Rising seas don't just wash over the beach; they sneak inland through hidden, ancient valleys like a series of targeted 'surgical strikes.'
April 13, 2026
Original Paper
MIS 3 Transgression Record and Pattern in the Shenhu Bay, West Coast of the Taiwan Strait
SSRN · 6551032
The Takeaway
Most models assume a coastline moves back evenly as water rises. This study shows the ocean actually sneaks inland through old riverbeds first, drowning the landscape from the inside out in an irregular pattern.
From the abstract
Through AMS-14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and analysis of microfossils, grain size, and element geochemistry from borehole samples in the Shenhu Bay on western coast of the Taiwan Strait, combined with global paleo-climate and sea level change records, this study reveals two marine transgression events in the Shenhu Bay which happened in Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) and the Holocene. The MIS 3 transgression, corresponding to the previously named "Fuzhou Transgression"