%0 Journal Article
%A Zazo Cardeña , Caridad
%A Goy Goy, José Luis
%A Hillaire-Marcel, Claude
%A González Delgado, José Ángel
%A Dabrio González, Cristino José
%A Cabero del Río, Ana
%A Bardají Azcárate, Teresa
%A Ghaleb, Bassam
%A Soler Javaloyes, Vicente
%T Sea level changes during the last and present interglacials in Sal Island(Cape Verde archipelago)
%D 2010
%@ 0921-8181
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/42212
%X Last interglacial and Holocene deposits are particularly well developed in the southern parts of Sal Island (CapeVerde Archipelago). They primarily consist of low-elevation (≤2 m above sea level [a.s.l.]) marine depositsmade of a basal conglomerate embedded in carbonate mud, passing upwards to calcarenites. All depositscontain an abundant fauna with corals, algae and molluscs with Strombus latus Gmelin and accompanyingwarm water species of the “Senegalese” fauna. Small scale geomorphological mapping with detailedmorphosedimentary analysis revealed lateral facies changes and imbricate (offlapping) structures that suggestsmall-scale oscillations of paleo-sealevels during high sea stand intervals. U-series measurements (in coralfragments) allowed unequivocal identification of Marine Isotope Substage (MIS) 5.5 units, but were notprecise enough to date the sea level oscillations of the interval. However, geomorphological data andsedimentary facies analysis suggest a double sea level highstand during the peak of the last interglacial.MIS 5.5 age deposits occur at Sal and the Canary Islands at low topographic elevations, between 1 and 2 masl.However, these values are lower than the elevations measured for the correlative terraces outcropping at thewestern tropical Atlantic islands, widely considered to be tectonically stable.Combining the results in this paper with earlier investigations of the “Senegalese” fauna distribution as farnorth as the Mediterranean basin, it is suggested that the last-interglacial oceanic temperatures in this basin, aswell as the temperatures in other islands of the Eastern Atlantic and the coasts of Morocco, were warmer thanmodern temperatures.
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