Global glacial ice volume and Last Glacial Maximum duration from an extended Barbados sea level record

Fundamental characteristics of the climate system during the most recent precessional cycle of the Earth's orbit around the Sun consist of the final expansion of land ice to its maximum extent, the subsequent episode of deglaciation, and the variations of global sea level that accompanied these events. In order to address the important issue of the variation of continental ice volume and related changes in global sea level through the late glacial period, we employ an extended set of observations of the pre-glacial and postglacial history of sea-level rise at the island of Barbados, together with a refined model of continental deglaciation and an accurate methodology for the prediction of postglacial sea-level change. Although our results provide unambiguous evidence that the post LGM rise of eustatic sea-level was very close to the widely supported estimate of 120 m, the data also provide evidence that LGM must have occurred 26,000 years ago, approximately 5000 yr earlier than the usually assumed age.     

黄土沉积与地球圈层相互作用

黄土是地球上分布最为广泛的沉积物之一,黄土的分布区也是旱作农业起源地和古文明的发祥地,养育了地球上数以亿计的人口。作为一种风力搬运的沉积物,黄土也是古气候变化的重要信息载体。长期以来,中外科学家已经对黄土的物理学、地球化学、沉积学、古气候学等开展了多学科的综合研究,取得了瞩目的成就。本文旨在从地球系统科学角度出发,将黄土物质的产生、搬运、堆积及沉积后的成土过程与地球岩石圈、水圈(包括冰冻圈)、大气圈、生物圈的演化联系起来,将黄土作为一个窗口,揭示出看似单一的地质事件(黄土沉积)与地球圈层相互作用之间的内在关联。     

海洋中氟氯烃的研究进展

研究海洋中的氟氯烃对全球气候变化和海洋环流的研究有重要意义.氟氯烃不仅是温室气体,还破坏大气平流层中的臭氧,也是近代海洋科学研究的有效工具,可以作为化学示踪剂,广泛用于示踪海洋环流、水团运动混合过程、海洋通风过程,测定水团年龄、海水混合和循环速率以及海气交换速率等的研究.对过去几十年海洋中氟氯烃的研究进展进行了评述,介绍了海水中氟氯烃的分布特征与通量研究、氟氯烃在海洋中的应用及分析方法,同时简述了大气中氟氯烃的分布特征.概述了该研究领域有待进一步研究的问题.     

Glacial rebound and relative sea levels in Europe from tide-gauge records

Relative sea levels recorded by tide gauges during the past century in northern Europe are dominated by isostatic readjustment of the land following the latest deglaciation of Scandinavia and Scotland. Maximum relative uplift of the land is centered near the northern Gulf of Bothnia (at a rate of 6–7 mm/yr), with a smaller secondary maximum over Scotland (also at a rate of 6–7 mm/yr). Although there probably is a relaxing peripheral bulge surrounding the regions of maximum uplift, such a former bulge is poorly defined by coastal tide gauges; in the North Sea evidence for sinking of a former peripheral bulge of glacial origin is complicated by post-Carboniferous basin deepening with sediment loading and possible rejuvenation associated with glaciation. Other data (gravity, radiocarbon, geomorphology) support the interpretation that glacial isostasy controls the structure of relative sea-level change. Included in this pattern of relative rise of land is a eustatic signal that biases the estimates of glacial rebound. Such a eustatic signal could not be isolated from the isostatic signal using the present data, but glacial isostasy clearly is a major control for relative sea levels of the region.

Absence of significant higher frequency (2–50 yr) cycles in mean annual sea levels of northern Europe reflects the complex hydrologic/oceanographic forces to which sea levels must respond. Whereas other coastal regions show significant higher frequency peaks in the energy spectra of relative sea levels, the many marginal seas in northern Europe preclude a clear relation between hydrologic/oceanographic forcing and relative sea levels, although this relation must exist on a more local scale.     

