geomorphic and biological indicators of paleoseismicity and holocene uplift rate at a coastal normal fault footwall western corinth gulf greece abstract the westernmost part of the gulf of corinth greece is an area of very fast extension and active normal faulting accompanied by intense coastal uplift and high seismicity this study presents geomorphic and biological evidence of holocene coastal uplift at the western extremity of the gulf where such evidence was previously unknown narrow shore platforms benches and rare notches occur mainly on holocene littoral conglomerates of uplifting small fan deltas they are perhaps the only primary paleoseismic evidence likely to provide information on earthquake recurrence on coastal faults in the specific part of the rift whereas dated marine fauna can provide constraints on the average holocene coastal uplift rate the types of geomorphic and biological evidence identified are not ideal and there are limitations and pitfalls involved in their evaluation in a first approach 5 uplifted paleoshorelines may be identified at 0 4 0 7 1 0 1 3 1 4 1 7 2 0 2 3 and 2 8 3 4 m a m s l probably forming after 1728 or 2250 cal b p a most conservative estimate for the average coastal uplift rate during the late holocene is 1 6 or 1 9 mm yr minimum with different amounts of reservoir correction some of the obtained radiocarbon ages of lithophaga sp allow for much higher holocene uplift rates of the order of 3 4 mm yr which cannot be discarded but require further research that the identified paleoshoreline record corresponds to episodes of coastal uplift only cannot be demonstrated beyond all doubt yet it appears the most likely interpretation given the geological and active tectonic context and present knowledge on eustatic sea level fluctuations in the mediterranean proving that the documented uplifts were abrupt i e arguably coseismic is equally difficult but rather probable five earthquakes in the last ca 2000 yr on the coastal fault zone that is responsible for the uplift compare well with historical seismicity and the results of recent on fault paleoseismological studies at the nearby eliki fault zone exact amounts of coseismic uplift cannot be determined precisely unless the rate of non seismic uplift of northern peloponnesus at the specific part of the corinth rift is somehow constrained

alexander the great s tombolos at tyre and alexandria eastern mediterranean tyre and alexandria s coastlines are today characterised by wave dominated tombolos peculiar sand isthmuses that link former islands to the adjacent continent paradoxically despite a long history of inquiry into spit and barrier formation understanding of the dynamics and sedimentary history of tombolos over the holocene timescale is poor at tyre and alexandria we demonstrate that these rare coastal features are the heritage of a long history of natural morphodynamic forcing and human impacts in 332 bc following a protracted seven month siege of the city alexander the great s engineers cleverly exploited a shallow sublittoral sand bank to seize the island fortress tyre s causeway served as a prototype for alexandria s heptastadium built a few months later we report stratigraphic and geomorphological data from the two sand spits proposing a chronostratigraphic model of tombolo evolution

geoscience rediscovers phoenicia s buried harbors after centuries of archaeological debate the harbors of phoenicia9s two most important city states tyre and sidon have been rediscovered and including new geoarcheological results reveal how where and when they evolved after their bronze age foundations the early ports lie beneath their present urban centers and we have indentified four harbor phases 1 during the bronze age tyre and sidon were characterized by semi open marine coves that served as protoharbors 2 biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic data indicate the presence of early artificial basins after the first millennium b c 3 the harbors reached their apogees during the greco roman and byzantine periods 4 silting up and coastal progradation led to burial of the medieval basins lost until now

a high relative sea level stand in the middle holocene of southeastern tunisia abstract study of the marine holocene deposits in southeastern tunisia shows bioclastic beaches at elevations ranging between 0 and 100 cm above high tide level a h t l depending on the elevation of these fossilized shorelines the ages obtained are different the age of the older deposits ranges between 5900 and 4000 14cc yr b p 6400 4300 calendar yr b p there deposits consist of bioclastic beaches attaining an elevation of about 40 to 100 cm a h t l the younger deposit is dated at around 2100 14c years ago 1850 calendar yr b p and is found today at the same elevation as the present sea level this deposit also consists of bioclastic beach material and contains pottery fragments postglacial melting should not be responsible for this observed higher relative sea level stand because deglaciation ended about 7000 6000 14c years ago fairbanks 1989 furthermore the regularity of the paleobeach deposit elevation over a broad area in southeastern tunisia suggests that tectonics cannot explain the emergence the emergence of up to 1 m of marine deposits dating back to between 5900 and 4000 14c yr b p should rather be interpreted as the result in the region of a postglacial hydro isostatic rebound as predicted in the theological models of continental margins by for example clark et al 1978 and lambeck 1993 the present situation was reached 2100 14c years ago

