The objectives of this research are to take advance steps to assess the potential impacts of sea level rise on our nation's estuarine environments and water resources management. Specific engineering solutions to control salinity intrusion are studied. Structure measures such as construction of tidal barriers, tidal locks, and through long term stream flow augmentation are investigated for their suitability. Quantification of the extent of the impacts is accomplished by means of computer model simulations. A laterally integrated two-dimensional. time dependent. finite difference numerical model is used to study time-varying tidal height. current and salinity. Through a selected estuary. parametric studies on scenarios of projected sea level rise, stream flow, channel roughness, change in cross-section profile, etc. are performed in order to have an in-depth understanding of estuarine processes for cases such as present condition versus future sea level rise, with or without control measures. The results of the parametric studies are summarized and engineering applications of individual control methods are discussed. / Master of Science

Understanding the past sensitivity of ice sheets and sea level rise in a warmer climate is essential to future coastal planning under the threat of climate change, as accurately modeling impending scenarios depends primarily on data from the past. Extreme warm events during the Quaternary and Neogene periods hold much of the information needed to predict future global climate conditions due to anthropogenic and natural forcings, and may provide unique glimpses of how much future sea level rise can be expected on both short- and long-term timescales. Constraining global mean sea level (GMSL) during past warm periods becomes increasingly difficult the further back in time one goes, especially as precise dating of globally distributed paleoshorelines, along with long-term vertical displacement rates, is essential for establishing GMSL and ice volume history. However, placing chronological constraints on shorelines beyond the limit of U-series radiometric dating (~600 kyr), or at high latitude sites lacking coral, has remained elusive. Even relatively recent warm periods, such as the Last Interglacial (~117-129 ka) has proved challenging for reconstructing GMSL, primarily due to uncertainties in long-term vertical deformation rates and timing of when the highstand occurred. The first two chapters of this thesis address the dating of carbonate shorelines older than ~500 kyr through refinement of the strontium isotope stratigraphy dating methodology. I apply these techniques to a well-known location with numerous uplifted fossil shorelines (Cape Range, Western Australia) to provide the first geochemically derived ages on three fossil shorelines spanning the Pleistocene to the Miocene. Accurate dating and mapping at this location allows correction of long-term vertical displacement. In the last chapter, I use these rates of uplift, in conjunction with twenty new 230Th/U-ages on corals from Western Australia, to refine the timing and peak elevation of the Last Interglacial sea level highstand. Chapter 1 re-evaluates strontium isotope stratigraphy dating techniques for chronologically constraining fossil shorelines from ~0.5 to >30 Ma. Using marine terraces from South Africa, Western Australia, and the Eastern United States as examples, this chapter presents a refined sampling and dating methodology to overcome limitations on diagenetically altered samples, which are ubiquitous in older carbonate shorelines. Discussion on best practices for constraining maximum or minimum ages includes a novel scoring methodology for alteration and a sequential leaching procedure that is specifically suited for shallow-water biogenic carbonate fauna. In Chapter 2, I apply the revised strontium isotope stratigraphy dating methodology to three previously unknown aged terraces in Cape Range, Western Australia. The results obtained show Late-Miocene, Late-Pliocene and Mid-Pleistocene shorelines, which I then use to reconstruct the vertical uplift history of the anticlinal structure and relative rates of deformation. This study is the first to directly date the three terraces, and provides the deformation history necessary for constraining Last Interglacial sea level at Cape Range. In addition, we are able to place maximum relative sea level constraints on all three of these older shorelines. Chapter 3 builds upon the previous chapter by focusing on the Last Interglacial sea level history along ~300 km of coastline in Western Australia (Cape Range and Quobba). This chapter presents new U-series ages on multiple coral heads that are among the highest in-situ corals ever dated in Western Australia, with ages spanning from ~125.3 – 122.6 ka. Detailed geomorphic analysis, particularly at Cape Range, constrains the relative sea level highstand to 6.9 ± 0.4 m. When glacial isostatic adjustment models are applied to the age and elevation data, the resulting Eemian GMSL highstand occurred between 125.5-123.0 ka and reached an elevation between 4.9 and 6.7 m. This is later in the Interglacial and lower in elevation than many recent studies suggest. This dissertation focuses on refining sea level highstands from the Last Interglacial to the Late Miocene in a relatively small (but historically important) region of Western Australia. However, the methodologies presented here provide a powerful multi-proxy dating and mapping approach, which, when applied to regions with multiple marine terraces, can greatly improve the reliability of younger shoreline elevations by reducing neotectonic and dynamic topography uncertainties. The carbonate screening techniques and 87Sr/86Sr stratigraphy dating described here are applicable to a wide range of marine carbonates, with the ability to place accurate chronologic constraints on shorelines from 0.5 to >30 Ma. As I show in chapter 3, when combined with 230Th/U-dating on Late Pleistocene coral in places where multiple marine terraces exist, valuable long-term vertical deformation constraints can allow for far more accurate analysis of sea level in younger paleo shorelines (i.e. Last Interglacial).

