Relative sea-level changes from near-, intermediate- and far-field locations and their implications for geophysical modeling and 20th century ice sheet-ocean interactions

这项研究的目标是以系统和严谨的方式综合一个过去2万年来北美洲大西洋沿岸、百慕大和加勒比地区的海平面观测数据库。该数据库将有助于在区域尺度上解释相对海平面（RSL）变化，并使以预测相对海平面变化及其空间变异性为重点的地球系统模式得以调整和改进。该数据库由60个研究地点组成，允许限制一套地球物理参数。地球?下地幔粘度将由来自加拿大大西洋沿岸和美国东北部的近场和冰缘RSL数据定义，而上地幔粘度将依赖于来自大西洋中部的中场RSL数据。来自美国南部和加勒比地区的远场RSL数据将限制冰等量融水的输入。该数据库将进一步用于净化20世纪由潮汐计得出的海平面上升速率，以揭示与海洋质量和体积变化有关的空间变异性。这个项目的核心是一个从北美（加拿大和美国的大西洋海岸）到加勒比海的海平面数据库，可以追溯到20000年前。这对地球科学的许多学科都具有重要意义。例如，对过去海平面的仔细重建将揭示末次冰河期后消冰期间陆基冰对海平面变化的贡献。此外，这些数据将对地球地球物理模型的关键参数提供至关重要的限制，这些模型用于各种其他应用（例如，板块构造学、冰川学和古气候）。总的来说，这些观测将扩大与历史和当今变化进行比较的时间范围。因此，这项研究有望增加我们对海平面变化驱动机制的理解，并加强我们对21世纪海平面上升的预测。这项研究还将为评估国家在海平面上升和沿海反应方面的危害提供重要和独特的贡献。

The goal of this research is to synthesize a database of sea-level observations in a systematic and rigorous fashion for the Atlantic coast of North America, Bermuda and the Caribbean for the last 20,000 years. The database will facilitate the interpretation of relative sea-level (RSL) change on a regional scale and enable the tuning and refinement of Earth system models that focus on predicting RSL change and its spatial variability. The database consists of 60 study locations, permitting a suite of geophysical parameters to be constrained. Earth?s lower mantle viscosity will be defined by near-field and ice-margin RSL data from the Atlantic coast of Canada and northeastern United States while the upper mantle viscosity will be reliant on intermediate-field RSL data from the mid Atlantic. Far-field RSL data from the southern United States and Caribbean will constrain ice-equivalent meltwater input. The database will be further used to decontaminate 20th century rates of sea-level rise from tides gauges to reveal spatial variability related to ocean mass and volume changes.At the heart of this project is a database of sea level from North America (the Atlantic coast of Canada and the United States) and the Caribbean that stretches back 20,000 years. This will be significant to a number of disciplines in the Earth sciences. For example, careful reconstruction of sea levels from the past will reveal the contribution from land-based ice to sea-level change during deglaciation after the last ice age. In addition, the data will provide vital constraints on key parameters in geophysical models of the Earth that are used in a variety of other applications (e.g., plate tectonics, glaciology and paleoclimate). Overall, the observations will extend the time range of comparisons with historical and present-day changes. Consequently, this research promises to increase our understanding of the driving mechanisms of sea level change and enhance our predictions of 21st century sea-level rise. The research will also provide an important and unique contribution to the assessment of national hazards with respect to sea-level rise and coastal responses.