Abstract

The most pressing questions related to future climates is how much and how fast sea level will rise. The study of shallow water or intertidal geological facies deposited during past warm periods (e.g. the Last Interglacial, the mid-Pliocene) can provide answers to such questions. Coupling such geological research with the approaches typical of coastal dynamics research has the potential to provide further insights into questions related to the intensity of waves in warmer worlds, and to gauge the effects of future coastal dynamics in environments at risk, such as coral reefs.

In this talk, I will discuss recent research from the Sea Level and Coastal changes Group (MARUM-University of Bremen and ZMT , The Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research) oriented towards the advancement of our understanding related to sea-level variations in the past and their possible implications for our future coastlines.