Total volume and temporal variation of meltwater from last glacial maximuminferred from sea-level observations at Barbados and Tahiti

It is very important to determine the temporal variation of meltwater volum e from the last glacial maximum (LGM) for studying climate changes and for constraining mantle rheology. Sea-level observations have been obtained at Barbados (at the LGM and in late-glacial phase) and Tahiti (in late-glacial phase), and suggest that two events of rapid sea-level rise existed at abo ut 14,000 and 11,000 calendar years before present. We examine the total me ltwater volume and temporal variation of meltwater volume by comparing sea- level observations and predictions at Barbados and Tahiti. Comparison betwe en observations and predictions for Barbados indicates that the total meltw ater volume from the LGM is 103-117 m for eustatic sea-level rise. The pred icted sea-level variations at Tahiti based on the ice model satisfying obse rvations for Barbados are, however, inconsistent with late-glacial sea-leve l observations at Tahiti. Thus two events of rapid sea-level rise are not s upported from the comparison between observations and predictions at Tahiti . More in situ observational data are required for the period from the LGM to late-glacial phase in order to study the relationship between rapid sea- level rise and climate change. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.