Peak sea level during the warm Pliocene: Errors, limitations, and constraints

Re-evaluation of Pliocene sea levels indicates large errors (up to ±15 m), precluding firm estimates.Sea level appears to have peaked at ~10-20 m above present, consistent with some ice loss from the East Antarctic ice sheet (EAIS) as suggested by models and Antarctic sediments.More accurate estimates of Pliocene peak sea level require improved modeling techniques and proxy evaluation.The Pliocene recorded a period of global warmth and high sea level that can provide constraints on relationships among global climate, atmospheric CO 2 , and sea-level changes (Raymo et al. 2009(Raymo et al. , 2011;;Miller et al. 2012).Global surface temperatures during the most recent period of Pliocene warmth at ca. 3 Ma were 2-3°C warmer than the 20th century (Dowsett et al. 2013).Pliocene atmospheric CO 2 estimates of 400±25 ppmv (e.g.Bartoli et al. 2011) are similar to those observed today.