The mode and mechanism of the last deglaciation: Oceanic evidence

Changes in ocean temperature, carbonate productivity, and ice-rafted detritus in the North Atlantic suggest that half of the Northern Hemisphere ice volume at the last glacial maximum had disappeared by 13,000 yr B.P., despite the still-extensive limits of the ice sheets. This early thinning of the ice sheets occurred during a time when summer insolation values were slowly rising but when pollen evidence south of the ice margins indicates cold, dry air masses. We infer that this rapid early ice disintegration (16,000–13,000 yr B.P.) was caused by oceanic mechanisms: (1) rising sea level, causing increased calving along ice margins; (2) the chilling of the sea-surface by icebergs and meltwater, reducing moisture extraction by the atmosphere and transport to the ice sheets; and (3) winter freezing of the low-salinity meltwater layer, suppressing local moisture extraction and the regional influx of moisture-bearing storms from lower latitudes in winter and hence starving the ice sheets. These oceanic feedback mechanisms were strongest from 16,000 to 13,000 yr B.P., and weaker but still active from that date until the end of deglaciation at 6000 yr B.P.     

全球冰-海洋耦合模式的海冰模拟

海冰是全球气候系统的重要分量 ,与大气和海洋的相互作用 ,直接影响大气环流和海洋环流 ,对气候及其变化具有重要影响。文中依据冰、海洋间的热力、动力耦合相互作用 ,改进冰海洋热力耦合方案 ,利用由中国科学院大气物理研究所的 30层海洋模式和基于Flato空化流体流变学的海冰动力模式和Hibler表面热收支平衡的零层海冰热力模式 ,建立全球冰海洋耦合模式。利用大气月平均气候资料 ,利用冰海洋耦合模式对全球海冰的分布及其季节性变化、海冰漂移进行了耦合模拟和分析。模拟的南半球海冰分布及季节变化与实际分析资料非常接近 ,比 2 0层冰海洋耦合模式的结果有显著改进。北半球海冰范围偏小 ,但季节变化的量值与实际相当一致。模拟的海冰速度场反映了南、北半球海冰漂移的主要特征 ,如北极的穿极漂流和南大洋的绕极环流等。对海冰密集度的分析表明 ,模拟结果得以改进原因在于改进的冰海洋热力耦合方案增强了融冰期冰海洋耦合系统海洋热通量增加—密集度减小—能量收支增加的正反馈机制。     

Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: a marine perspective

Detailed investigations of high latitude sequences recently collected by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) indicate that periods of rapid climate change often culminated in brief transient climates, with more extreme conditions than subsequent long term climates. Two examples of such events have been identified in the Paleogene; the first in latest Paleocene time in the middle of a warming trend that began several million years earlier: the second in earliest Oligocene time near the end of a Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene global cooling trend. Superimposed on the earlier event was a sudden and extreme warming of both high latitude sea surface and deep ocean waters. Imbedded in the latter transition was an abrupt decline in high latitude temperatures and the brief appearance of a full size continental ice-sheet on Antarctica. In both cases the climate extremes were not stable, lasting for less than a few hundred thousand years, indicating a temporary or transient climate state. Geochemical and sedimentological evidence suggest that both Paleogene climate events were accompanied by reorganizations in ocean circulation, and major perturbations in marine productivity and the global carbon cycle. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum was marked by reduced oceanic turnover and decreases in global delta 13C and in marine productivity, while the Early Oligocene glacial maximum was accompanied by intensification of deep ocean circulation and elevated delta 13C and productivity. It has been suggested that sudden changes in climate and/or ocean circulation might occur as a result of gradual forcing as certain physical thresholds are exceeded. We investigate the possibility that sudden reorganizations in ocean and/or atmosphere circulation during these abrupt transitions generated short-term positive feedbacks that briefly sustained these transient climatic states.     

Late Quaternary glacio- and hydro-isostasy, on a layered earth

Isostatic response of the Earth to changes in Quaternary Times of ice and water loads is partly elastic, and partly involves viscous mantle flow. The relaxation spectrum of the Earth, critical for estimation of the mantle flow component, is estimated from published determinations of Fennoscandian and Laurentide rebound, and of the nontidal acceleration of the Earth's rotation. The spectrum is consistent with an asthenosphere viscosity around 10²¹P, and a viscosity around 10²³P below 400 km depth. Calculation of relaxation effects is done by convoluting the load history with the response function in spherical harmonics for global effects, and in rectangular or cylindrical transforms for smaller regional effects. Broad-scale deformation of the globe, resulting from the last deglaciation and sea level rise, is calculated to have involved an average depression of ocean basins of about 8 m, and mean upward movement of continents of about 16 m, relative to the center of the Earth, in the last 7000 yr. Deflection in the ocean margin “hinge zone” varies with continental shelf geometry and rigidity of the underlying lithosphere: predictions are made for different model cases. The computational methods is checked by predicting Fennoscandian and Laurentide postglacial warping, from published estimates of icecap histories, with good results. The depth variations of shorelines formed around 17,000 BP (e.g., North America, 90–130 m; Australia, 130–170 m), are largely explainable in terms of combined elastic and relaxation isostasy. Differences between Holocene eustatic records from oceanic islands (Micronesia, Bermuda), and continental coasts (eastern North America, Australia), are largely but not entirely explained in the same terms.     

