Editing Last Interglacial (section)

== Sea level ==
[[Image:EemianErosionSurfaceGI.JPG|thumb|Last Interglacial [[erosion surface]] in a fossil coral reef on [[Great Inagua]], [[The Bahamas]]. Foreground shows corals truncated by erosion; behind the geologist is a post-erosion coral pillar which grew on the surface after sea level rose again.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1502-3931.1998.tb00513.x| title = Paleontological evidence of a brief global sea-level event during the last interglacial| journal = Lethaia| volume = 31| issue = 3| pages = 241–250| year = 2007| last1 = Wilson | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Curran | first2 = H. A. | last3 = White | first3 = B. }}</ref>]]

Sea level at peak was probably {{convert|6|to|9|m|abbr=off}} higher than today,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dutton |first1=A |last2=Lambeck |first2=K |date=13 July 2012 |title=Ice volume and sea level during the last interglacial. |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1205749#:~:text=References%20and%20Notes-,More%20Melting,10%20meters%20above%20current%20levels. |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=337 |issue=6091 |pages=216–9 |bibcode=2012Sci...337..216D |doi=10.1126/science.1205749 |pmid=22798610 |s2cid=206534053 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kopp |first1=RE |last2=Simons |first2=FJ |last3=Mitrovica |first3=JX |last4=Maloof |first4=AC |last5=Oppenheimer |first5=M |date=17 December 2009 |title=Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage. |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08686 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=462 |issue=7275 |pages=863–7 |arxiv=0903.0752 |bibcode=2009Natur.462..863K |doi=10.1038/nature08686 |pmid=20016591 |s2cid=4313168 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> with Greenland contributing {{cvt|0.6|to|3.5|m|ft}},<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=E.J |last2=Lundt |first2=D.J |last3=Annan |first3=J.D. |last4=Hargreaves |first4=J.C. |date=2013 |title=Quantification of Greenland ice-sheet contribution to Last Interglacial sea-level rise |url=https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/9/621/2013/cp-9-621-2013.html |journal=[[Climate of the Past]] |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=621–639 |bibcode=2013CliPa...9..621S |doi=10.5194/cp-9-621-2013 |access-date=17 September 2023 |doi-access=free|hdl=1983/d05aa57e-0230-4287-94e8-242d43abee77 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> thermal expansion and mountain glaciers contributing up to {{cvt|1|m|ft}},<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McKay|first1=Nicholas P.|last2=Overpeck|first2=Jonathan T.|last3=Otto-Bliesner|first3=Bette L.|author-link3=Bette Otto-Bliesner|title=The role of ocean thermal expansion in Last Interglacial sea level rise|journal=Geophysical Research Letters|date=July 2011|volume=38|issue=14|pages=n/a|doi=10.1029/2011GL048280|bibcode=2011GeoRL..3814605M|doi-access=free}}</ref> and an uncertain contribution from Antarctica.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Scherer|first1=RP|last2=Aldahan|first2=A|last3=Tulaczyk|first3=S|last4=Possnert|first4=G|last5=Engelhardt|first5=H|last6=Kamb|first6=B|title=Pleistocene collapse of the west antarctic ice sheet|journal=Science|date=3 July 1998|volume=281|issue=5373|pages=82–5|pmid=9651249|doi=10.1126/science.281.5373.82|bibcode=1998Sci...281...82S}}</ref> A 2007 study found evidence that the Greenland ice core site [[Dye 3]] was glaciated during the Last Interglacial,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Willerslev |first1=E. |last2=Cappellini |first2=E. |last3=Boomsma |first3=W. |last4=Nielsen |first4=R. |last5=Hebsgaard |first5=M. B. |last6=Brand |first6=T. B. |last7=Hofreiter |first7=M. |last8=Bunce |first8=M. |last9=Poinar |first9=H. N. |last10=Dahl-Jensen |first10=D. |last11=Johnsen |first11=S. |last12=Steffensen |first12=J. P. |last13=Bennike |first13=O. |last14=Schwenninger |first14=J. -L. |last15=Nathan |first15=R. |year=2007 |title=Ancient Biomolecules from Deep Ice Cores Reveal a Forested Southern Greenland |url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/5130/ |journal=Science |volume=317 |issue=5834 |pages=111–4 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..111W |doi=10.1126/science.1141758 |pmc=2694912 |pmid=17615355 |last16=Armitage |first16=S. |last17=De Hoog |first17=C. -J. |last18=Alfimov |first18=V. |last19=Christl |first19=M. |last20=Beer |first20=J. |last21=Muscheler |first21=R. |last22=Barker |first22=J. |last23=Sharp |first23=M. |last24=Penkman |first24=K. E. H. |author24-link=Kirsty Penkman |last25=Haile |first25=J. |last26=Taberlet |first26=P. |last27=Gilbert |first27=M. T. P. |last28=Casoli |first28=A. |last29=Campani |first29=E. |last30=Collins |first30=M. J.}}</ref> which implies that Greenland could have contributed at most {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} to [[sea level rise]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cuffey |first1=K. M. |last2=Marshall |first2=S. J. |year=2000 |title=Substantial contribution to sea-level rise during the last interglacial from the Greenland ice sheet |journal=Nature |volume=404 |issue=6778 |pages=591–4 |bibcode=2000Natur.404..591C |doi=10.1038/35007053 |pmid=10766239 |s2cid=4422775}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Otto-Bliesner |first1=B. L. |author-link1=Bette Otto-Bliesner |last2=Marshall |first2=Shawn J. |last3=Overpeck |first3=Jonathan T. |last4=Miller |first4=Gifford H. |last5=Hu |first5=Aixue |year=2006 |title=Simulating Arctic Climate Warmth and Icefield Retreat in the Last Interglaciation |journal=Science |volume=311 |issue=5768 |pages=1751–3 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1751O |citeseerx=10.1.1.728.3807 |doi=10.1126/science.1120808 |pmid=16556838 |s2cid=35153489}}</ref> Recent research on marine sediment cores offshore of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet suggest that the sheet melted during the Last Interglacial, and that ocean waters rose as fast as 2.5 meters per century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Voosen |first=Paul |date=20 December 2018 |title=Antarctic ice melt 125,000 years ago offers warning |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=362 |issue=6421 |pages=1339 |bibcode=2018Sci...362.1339V |doi=10.1126/science.362.6421.1339 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=30573605 |s2cid=58627262}}</ref> Global mean [[sea surface temperature]]s are thought to have been higher than in the Holocene, but not by enough to explain the rise in sea level through thermal expansion alone, and so melting of polar ice caps must also have occurred.

