Paleoshorelines on the West Florida Shelf as indicators of past sea levels

Rubiano, Catalina, Hapke, Cheryl J., Naar, David F. and Graham, Alastair G.C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2880-2908 2026. Paleoshorelines on the West Florida Shelf as indicators of past sea levels. Continental Shelf Research 302 , 105762. 10.1016/j.csr.2026.105762

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Abstract

Global sea level history capturing the rise in sea levels since the Last Glacial Maximum, about 20,000 years ago, is generally well-resolved to the scale of millennia. However, when examining this record at a finer scale of hundreds of years, discrepancies remain particularly as it pertains to the timing of accelerated periods of sea level rise caused by outsized glacial meltwater events (or pulses). We present here an inventory of sea level indicators in the form of submerged paleoshorelines that have been identified across the west Florida shelf for the depth range of 45-90 m. The region's well-preserved carbonate sedimentary record coupled with its tectonic stability provides a setting in which sea level changes since ∼20 ka have been recorded to a remarkable degree of resolution in the form of paleoshoreline features that formed during still stands or slowdowns of sea level rise. In total, 27 paleoshorelines were identified based on geomorphic identifiers and used as paleo-sea level indicators to put forth a hypothetical scenario for sea level history between 14.2 ka – 11.2 ka. In all, our findings describe 15 previously unidentified features and present new constraints to the sequence of meltwater pulses in the Gulf of Mexico, which challenge current estimates. We suggest that in the periods preceding and in between meltwater pulses (MWP)-1A and -1B, rates of sea level rise were slow enough for the formation of shorelines to occur; followed by periods of rapid sea level rise (MWP-1A and -1B) which were sufficiently high enough to drown and preserve these shorelines in place.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences Schools > Physical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences
Additional Information:	RRS policy applied
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0278-4343
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 August 2026
Date of Acceptance:	31 July 2026
Last Modified:	13 Aug 2026 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188803

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