An Introduction to Causes and Consequences of Cretaceous Sea-Level Changes (IGCP 609)

Author(s)
Michael Wagreich, Benjamin Sames, Malcolm Hart, Ismail Ömer Yilmaz
Abstract

The International Geoscience Programme Project IGCP 609 addressed correlation, causes and consequences of short-term sea-level fluctuations during the Cretaceous. Processes causing several ka to several Ma (third-to fourth-order) sea-level oscillations during the Cretaceous are so far poorly understood. IGCP 609 proved the existence of sea-level cycles during potential ice sheet-free greenhouse to hothouse climate phases. These sea-level fluctuations were most probably controlled by aquifer-eustasy that is altering land-water storage owing to groundwater aquifer charge and discharge. The project investigated Cretaceous sea-level cycles in detail in order to differentiate and quantify both short-and long-term records based on orbital cyclicity. High-resolution sea-level records were correlated to the geological timescale resulting in a hierarchy of sea-level cycles in the longer Milankovitch band, especially in the 100 ka, 405 ka, 1.2 Ma and 2.4 Ma range. The relation of sea-level highs and lows to palaeoclimate events, palaeoenvironments and biota was also investigated using multiproxy studies. For a hothouse Earth such as the mid-Cretaceous, humid–arid climate cycles controlling groundwater-related sea-level change were evidenced by stable isotope data, correlation to continental lake-level records and humid–arid weathering cycles.

Organisation(s)
Department of Geology
External organisation(s)
Plymouth University , Middle East Technical University, Ankara University
Journal
Geological Society Special Publications
Volume
498
Pages
1-8
No. of pages
8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1144/SP498-2019-156
Publication date
2020
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105204 Climatology, 105121 Sedimentology, 105123 Stratigraphy, 105306 Oceanography
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Water Science and Technology, Ocean Engineering, Geology
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 13 - Climate Action
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/an-introduction-to-causes-and-consequences-of-cretaceous-sealevel-changes-igcp-609(a917a8b1-89e6-4c8f-a005-d87ec5e44a42).html