Rapid sea-level rise during the first phase of the Littorina transgression in the western Baltic Sea

Glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) corrected limiting non-marine and marine sealevel data from the western Baltic Sea indicate a rapid relative sea-level (RSL) rise of 18 m for the first phase of the Littorina transgression using a linear age-elevation model. This accelerated RSL rise occurred in the time period 8.57 to 8.0 ka before present (BP) with an RSL rise rate of 31.5 mm/year. RSL rose from 28 m to 10 m below the mean relative sea level (bmrsl) during the time period of less than 600 years. The first phase of Littorina transgression documents the last big meltwater pulse (MWP), which has been reported also from various other regions in the world as a consequence of the final decay of the Laurentide ice sheet and additional meltwater sources from Antarctica. (c) 2022 Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).

Automated summary

GIA-corrected sealevel data from the western Baltic Sea show a rapid 18 m rise in relative sea-level during the first phase of the Littorina transgression, with a rise rate of 31.5 mm/year in the time period of 8.57 to 8.0 ka BP. The relative sea-level rose from 28 m below the mean relative sea level to 10 m below it in less than 600 years. This phase documents the last major meltwater pulse resulting from the decay of the Laurentide ice sheet and additional meltwater sources from Antarctica.