Late Pleistocene Sea level on the New Jersey Margin: Implications to eustasy and deep-sea temperature

We assembled and dated a late Pleistocene sea-level record based on sequence stratigraphy from the New Jersey margin and compared it with published records from fossil uplifted coral reefs in New Guinea, Barbados, and Araki Island, as well as a composite sea-level estimate from scaling of Red Sea isotopic values. Radiocarbon dates, amino acid racemization data, and superposition constrain the ages of large (20-80 m) sea-level falls from New Jersey that correlate with Marine Isotope Chrons (MIC) 2, 3b, 4, 5b, and 6 (the past 130 kyr). The sea-level records for MIC 1, 2, 4, 5e, and 6 are similar to those reported from New Guinea, Barbados, Araki, and the Red Sea; some differences exist among records for MIC 3. Our record consistently provides the shallowest sea level estimates for MIC3 (similar to 25-60 m below present): it agrees most closely with the New Guinea record of Chappell (2002; similar to 35-70 m), but contrasts with deeper estimates provided by Araki (similar to 85-95 m) and the Red Sea (50-90 m). Comparison of eustatic estimates with benthic foraminiferal delta O-18 records shows that the deep sea cooled similar to 2.5 degrees C between MIC 5e and 5d (similar to 120-110 ka) and that near freezing conditions persisted until Termination la (14-15 ka). Sea-level variations between MIC 5b and 2 (ca. 90-20 ka) follow a well-accepted 0.1 parts per thousand/10 m linear variation predicted by ice-growth effects on foraminiferal delta O-18 values. The pattern of deep-sea cooling follows a previously established hysteresis loop between two stable modes of operation. Cold, near freezing deep-water conditions characterize most of the past 130 kyr punctuated only by two warm intervals (the Holocene/MIC 1 and MIC 5e). We link these variations to changes in Northern Component Water (NCW). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.