Overview

In this section you will find materials that support the implementation of EarthComm, Section 6: How Rising and Falling Sea Levels Modify the Landscape.

Learning Outcomes

• Use a model to explain changes in coastal landscapes caused by a rise in sea level.
• Use a model to explain changes in coastal landscapes caused by a fall in sea level.

Inquiring Further

1. To learn more about "lost continents,” visit the following web sites:
   
   Atlantis - Fact, Fiction or Exaggeration?, The Active Mind
   Read the story behind the "lost city" of Atlantis.
   
   Sea level study reveals Atlantis candidate, New Scientist
   Examines a discovery related to the lost continent of Atlantis. (Does not include content about supernatural forces).

3. To learn more about the Beringian environment, visit the following web site:
   
   Postglacial Flooding of the Bering Land Bridge: A Geospatial Animation, INSTAAR Univ. of Colorado
   Provides an animation of the Beringia environment that shows sea-level changes during the last 20,000 years.

Resources

To learn more about this topic, visit the following web sites:

How Rising and Falling Sea Levels Modify the Landscape

Geologic History of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USGS
Reviews the geological history of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The link "Glacial Cape Cod" contains text and maps that explain the role of the Laurentide ice sheet in developing the Cape.

Geology of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, National Park Service
Discusses what North America was like during the last ice age, with a focus on the Bering Strait land bridge. Includes various theories about the bridge as well as the plant and animal (including humans) migrations from Asia to North America. Includes color maps.

The Chesapeake Bay: Geologic Product of Rising Sea Level, USGS
Discusses the geological history of the Chesapeake Bay, which is essentially a river valley that was drowned when the Pleistocene ice sheets melted.

Sea Level Rise Impacts: Regional Case Studies, Smithsonian
Global examples of places already facing the consequences of rapid sea level change and how they vary around the world.

Sea Level and the Impact on Defense Installations on Atolls, USGS
Outlines impacts of sea-level rise and wave-driven flooding on freshwater resources on many low-lying atoll islands in the Pacific Ocean.