Meltwater pulse 1A (MWP1a) is the name used by Quaternary geologists, paleoclimatologists, and oceanographers for a period of rapid post-glacial sea level rise, between 13,500 and 14,700 calendar years ago, during which global sea level rose between and in about 400–500 years, giving mean rates of roughly /yr. Meltwater pulse 1A is also known as catastrophic rise event 1 (CRE1) in the Caribbean Sea. The rates of sea level rise associated with meltwater pulse 1A are the highest known rates of post-glacial, eustatic sea level rise. Meltwater pulse 1A is also the most widely recognized and least disputed of the named, postglacial meltwater pulses. Other named, postglacial meltwater pulses are known most commonly as meltwater pulse 1A0 (meltwater pulse 19ka), meltwater pulse 1B, meltwater pulse 1C, meltwater pulse 1D, and meltwater pulse 2. It and these other periods of rapid sea level rise are known as meltwater pulses because the inferred cause of them was the rapid release of meltwater into the oceans from the collapse of continental ice sheets. Sea level and timing Meltwater pulse 1A occurred in a period of rising sea level and rapid climate change, known as Termination I, when the retreat of continental ice sheets was going on during the end of the last ice age. Several researchers have narrowed the period of the pulse to between 13,500 and 14,700 calendar years ago with its peak at about 13,800 calendar years ago. The start of this meltwater event coincides with or closely follows the abrupt onset of the Bølling-Allerød (B-A) interstadial and warming in the NorthGRIP ice core in Greenland at 14,600 calendar years ago. During meltwater pulse 1A, sea level is estimated to have risen at a rate of /yr. This rate of sea level rise was much larger than the rate of current sea level rise, which has been estimated to be in the region of /yr. Source(s) of meltwater pulse 1A The source of meltwaters for meltwater pulse 1A and the path they took remains a matter of continuing controversy. The technique of sea-level fingerprinting has been used to argue that major contribution to this meltwater pulse came from Antarctica. On the other hand, other studies have argued for the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America being the dominant source of this meltwater pulse. The magnitude of eustatic sea level rise during meltwater pulse 1A is a significant indicator of its sources.