Ice sheets and sea level of the Last Glacial Maximum

This paper outlines the general issues regarding ice sheets and sea level of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which formed the basis of an EPILOG Project workshop. Papers in this special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews provide a comprehensive assessment of these issues From the perspective of geological reconstructions of ice sheet extent, records of sea-level change, ice sheet modelling, geophysical models of glacial isostatic adjustment, and geochemical proxies of ice volume. This new assessment has substantially narrowed the uncertainties in the total changes in ice sheets and sea level and their proxies, suggesting a net decrease in eustatic sea level at the LGM ranging from 120 to 135 m. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.