THE INFLUENCE OF TIME-DEPENDENT OCEAN-CONTINENT GEOMETRY ON PREDICTIONS OF POSTGLACIAL SEA-LEVEL CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW-ZEALAND

We describe predictions of post-glacial relative sea level (RSL) varia tions in Australia and New Zealand that incorporate a realistic evolut ion of the ocean-continent margin and compare these to predictions whi ch assume that the ocean-continent interface is fixed to the present-d ay coastline geometry. We find that the predicted amplitude of Holocen e sea level highstands in this region can be increased by more than 2 m when a time-dependent ocean-continent margin is incorporated into th e modeling procedure. Future attempts to refine both mantle viscosity and Late Holocene melting events based on the prediction of a set of t hese highstands should adopt a theory that includes this extension.