Predicted relative sea-level changes (18,000 years B.P. to present) caused by late-glacial retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Predictions of global changes in relative sea level caused by retreat of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from its 18,000 yr B.P. maximum to its present size are calculated numerically. When combined with the global predictions of relative sea-level change resulting from retreat of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, the results may be compared directly to observations of sea-level change on the Antarctic continent as well as at distant localities. The comparison of predictions to the few observations of sea-level change on Antarctica supports the view that the Antarctic Ice Sheet was larger 18,000 years ago than at present. The contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the total eustatic sea-level rise is assumed to be 25 m (25% of the assumed total eustatic rise). If as little as 0.7 m of this 25-m rise occurred between 5000 yr B.P. and the present, few mid-oceanic islands would emerge. If the Antarctic Ice Sheet attained its present dimensions by 6000 yr B.P., however, and if the volume of the ocean has remained constant for the past 5000 years, numerous islands throughout the Southern Hemisphere would emerge. It is suggested that a thorough study of Pacific islands, believed by some to have slightly emerged shorelines of Holocene age, would yield useful information about ocean volume changes during the past 5000 years, and hence on the glacial history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.     

Sensitivity of the Northern Hemisphere climate system to extreme changes in Holocene Arctic sea ice

The extent of seasonal and perennial sea ice changed dramatically through the Late Quaternary and these changes influenced both the ocean and atmosphere by controlling the exchange of energy, moisture and gases between them, and by altering the planetary albedo. Reconstructing the changing patterns of sea ice distribution in the recent past remains one of the outstanding challenges to the paleo-community. To evaluate the importance of these reconstructions we performed sensitivity tests using NCAR's Community Climate Model (CCM3), and a series of prescribed sea ice extents designed to capture the full range of Arctic sea ice variability under interglacial (Holocene) and full glacial (Last Glacial Maximum) boundary conditions. Our simulations indicate that surface temperatures and sea level pressures in winter (DJF) are most sensitive to changes in sea ice, and that these changes are propagated over the surrounding land masses in the North Atlantic, but that equivalent changes in sea ice produce smaller corresponding changes in temperature or sea level pressure in the North Pacific region. A comparison between CLIMAP (Map Chart Series MC-36, Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, 1981) and a more realistic assessment of LGM sea ice yields dramatic changes in winter temperatures and precipitation patterns across Eurasia. These differences, forced only by changed sea ice conditions, reinforce the need to develop accurate maps of past sea ice to correctly simulate Late Quaternary environments. Such reconstructions also will be essential to validate the next generation of sea ice models.     

A hypothesis for the sawlike pattern of world sea-level fluctuations

A theory of the world's sea-level fluctuations during late Pleistocene time, based on the analysis of the general equation of the mass balance between ocean water and inland water, suggests that the exchange of water masses between the ocean and the land, where at continental glaciation periods water is stored as ice, occurs only as a result of global climatic changes. The tectonic effect is considered insignificant for late Pleistocene time. The proposed theory explains the asymmetric character and the sawlike shape of the curve of the main cycles of sea-level fluctuations. The theory also makes it possible to construct a diagram of sea-level fluctuations from the last glacial maximum to the present time. This diagram is governed by two parameters, the amount of the average “effective” evaporation from the world's ocean surface (evaporation minus rainfall) and the rate of the sea-level rise at the present time. The resulting theoretical curve agrees well with known estimates of sea level within the time span being considered. The comparison of the theoretical curve with these estimates eliminates the apparent discrepancy between data obtained by different methods: measurements of old coastline and the isotopic composition of bottom sediments.     

