A critical review of mid- to late-Holocene sea-level fluctuations on the eastern Brazilian coastline

The eastern coast of Brazil is 7000 km long and has been the subject of systematic paleo-sea-level investigations for more than 35 years. More than 1000 samples have been radiocarbon dated, and paleo-sea-level trends have been determined for 14 coastal sectors. These trends have in common a mid-Holocene sea-level maximum (PMT) above present sea-level and a subsequent fall to the present time. The time and elevation of the PMT, the time when relative sea-level rose above present mean sea-level, and the nature of late Holocene sea-level fall can, however, differ significantly. Discrepancies are observed not only between neighboring coastal sectors, but also between different studies in a same coastal sector. This paper discusses all the key radiocarbon-dated samples used to establish regional trends in relative sea-level on the eastern coast of Brazil. It is concluded that although many of the key sea-level indicators are imprecise (in time and space), there is widespread evidence (30% of the data set) for a progressive decline, possibly with uneven rates, of relative sea-level since the end of the PMT.