salt pans as a new archaeological sea level proxy a test case from dalmatia croatia abstract reconstruction of paleo relative sea level rsl is based on multi proxy disciplines including archaeology saltpans like fish tanks which are considered a reliable method for acquiring rsl index points are also anthropogenic intertidal facilities used continuously in the mediterranean from early antiquity the dalmatian shore contains a large number of preserved and historically dated ancient saltpans now flooded by the rising sea providing great potential for past rsl indication the primary objective of this study is to develop a new holistic approach for producing high quality elevation measurements of the saltpan structures and estimating paleo rsl during the last 2 ka the study combined aerial photogrammetry of the site bathymetry acoustics scanning and underwater archaeological survey of the man made structures as well as sampling wood and mortar in situ where available evaluation of each site s rsl and the functional height is based on the same assumptions and interpretations made for fish tanks using elevation measurements on the top of the separation walls and the bottom of the sluice gates in all the sites analyzed here we achieved reliable digital surface models with continuous high resolution data on the indicative structures with single centimeters level of accuracy the study finds that during the 5th 6th centuries rsl was 92 25 cm increased to 62 21 cm during the 7th 11th centuries and decreased to 104 20 cm in the 14th century medieval rsl can be explained either by strong tectonic subsidence post 1300 ad or by fluctuations as observed in the east mediterranean which requires validation by further medieval indicators

major storm periods and climate forcing in the western mediterranean during the late holocene abstract big storm events represent a major risk for populations and infrastructures settled on coastal lowlands in the western mediterranean where human societies colonized and occupied the coastal areas since the ancient times the variability of storm activity for the past three millennia was investigated with a multi proxy sedimentological and geochemical study from a lagoonal sequence mappings of the geochemistry and magnetic susceptibility of detrital sources in the watershed of the lagoon and from the coastal barriers were undertaken in order to track the terrestrial or coastal marine origin of sediments deposited into the lagoon the multi proxy analysis shows that coarser material low magnetic susceptibility and high strontium content characterize the sedimentological signature of the paleostorm levels identified in the lagoonal sequence a comparison with north atlantic and western mediterranean paleoclimate proxies shows that the phases of high storm activity occurred during cold periods suggesting a climatically controlled mechanism for the occurrence of these storm periods besides an in phase storm activity pattern is found between the western mediterranean and northern europe spectral analyses performed on the sr content revealed a new 270 year solar driven pattern of storm cyclicity for the last 3000 years this 270 year cycle defines a succession of ten major storm periods sp with a mean duration of 96 54 yr periods of higher storm activity are recorded from 680 to 560 cal yr bc sp10 end of the iron age cold period from 140 to 820 cal yr ad sp7 to sp5 with a climax of storminess between 400 and 800 cal yr ad dark ages cold period and from 1230 to 1800 cal yr ad sp3 to sp1 little ice age periods of low storm activity occurred from 560 cal yr bc to 140 cal yr ad sp9 and sp8 roman warm period and from 820 to 1230 cal yr ad sp4 medieval warm period

stratigraphy of late holocene deposits of the ancient harbour of marseilles southern france the late holocene stratigraphy of marseilles harbour is presented together with archaeological evi dence and radiocarbon data an anthropogenic oyster midden dated between c 4260 and 3400 14 c yr bp is followed by a period of siltation that ended the accretionary growth of an algal marl deposit this event was caused by early human settlement subsequently the coastline was subject to progradation it is argued here that the development of the e rst town of marseilles c 2600 years ago accelerated soil erosion and sediment deposition in the harbour area

geoscience of ancient mediterranean harbours abstract although much has been written on the subject of ancient mediterranean harbours the relatively new area of harbour geoarchaeology remains dispersed in the geoscience and archaeological literature over a decade of research has amassed rich and varied datasets of anthropogenically forced coastal evolution with a remarkable number of between site analogies this new research field also shows the rich potential of geoscience to reconcile important archaeological questions no single publication however has yet drawn on these geological patterns to yield a detailed overview suitable for geoscientists and environmental archaeologists the aim of this review article is to 1 discuss how ancient harbours have come to be preserved in the geological record 2 expound the basic principles and palaeoenvironmental tools underpinning ancient harbour geoarchaeology 3 outline some of the most significant research advances made and 4 discuss a new chrono stratigraphic model applicable to harbour sequences

