Fossils show ocean rise potential
The researchers examined fossil corals around the world from the last interglacial period, and found sea levels peaked at 5.5 to 9 metres when the poles were only 3-5 degrees higher than they are now. Image: Coldimages/iStockphoto Sea levels may rise much higher than previously thought, according to scientists from The Australian National University, who have used fossil corals to understand how warmer temperatures in the past promoted dramatic melting of polar ice sheets.Dr Andrea Dutton, formerly of the Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) in the ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, teamed up with Professor Kurt Lambeck of the RSES to analyse fossil corals around the world from the last interglacial period, 125,000 years ago.They built an extensive database by compiling age and elevation data of fossil corals that live near the sea surface, and used a model to factor in the physics of how changing masses of ice...