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

article i nfo 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 (∼25-60 m below present); it agrees most closely with the New Guinea record of Chappell (2002; ∼35-70 m), but contrasts with deeper estimates provided by Araki (∼85-95 m) and the Red Sea (50-90 m). Comparison of eustatic estimates with benthic foraminiferal δ 18