During the Last Glacial Maximum, about 21,000 years ago, global sea level was approximately 120 m (400 ft) lower than today. The Bering Land Bridge existed as a vast tundra plain connecting Asia and North America. As the world's glaciers and ice sheets melted over the following millenia, rising sea level flooded the land bridge — blocking migration routes for animals and humans. The land bridge animation is based on the best available digital information, and reveals large-scale patterns of shifting coastlines and environments as the land bridge evolved. Bathymetry and elevation are color-coded in 1000 calendar-year time steps. VIEW THE ANIMATION The following QuickTime .mov files require QuickTime Player for Windows or Macintosh (as a standalone application or browser plug-in). Click on the links to view. Right-click or option-click to download for later use.
Feel free to download the animations for use in websites or presentations. Please cite: Manley, W.F., 2002, Postglacial Flooding of the Bering Land Bridge: A Geospatial Animation: INSTAAR, University of Colorado, v1, https://instaar.colorado.edu/QGISL/bering_land_bridge. |