Holocene sea‐level reconstruction in the Young Sound region, Northeast Greenland

A relative sea-level curve over the Holocene is constructed for the Young Sound region in northeastern Greenland. The reconstruction is derived by dating the heights of raised beach ridges in coastal plains using optically stimulated luminiscence (OSL), and by dating palaeoterrestrial surface levels now buried beneath the intertidal frame using the C-14 technique. The relative sea-level curve reveals a rapid fall of at least 10 mm a(-1) from ca. 9500 to 7500 a ago, which slowed to 2 mm a(-1) it reached the present sea level ca. 3000 a ago. This part of the curve is based on the raised beach ridge data. Thereafter, relative sea level continued to fall, to reach a minimum level at about 0.5 m below the present sea level ca. 2300 a ago. Since then, relative sea level has experienced a slow rise of about 0.2 mm a(-1). This part of the curve uses the data from the palaeoterrestrial surfaces. The study supplements other estimates of Holocene relative sea-level changes and supports the observations of a decreasing trend in the timing of the cross point and in minimum relative sea level from South to North Greenland. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.