The oceanic lithosphere makes up approximately two-thirds of the surface of the earth. Oceanic crust, which is underlain by lithospheric mantle, is formed at mid-ocean ridges and is shaped by a combination of igneous accretionary processes at and near the ridge axis, and post-emplacement tectonic and hydrothermal processes as it evolves. Through time the crust is covered by sediments, sealing it from the overlying ocean, which influences hydrothermal circulation and cooling in the lithosphere below. Finally, oceanic lithosphere is subsumed at subduction zones. In this thesis I utilize seismic data to investigate the oceanic lithosphere from formation to near subduction using seismic datasets from the East Pacific Rise (EPR) and the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate. In my first chapter I investigate the hypothesis that eustatic sea level fluctuations induced by the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene influence mantle-melting at mid-ocean ridges (MORs) using a unique bathymetry and crustal thickness dataset derived from a 3D multi-channel seismic (MCS) investigation of the East Pacific Rise from 9°42’ to 57’N. The results of this study show variations in crustal thickness and bathymetry at timescales associated with Pleistocene glacial cycles, supporting the inference that mantle melt supply to MOR may be modulated by sea level variations. Further investigations of the hypothesis that sea level variations may influence MOR dynamics are presented in appendices one and two. In appendix one I explore whether variations at the timescales of glacial cycles are apparent in MCS datasets from the intermediate spreading JdF ridge as well as bathymetry data from the fast spreading EPR. In appendix two I present a case study in which I re-examine the crustal thickness and bathymetry data from the northern EPR presented in chapter one in order to assess how fine-scale segmentation of the ridge axis appears in data, and compare different methodological approaches to describing MOR generated topography. In my second chapter I present results from a wide-angle controlled source seismic experiment conducted along a transect crossing the JdF plate from ~20 km east of the axis at the Endeavour segment of the JdF ridge to the Cascadia margin off of Washington state. I utilize a joint refraction-reflection traveltime inversion to generate a two-dimensional tomographic Vp model of the sediments, crust and upper mantle. Analysis of this Vp model, along with characterization of the basement topography along the transect, reveals three intervals (spanning millions of years) of distinct crust and upper mantle properties indicating a spatially heterogeneous JdF plate which is interpreted as inherited from changes in the mode of accretion at the paleo-JdF ridge, differences in plate interior processes, and deformation near the subduction zone. In my third chapter I present results of a MCS study of the sediment section conducted along a transect spanning ~350 km along the Cascadia margin from offshore southern Oregon to offshore Washington state. In this study I utilize prestack depth migrated MCS data to describe the reflectivity of the sediment section and invert for impedance and density. I also present results of amplitude variation with angle of incidence analysis conducted using pre-stack seismic gathers. Results indicate along margin variations in the characteristics of the sediments as well as complex changes in the stress state along the Cascadia margin. Synthesis of these analyses provides an in-depth assessment of patterns of sedimentation and properties of the sediment section as it experiences the effects of the onset of subduction.

