Total volume and temporal variation of meltwater from last glacial maximum inferred from sea-level observations at Barbados and Tahiti

It is very important to determine the temporal variation of meltwater volume from the last glacial maximum (LGM) for studying climate changes and for constraining mantle rheology. Sea-level observations have been obtained at Barbados (at the LGM and in late-glacial phase) and Tahiti (in late-glacial phase), and suggest that two events of rapid sea-level rise existed at about 14,000 and 11,000 calendar years before present. We examine the total meltwater volume and temporal variation of meltwater volume by comparing sea-level observations and predictions at Barbados and Tahiti. Comparison between observations and predictions for Barbados indicates that the total meltwater volume from the LGM is 103–117 m for eustatic sea-level rise. The predicted sea-level variations at Tahiti based on the ice model satisfying observations for Barbados are, however, inconsistent with late-glacial sea-level observations at Tahiti. Thus two events of rapid sea-level rise are not supported from the comparison between observations and predictions at Tahiti. More in situ observational data are required for the period from the LGM to late-glacial phase in order to study the relationship between rapid sea-level rise and climate change.