern Australia, Vietnam, Hawaii and South Africa. Professor Murray-Wallace was project leader of IGCP (International Geological Correlation Program) project 437 (1999–2003) 'Coastal environmental change during sea-level highstands', and leader of the INQUA (International Union for Quaternary Research) Coastal and Marine Commission (2004–7). He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Quaternary Science Reviews since 2008.
Colin D. Woodroffe is a coastal geomorphologist in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wollongong. He has studied the stratigraphy and development of coasts in Australia and New Zealand, as well as on islands in the West Indies and Indian and Pacific Oceans. He has written and co-authored three coastal studies books. Professor Woodroffe was national representative on the INQUA Quaternary Shorelines subcommission, and served on the committees of both the IGCP project 274 'Coastal Evolution in the Quaternary' and its follow-up project, and on the Scientific Steering Committee of the LOICZ (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) project within IGBP. He was a lead author on the coastal chapter in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. In 2012 he was awarded the R. J. Russell Award from the Coast and Marine Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.