T103 Relative Sea-Level Changes since the Last Glacial Maximum
Monday, 20 October 2014
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
212
THE PAST 18,000 YEARS OF SEA-LEVEL CHANGE IN PACIFIC NORTH AMERICA
Paper number: T103-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:50 AM – 9:05 AM
Authors
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Ian James WalkerUniversity of Victoria, Victoria, BC
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Olav B. LianUniversity of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC
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Jordan B.R. EamerUniversity of Victoria, Victoria, BC
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Christina NeudorfUniversity of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC
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Duncan McLarenHakai Institute, Heriot Bay, BC
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Daryl FedjeHakai Beach Institute, Calvert Island, BC
Abstract
Post-glacial relative sea level (RSL) histories vary with distance from ice loading and with associated factors such as time-transgressive ice retreat, tectonic settings, and crustal responses. At the last glacial maximum (LGM), the Cordilleran Ice Sheet depressed the crust over which it formed and created a raised forebulge along peripheral areas offshore. We synthesize the state of knowledge regarding post-glacial sea-level changes on the Pacific coast of North America using approximately 2,200 previously published radiocarbon ages from northern California to Cook Inlet, Alaska. We then describe a 1000-km long hinge zone, separating the isostatically depressed inner coast from the forebulged outer coast, and discuss its implication for human occupation.