Because of the sea level drop since the Last Interglacial, exposed fossil coral reefs are common in the tropics, especially in the Caribbean and along the [[Red Sea]] coastlines. These reefs often contain internal erosion surfaces showing significant sea level instability during the Last Interglacial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hamed |first1=Basher |last2=Bussert |first2=Robert |last3=Dominik |first3=Wilhelm |date=1 February 2016 |title=Stratigraphy and evolution of emerged Pleistocene reefs at the Red Sea coast of Sudan |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1464343X15301072 |journal=[[Journal of African Earth Sciences]] |volume=114 |pages=133–142 |doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.11.011 |bibcode=2016JAfES.114..133H |issn=1464-343X |access-date=1 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref>

Along the Central Mediterranean Spanish coast, sea levels were comparable to those of the present.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Viñals |first1=María José |last2=Fumanal |first2=María Pilar |date=January 1995 |title=Quaternary development and evolution of the sedimentary environments in the Central Mediterranean Spanish coast |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/104061829500014A |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=29-30 |pages=119–128 |doi=10.1016/1040-6182(95)00014-A |bibcode=1995QuInt..29..119V |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref> [[Scandinavia]] formed an island due to the area between the [[Gulf of Finland]] and the [[White Sea]] being drowned. Vast areas of northwestern Europe and the [[West Siberian Plain]] were inundated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gornitz |first1=Vivien |title=Rising Seas: Past, Present, Future |date=2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-14739-2 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78CrAgAAQBAJ&dq=eemian+scandinavia+island+inpublisher:university+inpublisher:press&pg=PA101 |access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref>