Amid our growing fears over the unrelenting march of rapid climate change, few concerns loom larger than the rising sea heights threatening the world’s major coastal cities, second only to the surge in global temperatures in its consequential importance. The geological discipline of stratigraphy investigates the physical composition of sedimentary strata, including examining their embedded biotic (fossil) components and chemical (isotopic) signatures. Geoscientists analyze these components to assign geological ages to rock formations (through unique biotic assemblages associated with each age, i.e., biostratigraphy) and to unravel past climatic conditions and broader environmental shifts throughout Earth’s history.