Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
Published on: July 3, 2016
Evidence for Glacial Control of Rapid Sea Level Changes in the Early Cretaceous
1Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
Abstract:
Lower Cretaceous bulk carbonate from deep sea sediments records sudden inputs of strontium resulting from the exposure of continental shelves. Strontium data from an interval spanning 7 million years in the Berriasian-Valanginian imply that global sea level fluctuated about 50 meters over time scales of 200,000 to 500,000 years, which is in agreement with the Exxon sea level curve. Oxygen isotope measurements indicate that the growth of continental ice sheets caused these rapid sea level changes. If glaciation caused all the rapid sea level changes in the Cretaceous that are indicated by the Exxon curve, then an Antarctic ice sheet may have existed despite overall climatic warmth.
Related Concept Videos
Global Climate Change
What is Evolutionary History?
The Fossil Record
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Cold Weather Concreting
To counteract the negative impacts of cold weather, ensuring...
Frost Action on Concrete
This freeze-thaw cycle primarily causes surface scaling, where...

