Marine shells in the study of the Holocene

After the ice sheet that covered northern Europe had melted there was an uplift of earth’s crust. At the emerging coasts marine shells were deposited in beach sediments. By using radiocarbon ages of the shells the relative uplift during the last 10 000 years could be reconstructed. In Greenland the coastal areas similarly emerged as in Scandinavia, and the marine shells could also there be used in dating the relative uplift.

In Australia, on the other hand, the rise of the ocean level, as a result of the melting of the global ice sheets, marine shells could be used in dating the submergence of the coastal areas.

The analyses of oxygen stable isotopes in recent Mytilidae shells from a number of localities was shown to reflect the annual average temperatures of their coastal waters. An example of how marine shells can be used in the study of polluted coastal waters is also given.