Sea level and climate: rapid regressions at local warm phases

Observational data are presented which indicate that periods of rapid sea l evel regression in the Stockholm area (2650-2550 BP, 1600-1500 BP and 980-9 00 BP) were correlated with short periods of exceptional local-to-regional dryness (2550-2500 BP, 1530-1470 BP and 960-880 BP). This novel climatic-eu static relation is understood in terms of (1) a local-to-regional eustatic drop in sea level due to a dry period (in the order of 50-100 yr) with stat ionary summer high pressure and very low water run-off into the Baltic land its embayment over the Lake Malaren valley), and (2) a smaller regional se a level drop due to decreased transport of water along the Gulf Stream. It seems significant that the regressional amplitudes at Stockholm in the Balt ic are larger than those recorded on the Swedish west coast and far larger than the small cm-oscillations recorded in the subsiding North Sea region. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.