ABSTRACT
The dynamic nature of Late Quaternary sea level changes was largely the result of several interacting isostatic, eustatic and tectonic processes. Isostatic changes relate to the condition of equilibrium established by the Earth's lithosphere, which essentially ‘floats’ on the asthenosphere (Fairbridge 1983). Eustatic sea level changes represent changes in the shape and level of the surface of the world's oceans that exist in equilibrium with the gravity field of the Earth. Vertical changes in this surface may be due to water volume changes (glacioeustatic), to changes in the shape of the equipotential surface (geoidal-eustatic) and to changes in the shape of the ocean basins (tectono-eustatic) (Fairbridge 1983). Tectonic changes, by themselves, refer to vertical crustal movements that may locally affect the position of relative sea level (Table 12.1).
