Paleontologists discover solid evidence of formerly elusive abrupt sea-level jump
Meltwater pulses (MWPs) known as abrupt sea-level rise due to injection of melt water are of particular interests to scientists to investigate the interactions between climatic, oceanic and glacial systems. Eustatic sea-level rise will inevitably affect cities especially those on coastal plains of low elevation like Hong Kong. A recent study published in Quaternary Science Reviews presented evidence of abrupt sea level change between 11,300-11,000 years ago in the Arctic Ocean. The study was conducted by Ms Skye Yunshu Tian, Ph.D. student of School of Biological Sciences and Swire Institute of Marine Science, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) during her undergraduate final year project in the Ecology & Biodiversity Major, solving the puzzle of second largest meltwater pulse (labelled as "MWP-1B" next to the largest and already well understood MWP-1A).