InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Section 2: Introduction to Coastal Zone Hazards: Long and Short-term Processes of Change and Their Impacts on Society > Module 4: Understanding Sea Level Change > Drivers of Sea Level Change on Geologic Time Scales
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Initial Publication Date: December 7, 2016

Drivers of Sea Level Change on Geologic Time Scales

Up to this point, we have been looking at a few case studies that have introduced ways that coastlines are impacted by changes in sea level on relatively short-term time scales. In the next section, we will explore in much more detail how sea level change is driven based on changes in the volume of water in the ocean basins, rates of tectonism both under the sea and on land, the impact of cooler or warmer climate systems on the amount of water locked up as glacial ice on land, and others. As such, we will explore the processes that operate on geologic time scales rather than human time scales.


These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »