Post-glacial Sea Level rise on the Isthmus of Panama

Digital Object Identifier:
[10.25573/data.11919276](https://doi.org/10.25573/data.11919276)

The Isthmus of Panama is a narrow strip of land that connects the continents
of North and South America and separates the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific
oceans. It is rich in native biodiversity, with tropical rain and cloud
forests, island archipelagos, coral reefs, mangrove and estuarine ecosystems.

In this study our aim is to model how post-glacial sea-level rise changed the
land- and sea-scapes of the Isthmus of Panama. This helps provide more precise
historical context to better understand modern biogeographical patterns of
both terrestrial and marine ecosystems on the Isthmus. In collaboration with
the [GIS unit at the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute](https://stridata-si.opendata.arcgis.com/) we combined bathymetric
and topographic data with historical sea level data of the Western Atlantic
and Tropical Eastern Pacific to produce digital elevation models, maps, and
animated videos showing the changing land and sea-scapes of the Isthmus
through time.

A more detailed description of the project and methods can be found here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1d730fe1f6e443eab423a5aeea51dfb9

Aaron O'Dea Lab - Max Titcomb

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

References:

O’Dea A, Aguilera O, Aubry M-P, Berggren WA, Budd AF, Cione AL, Coates AG,
Collins LS, Coppard SE, Cozzuol MA, de Queiroz A, Duque-Caro H, Eytan RI,
Farris DW, Finnegan S, Gasparini GM, Grossman EL, Johnson KG, Keigwin LD,
Knowlton N, Leigh EG, Leonard-Pingel JS, Lessios HA, Marko PB, Norris RD,
Rachello-Dolmen PG, Restrepo-Moreno SA, Soibelzon E, Soibelzon L, Stallard RF,
Todd JA, Vermeij GJ, Woodburne MO, Jackson JBC. 2016. Formation of the Isthmus
of Panama. Science Advances. e1600883.

Kenneth G. Miller, Michelle A. Kominz, James V. Browning, James D. Wright,
Gregory S. Mountain, Miriam E. Katz, Peter J. Sugarman, Benjamin S. Cramer,
Nicholas Christie-Blick, Stephen F. Pekar. 2005. The Phanerozoic Record of
Global Sea-Level Change. SCIENCE. 10.1126/science.1116412

Redwood, S. D. 2020. Late Pleistocene to Holocene sea level rise in the Gulf
of Panama, Panama, and its influence on early human migration through the
Isthmus. Caribbean Journal of Earth Science, 51, 15-31. Geological Society of
Jamaica. <http://caribjes.com/CJESpdf/CJES51-3-RedwoodPanamaSealevel.pdf>