南海西南次海盆扩张期热液循环与洋壳增生的数值模拟

洋壳厚度受多方面因素的影响，前人大多关注地幔温度、地幔源成分等岩石圈深部因素，很少关注岩石圈浅层的热液循环对洋壳厚度的影响。利用基于有限元的数值模拟手段，对扩张期不同背景(洋中脊、拆离断层)、不同扩张速率的热液循环与洋壳增生的关系进行研究。结果表明：洋壳增生达到稳定前，热液循环导致理论洋壳厚度发生阶段性减薄，减薄量随时间改变，并且推迟了上地幔中熔融体出现的时间；当洋壳增生达到稳定后，热液循环下产生的理论洋壳厚度反而比无热液循环的更厚。结合洋壳增生过程中对流热通量的变化分析，在洋壳增生前期的上地幔温度低，驱动热液循环的热源小，产生的对流热通量相对较小且不稳定，热液循环缓慢冷却上地幔顶部的温度，进而推迟上地幔初始熔融的时间，减弱上地幔的熔融，并造成一定时间阶段内的生成理论洋壳比正常理论洋壳厚度更薄；当洋壳增生达到稳定后，对流热通量达到最大并稳定，热液循环持续快速的冷却上地幔顶部温度，导致上地幔深部的热向上地幔顶部补给，反而增大了上地幔顶部的温度和熔融量，进而增大了理论洋壳厚度。随着扩张速率的增大，理论洋壳厚度增大，对流热通量增大，热液循环导致的洋壳阶段性减薄的最大减薄量也增大，阶段性减薄的时间缩短。结合南海西南次海盆的洋壳结构特征分析：两条横跨南海西南次海盆的地震剖面显示，海盆内存在异常薄的洋壳区域，并且两条地震剖面的最薄洋壳厚度相差0. 85 km,推测海盆内异常薄洋壳和不同扩张时期的最薄洋壳厚度差异受到扩张期热液循环阶段性减薄洋壳作用的影响。     

关于厄尔尼诺成因的新认识

据前人统计,厄尔尼诺出现于地球自转速度急剧变慢的第二年。造成这种现象的主因,是地球间歇性不对称膨胀,引起自转速度几年一次的准周期性急剧变慢。在该时期南北半球岩石圈产生强烈的离开赤道的体力,使赤道地区发生东西向张性断裂活动。位于阻力较小的软流层之上的太平洋岩石圈,不仅规模大、动力强,而且存在着东太平洋海隆薄弱带,并与秘鲁海沟应变空间毗邻,故现今太平洋东部赤道地区的东西向张性断裂最为发育,形成规模宏大的卡内基断裂带和加拉帕戈斯断裂带。它们活动促使海底的岩浆和热水喷溢,导致厄尔尼诺的海水升温多从秘鲁－厄尔多尔沿岸开始。地球自转速度变慢过程中,赤道地区的大气和海水获得较多的向东角动量,造成该地区的信风和向西流动洋流减弱、东太平洋冷水上翻涌升流衰缓,加速赤道东太平流海域温度变暖,助长厄尔尼诺的形成。全球大气角动量的季节性变化,也引起地球自转速度冬季慢夏季快的周年项变化,使厄尔尼诺年增温盛期一般出现于年末前后。     

季节性海冰驱动的冰期北大西洋“电容器”效应

第四纪冰期的千年尺度气候突变事件——Dansgaard-Oeschger Event (D-O事件),一直是古气候学领域关注的重点。近年来,数值模拟的研究发现,北大西洋副极地地区年际-年代际气候变率的振幅在D-O事件中的冰阶冷期远大于间冰阶暖期,这一现象为理解该区域海温代理指标的气候学意义提供了重要参考价值,但其动力机制尚不清晰。本文利用海气耦合气候模型(COSMOS),通过模拟氧同位素(MIS)3阶段的一个典型D-O事件过程,探讨了冰阶冷期北大西洋气候变率的放大机制。结果显示,北大西洋副极地海域的季节性海冰通过调控海气间热量交换,影响当地气候变率的幅度。冰阶期,热带暖水向北输送导致海洋次表层逐渐升温,削弱了表层-次表层海水的密度层结,有利于次表层暖水上涌,促进海冰融化及海表温度升高。这将激发出海平面气压的负异常,引起气旋式风切变,并通过Ekman抽吸作用加速表层-次表层海水的垂直混合,进一步促进次表层暖水的上涌。这一正反馈机制造成海洋次表层热量的迅速释放,海表温度快速升高。当次表层热量释放结束后,海表将无暖水补充,导致海表温度下降,海冰增多。该过程激发的海表气压正异常(即反气旋式风切变)将抑制垂直混合发生,促进次表层热量积累,为下一次放热过程提供条件。在间冰阶暖期,随着北大西洋季节性海冰消失,海气间热交换不再受海冰变化影响,海洋次表层与大气间的热交换始终处于准平衡态,气候变率的振幅显著下降。本研究结果显示,北大西洋季节性海冰的存在可以调控海洋次表层热量积累-释放的过程,产生“电容器”效应,这对理解冰期年际-年代际气候变率放大现象有重要启示意义。     