post roman sea level changes on pag island adriatic sea dating croatia s enigmatic coastal notch abstract the presence of a regional wide notch 45 to 115 cm below present biological mean sea level bmsl along the adriatic coast of croatia at a string of sites between zadar and rijeka provides evidence for a rapid but poorly constrained subsidence event s after roman times for more than a century this geomorphological tidal level indicator has attracted rich scientific debate but many unresolved questions remain in this paper we present new results from caska bay pag island looking at notch morphology and holocene salt marsh stratigraphy to constrain the chronology of this crustal deformation on pag island the typical salt marsh stratigraphy comprises low to high salt marsh muds interjected by an unconformable marine layer which lies between 50 and 100 cm bmsl consistent with an abrupt transgression the palaeoecological record shows an abrupt shift in assemblages across the salt marsh mud sand sediment contact translating abrupt coastal changes geochronological data constrain this event to around 1000 to 1200 cal ad the altitude of the layer is coeval with the submerged notch attested on limestone cliffs around the bay the u shape of the notch profile coupled with the sharp palaecological contacts and submerged roman pier implies that sea level rise was episodic and not gradual as suggested by regional numerical models together our findings shed new light on the chronology of the enigmatic croatian notch on the island of pag and highlight the need to couple geomorphological studies of rocky coasts with high resolution sediment records

distinct phases of relative sea level changes in the central adriatic during the last 1500 years influence of climatic variations abstract we present a new sea level reconstruction for the past 1500 years based on biological indicators from the central adriatic islands biogenic littoral rims built by the coralline rhodophyte lithophyllum byssoides were found on the particularly exposed sites on the rocky coasts of the islands of vis ravnik and bisevo in croatia the presence of thick and well developed lithophyllum rims considered to be precise 10 cm sea level indicators points directly to the rising sea level environment biogenic rims were mapped measured and sampled for 14c dating the obtained results point to four phases of sea level changes the sea level was near stable from around 550 till 770 cal ad in the dark ages cold period dacp then during the medieval climate anomaly mca 770 till 1330 cal ad the sea level increased at a rate of 0 71 mm yr during the little ice age lia 1330 till 1640 cal ad it was near stable again later the sea level started to rise at a much higher rate particularly during the current warm period cwp these data were compared with local predictions derived from a glacio hydro isostatic models associated with the last glacial cycle if the isostatic eustatic component is separated this area seems to have almost stable tectonic conditions during the past 1500 years our results show that the large algal rims most likely grew during near stable sea level conditions that occurred during two relatively colder periods in the past 1500 years they also reveal that well developed up to 1 8 m wide upper levels of algal rims were formed during 300 years of stabilisation throughout the lia

mid to late holocene relative sea level fluctuations and palaeoenvironment evidences from the southern saurashtra coast western india abstract around 2 m thick relict mudflat stabilized coastal dune and marine notches are used to estimate the relative sea level rsl changes during the mid holocene along the part of southern saurashtra coast the study identifies two events of high rsl which are dated to 7 3 cal yr bp to 5 1 cal yr bp mid holocene and 1 ka bp late holocene based on the geochemical proxies the mid holocene high rsl is ascribed to the combined contribution of global ice melt and the strengthened indian summer monsoon ism whereas the late holocene high rsl is attributed to the medieval climate anomaly a decline in the ism is observed at 4 2 ka which also corresponds with the declining trend in the rsl however after 4 ka a sustained ism is inferred which continued till 1 ka the uplift estimated based on the tectonic overprinting of the raised intertidal platforms and marine notches shows 1 5 2 m uplift after the mid holocene this implies that the net rsl component during the mid to late holocene was marginally high above the present high tide mark further the notch morphology and empirically driven erosion rate estimates indicate that the coastal uplifts occurred at 4 ka and was probably responsible for the present day coastal configuration