Natural climate variability over the past hundreds of thousands of years provides a uniquewindow into the drivers and processes that connect different parts of our climate system. This thesis investigates interactions between Earth’s mantle, its oceans, and ice sheets over the Quaternary. The dominant process that connects these spheres is glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), which is the deformation of Earth’s mantle (and consequently its surface, gravity field, and sea level) in response to changes in ice and ocean mass loading. This dissertation focuses on time periods during which surface temperatures were warming or warmer than today to understand how these warm intervals affected ice sheets, permafrost, and sea level. I put my results in the context of current and future warming to improve predictions of future change and compare natural to anthropogenic variability. The thesis opens with an investigation of relative (i.e., local) sea level around Norway overthe last 16 thousand years (ka). Postglacial Norwegian sea level, though dominated by postglacial rebound and associated sea-level fall, is punctuated by two periods of sea-level rise. The causes of these episodes, named the ‘Tapes’ and ‘Younger Dryas’ transgressions, remain debated despite more than a century of study. I produce the first standardized and quality-controlled compilation of Norwegian sea-level data, then employ an ensemble of empirical Bayesian hierarchical statis- tical models to estimate relative sea level along the Norwegian coastline. The resulting model enables an examination of the relative contributions of isostatic rebound and global mean sea-level (GMSL) rise to the Tapes transgression, and lays the foundation for future applications such as in- version of sea-level data for Fennoscandian ice-sheet volume and the comparison of modern rates of Norwegian sea-level rise to pre-industrial rates. Chapter Two aims to better understand sea-level and Antarctic ice-sheet variability during the Holocene, which is the last time global temperatures may have exceeded early industrial (1850 CE) values. Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets likely retreated inland of their present- day extents during the Holocene, yet previous GMSL reconstructions suggest that Holocene GMSL never surpassed early industrial levels. I use relative sea-level observations, GIA predictions, and new estimates of postglacial thermosteric sea-level and mountain glacier evolution to show that the available evidence is consistent with GMSL that exceeded early industrial levels in the mid- Holocene (8-4 ka) and an Antarctic Ice Sheet that was smaller than present at some time in the last 6000 years. I also demonstrate that Antarctic ice retreat lags Antarctic temperature by 250 years, which highlights the vulnerability of the future Antarctic ice sheet to 20th and 21st century warming. Comparing our reconstruction to projections for the future indicates that GMSL rise in the next 125 years will very likely (?>0.9) be faster than at any time in the last 5000 years, and that by 2080 GMSL will more likely than not be the highest of any time in the past 115,000 years. In Chapter Three, I explore the effect of GIA on subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost forms when sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ∼1.8 million km² of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial–interglacial cycles control subsea permafrost distribution and thickness, yet no permafrost model has accounted for GIA, which leads to deviations of local sea level from the global mean. I incorporate GIA into a pan-Arctic model of subsea permafrost over the last 400,000 years. Including GIA significantly reduces estimates of present-day subsea permafrost thickness, chiefly because of hydro-isostatic effects and deformation related to Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. Additionally, I extend the simulation 1000 years into the future for emissions scenarios outlined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report. I find that subsea permafrost is preserved under a low-emissions scenario but mostly disappears under a high-emissions scenario. In the final chapter, I turn to the Last Interglacial (LIG, 129–116 ka), a time interval considered a partial analogue for future warming due to its elevated temperatures. Observations of oscillations in LIG local sea level, combined with an assumption that the Laurentide Ice Sheet collapsed prior to the LIG, have been used to infer Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheet melt histories as well as oscillations in LIG global mean sea level. However, evidence of a Laurentide Ice Sheet outburst flood at ∼125 ka suggests that Laurentide Ice Sheet remnants may have persisted longer into the LIG than typically thought. Here we explore the effect on LIG sea level of a Laurentide collapse that occurred during rather than prior to the LIG and a West Antarctic Ice Sheet that collapsed in the early LIG. We find that due to GIA, this asynchronous ice-sheet evolution produces a global pattern of sea-level oscillations that is similar to field observations. We demonstrate that the oscillation pattern can be produced by the combination of ongoing GIA from the penultimate deglaciation with the fingerprint of West Antarctic collapse. By showing that LIG Laurentide persistence would lead to an RSL oscillation that accords with field evidence, we highlight the need for LIG climate simulations to consider Laurentide ice-sheet dynamics and for more constraints on the LIG history of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.