南海沉积物中的黏土矿物:指示东亚季风演化历史?

黏土矿物以其示踪洋流变化和揭示物源区同时期气候变化的能力,近年来在南海沉积古环境研究中的地位日益显现。但是,南海黏土矿物能否用于直接指示东亚季风演化历史的研究仍然颇为争议。本研究认为,南海黏土矿物主要受控于物源区供给和洋流搬运作用,黏土矿物本身不具同时期气候条件特征。以南海北部为例,珠江、台湾和吕宋岛这三个主要物源区无论是冰期还是间冰期都提供相同的黏土矿物组合,这些黏土矿物在输入到南海后分别受到不同洋流的搬运。因此,南海晚第四纪黏土矿物组合用于指示东亚季风演化历史的应用是通过洋流的搬运作用来实现的,在不同海区的应用效果不同。     

Research Progress of Long-term Ocean Temperature Changes in the Southern Ocean

In the recent decades， a large amount of anthropogenic heat has been absorbed and stored in the Southern Ocean. Results from observations and climate models' simulations both show that the Southern Ocean displays large warming in the upper and subsurface ocean that maximizes at 45°~40°S. However， the underlying mechanisms and evolution processes of the Southern Ocean temperature changes remain unclear， leaving the Southern Ocean to be a hotspot of climate change studies in the recent years. The present study summarized the current progress in the observations and numerical modeling of long-term temperature changes in the Southern Ocean. The effects of changes in wind， surface heat flux， sea-ice and other factors on the ocean temperature changes were presented， along with the introduction to the role of oceanic mean circulation and eddies. The present study further proposed that a deepening of the understanding in the Southern Ocean temperature change may be achieved by investigating the fast and slow responses of the Southern Ocean to external radiative forcing， which are respectively associated with the fast adjustments of the ocean mixed-layer and the slow evolution of the deep ocean. Specifically， the striking and fast mixed-layer ocean warming north of 50°S is tightly related to the surface heat absorption over upwelling regions and wind-driven meridional heat transport， resulting in enhanced warming around 45°S. While in the slow response of the Southern Ocean temperature， the enhanced ocean warming shifts southward and downward， mainly associating with the heat transfer from oceanic eddies. The Southern Ocean temperature has pronounced climatic effects on many aspects， such as global energy balance， sea-level rise， ocean stratification changes， regional surface warming and atmospheric circulation changes. However， large model biases/deficiencies in simulating the present-day climatology and essential ocean dynamic processes last in generations of climate models， which are the main challenge in advancing our understanding in the mechanisms for the Southern Ocean climate changes. Therefore， to achieve reliable future projections of the Southern Ocean climate， substantial efforts will be needed to improve the model performances and physical understanding in the relative role of various processes in ocean temperature changes at different time scales.     

Modeling ocean–atmosphere carbon budgets during the Last Glacial Maximum–Heinrich 1 meltwater event–Bølling transition

