A new record of Holocene sea-level change in the Thames Estuary and its implications for geophysical modelling

Much of our understanding of the processes related to landand
relative sea-level (RSL) movements comes from glacioisostatic
adjustment (GIA) models that are validated by RSL
reconstructions from coastal sedimentary records. These GIA
models play an important role in the prediction of the future rise
in sea level [1]. While there have been advancements in both
RSL reconstruction techniques and GIA models over the past
decade, there still exists disagreement of the order of metres
between the two. In other large estuaries in the UK, there has
been work to reconstruct RSL using high-precision microfossil
transfer functions and state-of-the-art tidal models to correct
for changes over time; however, neither of these have been
incorporated in the Thames [3] [4]. Additionally, the existent sealevel
data from the Thames is uneven in its spatial distribution
and the majority of the data is reliant on intercalated sediments,
which introduce large errors in RSL reconstructions (Figure 1).
Therefore, the overall aim of this study is to estimate the local
impacts of sediment compaction and tidal range change on this
and other RSL reconstructions in the Thames in order to provide
the best possible constraints for GIA models.