The rise and fall of sea level can be local or global.
The shorelines of the world serve as our barometer of sea level change.
During periods of lowered sea level, areas that were offshore are exposed
to agents of erosion. When sea level rises, coastal areas are flooded
and river valleys drowned.
Some
causes of sea level change
- Local
short-term changes:
Trade winds can pile up water at one end of an ocean. - Local
long-term changes:
Tectonic activity can cause shorelines to sink into the sea or to be pushed upward. - Global
sea level changes:
continental glacial melting or growth
The previous unit, The Changing Tides, focused on short-term changes in sea level. In this lesson we focus on long-term global sea level changes caused by ice-volume changes.
