True polar wander as a mechanism for second-order sea-level variations
Long-term wander of the rotation pole can be a significant contributor to second-order (time scales of approximately 100 million years) sea-level variations. Numerical predictions based on realistic viscoelastic Earth models and paleomagnetically constrained polar motion yield global-scale, differential sea-level trends that can be as large as approximately 200 meters. From the results presented here, it is argued that the well-documented, second-order, Cretaceous-Tertiary sea-level cycle should be reinterpreted as some combination of a eustatic and a regionally varying rotational signal.
Mound
JE
Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 Saint George Street, Toronto, M5S 1A7, Canada.
Mitrovica
JX