(
2011-03)
Kemp, Andrew C.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Donnelly, Jeffrey P.; Mann, Michael E.; Vermeer, Martin; Rahmstorf, Stefan
We present new sea-level reconstructions for the past 2100 years based on salt-marsh
sedimentary sequences from the US Atlantic coast. The data from North Carolina reveal
four phases of persistent sea-level change after correction for glacial isostatic adjustment.
Sea level was stable from at least BC 100 until AD 950. It then increased for 400 years at
a rate of 0.6 mm/yr, followed by a further period of stable, or slightly falling, sea level
that persisted until the late 19th century. Since then, sea level has risen at an average rate
of 2.1 mm/yr, representing the steepest, century-scale increase of the past two millennia.
This rate was initiated between AD 1865 and 1892. Using an extended semi-empirical
modeling approach, we show that these sea-level changes are consistent with global
temperature for at least the past millennium.
