Holocene sea-level changes of the Persian Gulf

Gholamreza Hosseinyar, Reza Behbahani, Reza Moussavi-Harami, Razyeh Lak, Antoon Kuijpers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High-resolution shallow seismic information supported by sedimentological and geochemical data from sediment cores has been used for reconstruction of Holocene sea-level changes along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf. These investigations in the area of the North Qeshm Island Waterway (NQIW) near the Strait of Hormuz reveal a series of five prominent sea-level fluctuations starting with the second phase of regional postglacial sea-level rise recorded between 15.0 ka and 9.5 ka (ka = thousands of years before present). Based on our study, sea-level had reached −22 m before 9.1 ka. Postglacial sea level high-stand in the study area has been dated to have occurred around 6.0 ka, which was followed by a relative sea-level fall coeval with a regional climate change from humid to arid conditions at about 5.4 ka. After a renewed, but relatively short period of sea level rise associated with climate changes around 4.35 ka, sea-level fell again at about 3.3 ka and remained relatively stable from 3.2 ka until the present. We conclude that major sea-level changes in the Persian Gulf coincided with sea-level fluctuations in the Indian Ocean and observed changes in North Atlantic Ocean and atmospheric circulation and Greenland Ice Sheet melting. Thus, despite of regional tectonic instability, regional sea-level stand in the Persian Gulf has been controlled mainly by eustatic sea-level changes of the global ocean.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-45
Number of pages20
JournalQuaternary International
Volume571
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jan 2021

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Holocene
  • Iran
  • Quaternary
  • Sedimentary geochemistry
  • Seismic stratigraphy

Programme Area

  • Programme Area 5: Nature and Climate

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