1. Sea Level Change
Aims: To understand the factors which cause sea levels to rise and fall.
To know about the last Ice Age and isostatic adjustment. To understand how emergent and submergent features form.

2. Specification

3. Define the key terms Use the textbook.
Relic cliff/coastline: Ancient cliff line/coastline which is exposed when sea level drops/falls(Eustatic fall)

4. Sea levels change on a day to day basis
Sea levels change on a day to day basis because of:
High and low tides alter the local sea level every few hours
Atmospheric air pressure has an influence on sea level—low air pressure causes a slight rise in sea
level
Winds can ‘push’ water towards a coast, and wave height varies from day to day
Weather and climate has an influence on sea level height as mentioned on the previous page.
Low pressure is caused by warm air rising and this lifts the sea level slightly.

5. Eustatic and Isostatic changes & Emergent and Submergent landforms

6. Glaciation and its link with sea level rise

8. Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)

9. Eustatic and isostatic changes during the last Ice Age

10. Isostatic Adjustment Scotland is rebounding upward in some
Places by 1.5mm per yr
England and Wales are subsiding at up to
1mm per yr.
Great Britain is slowly
pivoting upward in the north
and downward in the south.
Sea levels are slowly rising
therefore isostatic adjustment
compounds the effect in the
south and cancels it out in the
north.

11. Emergent Features

12. Emergent Features

13. Submergent Features

14. Barrier Island Formation – Coastal sand dune attach to the shoreline
Sea rise which floods the land behind the dune forming a lagoon
Dunes are not eroded and become islands
Sea level continues to rise and dune system moves landward.