Marine Isotope Stage 5 or MIS 5 is a marine isotope stage in the geologic temperature record, between 130,000 and 80,000 years ago. Sub-stage MIS 5e corresponds to the Last Interglacial, also called the Eemian (in Europe) or Sangamonian (in North America), the last major

interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...

period before the

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

, which extends to the present day. Interglacial periods which occurred during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

are investigated to better understand present and future climate variability. Thus, the present interglacial, the Holocene, is compared with MIS 5 or the interglacials of Marine Isotope Stage 11.

Substages

MIS 5, is divided into substages, divided alphabetically or with a numeric system for referring to "horizons" (events rather than periods), with MIS 5.5 representing the peak point of MIS 5e, and 5.51, 5.52 etc. representing the peaks and troughs of the record at a still more detailed level.

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, called the Eemian (Ipswichian in Britain) around 124,000–119,000 years ago, was the last interglacial period before the present (Holocene), and compared global mean surface temperatures were at least warmer. Mean sea level was higher than at present, following reductions of the Greenland ice sheet. Fossil reef proxies indicate sea level fluctuations of up to around the mean. Based on the data obtained from stable oxygen isotopes of planktonic foraminifera and age constraints from corals, estimates suggest average rates of sea-level rise of per century. The findings are important to understand current climate change, because global mean temperatures during MIS-5e were similar to the projected climate change today. A 2015 study by

sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

experts concluded that based on MIS 5e data, sea level rise could accelerate in the coming decades, with a doubling time of 10, 20 or 40 years. The study abstract explains: A 2018 study based on cave formations in the Mediterranean Sea found sea level rise of up to 6 meters, noting "The results suggest that if the pre-industrial temperature will be surpassed by 1.5 to 2°C, sea level will respond and rise above present sea level." Evidence from

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

suggest powerful storm activity at the time, strong enough for wave-transported megaboulders, lowland chevron storm ridges, and wave runup deposits.

Other sub-stages

The Eemian was followed by a sharp decline in temperature around 116,000 years ago and the warmer MIS 5c, from around 100,000 years ago, probably the period known as the Chelford Interstadial in Britain. Cooling from around 90,000 years ago was followed by the warmer MIS 5a, around 80,000 years ago, called in Britain the Brimpton Interstadial. From MIS 5c to MIS 5a, or from about 104,000 to 82,000 years ago, the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) declined in overall intensity.

References

{{reflist, 2 MIS 05 Glaciology Paleoclimatology Paleogeography Paleoceanography Interglacials

Substages

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e

Other sub-stages

See also

References