The effect of Earth’s rotation on the mid Holocene sea-level highstand

The effect of Earth’s rotation on the mid Holocene sea-level highstand | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The effect of Earth’s rotation on the mid Holocene sea-level highstand Daniele Melini, Giorgio Spada, Barbara Mauz This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract At the end of the last deglaciation, sea level rose in some locations and fell in others. This well-documented Earth response to ice unloading and water loading called glacio-isostatic adjustment, is geophysically well-described, but the spatio-temporal distribution of rise and fall observations is unclear. Here, we aim to elucidate the Holocene sea-level highstand frequently observed in the far-field of the former ice sheets by analysing the specific feedback mechanism by which Earth’s rotation affects sea level. By assessing the role of this rotational feedback in four models simulating the deglacial glacio-isostatic adjustment processes, we identify the height of the highstand as rotationally controlled or enhanced in the SW Atlantic, NE Pacific and N Indian Ocean, and rotationally weakened or suppressed in the southern Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Holocene relative sea-level proxy data broadly confirm this spatial pattern. Thus, Earth’s rotation is a driving mechanism which modulates the impact of other concurrent glacio-isostatic adjustment processes and, hence, shapes the observed deglacial relative sea-level histories. Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Geodynamics Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Sedimentology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files MelinietalRSLproxydatabase.xlsx RSL proxy database Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7628402","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":517709176,"identity":"5cc3f953-81e2-4731-aa71-2db3126708a0","order_by":0,"name":"Daniele Melini","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5383-2375","institution":"Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniele","middleName":"","lastName":"Melini","suffix":""},{"id":517709177,"identity":"965d5520-ea27-4add-9a19-b348215c95f2","order_by":1,"name":"Giorgio Spada","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7615-4709","institution":"Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Augusto Righi, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Giorgio","middleName":"","lastName":"Spada","suffix":""},{"id":517709175,"identity":"c041ff57-38fa-47ee-951a-a63937242c53","order_by":2,"name":"Barbara Mauz","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABBElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGNgTvA4MFiVoYZzBIIEkQo4WZhxgt5uxnnz34uceOQbf9jPFn2x0SifMbmB9+YKj5g1OLZU+6uWHPs2QGszM5Bsa5ZyQSNxxgM5ZgOIbHYQfS2CR4DjAzmB3IMUjObQNqYWAwA7oWj5bzz9gk/xyoZzA7/8bgsGUbyGHs3xgY/uHRciONTZrnwGEGsxs5hs2MQC0NB3jMGBjbcGuxnPGM3VjmwHEesxvPihl7z0gYbzjMUyyR2GeMU4s5fxrbwzcHquXMzidv/vBzh43s/Pb2jR8+fJPDqQUGeMAkYwOQYAbiBIIaYACsZRSMglEwCkYBGgAAPzJPW5rTHKsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1504-333X","institution":"Department of Environment and Biodiversity, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Barbara","middleName":"","lastName":"Mauz","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-16 09:14:42","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105835838,"identity":"c0092c41-6dd1-49f4-a039-1ee39a1edbbf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-31 15:28:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":6070685,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Melinietalmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7628402/v1_covered_2b2935b8-5fae-48a8-b8d8-7d1871bb5a62.pdf"},{"id":94455981,"identity":"83b6f6a3-87d4-4445-937e-6d8e4f068a77","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 14:44:05","extension":"xlsx","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":44647,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"RSL proxy database","description":"","filename":"MelinietalRSLproxydatabase.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7628402/v1/8109c902a7c611dba8c5e67a.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"The effect of Earth’s rotation on the mid Holocene sea-level highstand","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"At the end of the last deglaciation, sea level rose in some locations and fell in others. This well-documented Earth response to ice unloading and water loading called glacio-isostatic adjustment, is geophysically well-described, but the spatio-temporal distribution of rise and fall observations is unclear. Here, we aim to elucidate the Holocene sea-level highstand frequently observed in the far-field of the former ice sheets by analysing the specific feedback mechanism by which Earth’s rotation affects sea level. By assessing the role of this rotational feedback in four models simulating the deglacial glacio-isostatic adjustment processes, we identify the height of the highstand as rotationally controlled or enhanced in the SW Atlantic, NE Pacific and N Indian Ocean, and rotationally weakened or suppressed in the southern Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Holocene relative sea-level proxy data broadly confirm this spatial pattern. Thus, Earth’s rotation is a driving mechanism which modulates the impact of other concurrent glacio-isostatic adjustment processes and, hence, shapes the observed deglacial relative sea-level histories.","manuscriptTitle":"The effect of Earth’s rotation on the mid Holocene sea-level highstand","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-27 11:41:18","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7628402/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-earth-and-environment","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commsenv","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Earth and Environment](https://www.nature.com/commsenv/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Communications Earth \u0026 Environment","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Communications Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"26a5d1bd-2f57-41d4-8854-14d9ac4af486","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 27th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":55020741,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Geodynamics"},{"id":55020742,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Sedimentology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-27T11:41:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-27 11:41:18","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7628402","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7628402","identity":"rs-7628402","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}