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Radiocarbon Ages from Two Submerged Strandline Features in the Western Gulf of Maine and a Sea-Level Curve for the Northeastern Massachusetts Coastal Region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert N. Oldale ,
Steven M. Colman  and
Glen A. Jones
Robert N. Oldale
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
Steven M. Colman
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
Glen A. Jones
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
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Abstract

New radiocarbon dates provide ages for two submerged strandline features on the Massachusetts inner shelf. These ages provide limited control on a relative sea-level (RSL) curve for the late Wisconsinan and Holocene. The curve indicates a late Wisconsinan high stand of RSL of +33 m about 14,000 yr ago and a very short-lived relative low stand of about -43 m at about 12,000 yr ago followed by a rise to present sea level. Rapid changes of RSL around 12,000 yr ago may be related to changes in global glacial meltwater discharge and eustatic sea-level change shown by dated corals off Barbados. Variations in the magnitude and timing of RSL change from south to north along the coast of the western Gulf of Maine are due to greater crustal depression and later deglaciation to the north.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , July 1993 , pp. 38 - 45
Copyright
University of Washington

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