Benthic carbon isotope data indicate that the rate of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation and the mode of oceanic thermohaline circulation (THC) varied considerably across the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Heinrich 1 meltwater event (MWE) and, subsequently, to the Bølling warm period. We simulate changes in the Ocean-atmosphere carbon cycle induced by and linked to these oceanic fluctuations by means of a carbon cycle box model which resolves the major oceanic basins. The output from an ocean general circulation model (OGCM), which is forced by observed or reconstructed boundary conditions at its surface, serves to constrain the physical parameters of the carbon cycle model. The OGCM depicts three modes of Atlantic THC: an interglacial mode with vigorous NADW formation; a glacial mode with active, although weaker (-65%) NADW formation; and an MWE mode characterized by the complete lack of NADW formation. The carbon cycle model is forced from the LGM scenario into the MWE and finally into the Bølling interstadial. The glacial circulation mode accounts for approximately half (i.e., 37Dž µatm, depending on parameterization of biological productivity) of the observed glacial reduction in atmospheric CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂). Approximately 70% of this pCO₂ decline is linked to changes in sea-surface temperature and salinity. The MWE circulation mode has only a small effect on atmospheric pCO₂ (ǃ µatm) but goes along with a massive redistribution of carbon from the Indo-Pacific and Southern oceans to the Atlantic Ocean, which stores 85NJ Gt (gigatons) excess carbon during the MWE. The onset of NADW formation after a meltwater event, has the potential to release 81Lj Gt carbon from the model ocean to the atmosphere, corresponding to an atmospheric pCO₂ increase by 38Dž µatm, equivalent to approximately half of the modern, man-made pCO₂ load.     

Global changes in postglacial sea level: A numerical calculation

The sea-level rise due to ice-sheet melting since the last glacial maximum was not uniform everywhere because of the deformation of the Earth's surface and its geoid by changing ice and water loads. A numerical model is employed to calculate global changes in relative sea level on a spherical viscoelastic Earth as northern hemisphere ice sheets melt and fill the ocean basins with meltwater. Predictions for the past 16,000 years explain a large proportion of the global variance in the sea-level record, particularly during the Holocene. Results indicate that the oceans can be divided into six zones, each of which is characterized by a specific form of the relative sea-level curve. In four of these zones emerged beaches are predicted, and these may form even at considerable distance from the ice sheets themselves. In the remaining zones submergence is dominant, and no emerged beaches are expected. The close agreement of these predictions with the data suggests that, contrary to the beliefs of many, no net change in ocean volume has occurred during the past 5000 years. Predictions for localities close to the ice sheets are the most in error, suggesting that slight modifications of the assumed melting history and/or the rheological model of the Earth's interior are necessary.     

Spatial Distribution of Contourites in Global Ocean and Its Paleoclimatic Significance—The Contribution of International Ocean Drilling to the Studies of Contourites

Contourite is one of the most important type of sediments in the global ocean, which has recorded significant information on paleoclimatic changes. It is also of great importance for ocean engineering and marine hydrocarbon exploration. The development of scientific ocean drilling, especially the “Integrated Ocean Drilling Program” and the undergoing “International Ocean Discovery Program”, has made great contribution in mapping the spatial distribution of contourites and revealing contourite-related paleoclimatic information, through coring and geophysical exploration in the global ocean. It is found that the global distribution of contourites is controlled predominantly by the global deep-water circulation while its distribution in a specific region can be affected by the intensity of deep currents, tectonic activities, sediment supply, and so on. The geological changes in the global deep-water circulation is, however, further affected by tectonic activities, origins of water masses, as well as climate changes, e.g. the Cenozoic global cooling, changes in the size of the northern hemisphere ice caps, and intensity of monsoon. The main controlling factors of deep water circulation vary with different regions.     

Nd isotope composition of conodonts: An accurate proxy of sea-level fluctuations

Analyses of the Nd isotope composition of conodonts from the Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Montagne Noire (France) and the Rhenohercynian domain (Germany) provide insight into the temporal and lateral variations in seawater geochemistry in the western part of the Variscan Sea during the Late Devonian. Most of the isotopic excursions accurately record changes in sea level. The ε_Nd values decreased during regression phases when erosion accelerated supply of unradiogenic Nd from old continental sources. A rise in sea level generated a positive shift in ε_Nd values due to input of more radiogenic oceanic water into the seawater reservoir of the shelf areas. The method has great potential for sea-level research, paleoceanography and correlation because sea-level changes can be precisely recognized even in successions with uniform, monotonous lithologies. However, it has a significant limitation being valid only in epeiric seas and shelf areas. We have used the Nd isotope record to reconstruct the eustatic sea-level changes in late Frasnian–early Famennian time. The onset of the organic-rich Kellwasser units coincides with negative trends in ε_Nd values. This accords with oxygen deficiency at the sea bottom being initiated by short-term regressive events, which in turn would be consistent with cooling periods of glacial origin, as previous authors have suggested.