K. Lambeck, GLACIATION AND SEA-LEVEL CHANGE FOR IRELAND AND THE IRISH SEA SINCE LATE DEVENSIAN MIDLANDIAN TIME/, Journal of the Geological Society, 153, 1996, pp. 853-872
The sea-level change around the coast of Ireland and the Irish Sea for
the past 20 000 years is primarily the combined result of the glacio-
isostatic adjustment of the crust to the removal of ice over the Briti
sh Isles and the total eustatic change from the global ice sheets. How
ever, the isostatic effects due to the removal of ice from northern Eu
rope and North America and the addition of meltwater into the oceans a
lso make a significant contribution. Predictions of sea-level change,
based on glacio-hydro-isostatic models are compared with observations
to constrain the ice volume over Ireland at the time of the last glaci
al maximum and the maximum ice height appears to have been of the orde
r of 600 m. The models predict well the spatial variability in sea-lev
el change observed across the region for Holocene and Lateglacial time
, with levels above present being predicted only for northeastern Irel
and and north of about Morecambe Bay. The models do not support sugges
tions that Lateglacial levels along the east coast of Ireland or the c
oast of Wales were 50-150 m above their present levels. Consistent mod
els that would produce such large Lateglacial highstands are incompati
ble with all other sea level and glacial evidence for the British Isle
s. Palaeobathymetry and palaeoshoreline reconstructions for the Irish
Sea indicates that a tenuous landbridge between Britain and Ireland de
veloped only across the Celtic Sea, between about 18 000 and 14 000 ye
ars BP.