Geophysical exploration for offshore evidence of relict shorelines on the northern coast of Ireland

Abstract

The current generation of postglacial Relative Sea Level (RSL) change simulations in formerly glaciated margins display significant deviations from field evidence. This is particularly true in Ireland where the RSL history is strongly controlled by the combined effects of local ice loading and the influence of adjacent ice masses over Britain and Fennoscandinavia. On the northern coast of Ireland, the resulting complex interplay between glacioisostatic rebound and eustatic sea-level rise is expressed as an oscillating postglacial RSL curve that comprises intervals with sea levels both above and below present. Whilst the details of the timing, magnitude and rates of these changes are subject to debate, the non-monotonic nature of postglacial RSL change in the region is a common feature across sea-level curves, irrespective of whether they are derived from glacial rebound modelling or the interpretation of field data.