SEA-LEVEL CHANGES In the life of planet Earth there have been four major changes in sea levels, as well as many minor ones, caused by the land surfaces rising and falling and by Ice Ages. The sea has inundated many regions of Australia. In the most recent and coldest Ice Age, about 10 000 years ago, the sea level was 140 metres lower than it is now. Continental Australia was joined to Tasmania and Papua New Guinea by land bridges. If the present ice caps melted, sea levels would rise by about 70 metres.

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