Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2022, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (4): 10-24.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.1.16

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Research progress in global sea level change: A critical review on international ocean drilling

HU Zhaobin1(), WEI Jiangong2,3,*(), XIE Zhiyuan2,3, ZHANG Huodai1,2, ZHONG Guangfa1,*()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
    2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
    3. Sanya South China Sea Institute of Geology, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, Sanya 572025, China
  • Received:2021-11-20 Revised:2022-01-10 Online:2022-07-25 Published:2022-07-28
  • Contact: WEI Jiangong,ZHONG Guangfa

Abstract:

The international scientific ocean drilling programs (DSDP, ODP, IODP) began focusing on global sea level changes in the early 1980s. So far, 23 related expeditions have been implemented in areas including passive continental margins, isolated carbonate platforms, mixed platform margins and guyots. As a result, a large number of drilling data have been collected to provide key research data. Based on these data, many achievements have been made, including the reconstruction of the history of global sea level changes during the past 100 Ma. In addition, the sea level hypothesis presented by scientists from EXXON was tested, the stratigraphic response to sea level change was clarified, and the relationship between the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet and sea level changes was established. Nevertheless, research deficiencies still exist, such as inadequate representation of drilling areas, entanglement of sea level information with local geological effects (e.g., tectonic subsidence), inaccurate sea level change recording, and a lack of understandings of the stratigraphic responses to and mechanisms of sea level changes (especially the influence of ice sheet dynamics and the cause of sea level changes in warm period). Under the background of today’s climate warming, resolving these issues will help making sea level change predictions more reliable.

Key words: international scientific ocean drilling, global sea-level change, stratigraphic response, climate change, Antarctic ice sheet evolution

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