holocene tectonic uplift patterns in northeastern sicily evidence from marine notches in coastal outcrops abstract marine notches are groove like features formed in rocky coastal outcrops in relation to past sea levels and are widely used as indicators of rates and patterns of tectonic activity examination of uplifted notches in the complex plate boundary setting of northeast sicily reveals the need for considerable care in their interpretation present notch forming processes are dominated by carbonate dissolution aided by microbial activity as waves surge and recede at the base of the cliffs and produce notches approximately 0 5 m above present biological mean sea level i e above an organic constructional rim of coralline algae used to define sea level at sea level dissolution is restricted through saturation and the bedrock protected by the outbuilding algal rim this assemblage varies in response to fetch exposure and uplift rate typically producing a complex band of uplifted notch features exposed above sea level correlations based on height of the shallow and discontinuous notch indentations within this band are unreliable however the upper margin of the band marked by the roof of the uppermost notch is a prominent and laterally persistent feature easily recognised as the boundary between subaerial and marine processes we propose that this is an approximately coeval datum formed when post glacial sea level rise decelerated in the mid holocene to match the rate of tectonic uplift a notion strengthened by the available dates of about 5 ka for this feature subsequent uplift outpaced later sea level rise taking the notches above sea level this proposed datum varies in height from about 2 m at capo milazzo on the north coast to about 5 m on the east coast bordered by the messina fault system the height differential is consistent with the respective elevations of nearby marine terraces dating from the last interglacial at about 125 ka but also exhibits shorter term variations suggesting holocene increases in activity rates on more localised structures affecting the localities involved regionally northeast sicily is characterised by long term differential uplift rather than behaving as a coherent block the highest uplift rate probably exceeding 2 mm a 1 calculated using the sea level curve from fairbanks r g 1989 a 17000 year glacio eustatic sea level record influence of glacial melting rates on the younger dryas event and deep ocean circulation nature 342 637 642 is suggested for a notch locality on the upthrown side of the malta escarpment rates of about 2 mm a 1 are indicated by the 5 m notch at localities bordered by the messina fault system and a rate close to 1 mm a 1 is suggested for the undated 2 m notch at capo milazzo

the ancient harbour parasequence anthropogenic forcing of the stratigraphic highstand record abstract unique chronostratigraphic similarities are observed in recent geoscience literature on ancient mediterranean harbours from these empirical port data a clear pattern of millennial anthropogenic forcing marked by a fining up sequence can be discerned in coastal stratigraphy the stratigraphic peculiarity of this artificial or human modified parasequence leads us to define a new working model the ancient harbour parasequence

multiproxy assessment of holocene relative sea level changes in the western mediterranean sea level variability and improvements in the definition of the isostatic signal abstract a review of 917 relative sea level rsl data points has resulted in the first quality controlled database constraining the holocene sea level histories of the western mediterranean sea spain france italy slovenia croatia malta and tunisia we reviewed and standardized the geological rsl data points using a new multi proxy methodology based on 1 modern taxa assemblages in mediterranean lagoons and marshes 2 beachrock characteristics cement fabric and chemistry sedimentary structures and 3 the modern distribution of mediterranean fixed biological indicators these rsl data points were coupled with the large number of archaeological rsl indicators available for the western mediterranean we assessed the spatial variability of rsl histories for 22 regions and compared these with the ice 5g vm2 gia model in the western mediterranean rsl rose continuously for the whole holocene with a sudden slowdown at 7 5 ka bp and a further deceleration during the last 4 0 ka bp after which time observed rsl changes are mainly related to variability in isostatic adjustment the sole exception is southern tunisia where data show evidence of a mid holocene high stand compatible with the isostatic impacts of the melting history of the remote antarctic ice sheet our results indicate that late holocene sea level rise was significantly slower than the current one first estimates of gia contribution indicate that at least in the northwestern sector it accounts at least for the 25 30 of the ongoing sea level rise recorded by mediterranean tidal gauges such contribution is less constrained at lower latitudes due to the lower quality of the late holocene index points future applications of spatio temporal statistical techniques are required to better quantify the gradient of the isostatic contribution and to provide improved context for the assessment of 20th century acceleration of mediterranean sea level rise

a two dimensional regional basin model of williston basin hydrocarbon systems institut francais du petrole s two dimensional model temispack is used to discuss the functioning of petroleum systems in the williston basin along a 330 km long section focusing on four regional source intervals ordovician yeoman formation lower devonian winnipegosis formation upper devonianulower mississippian bakken formation and mississippian lodgepole formation thermal history calibration against present temperature and source rock maturity profiles suggests that the williston basin can be divided into a region of constant heat flow of about 55 mw m2 away from the nesson anticline and a region of higher heat flow and enhanced thermal maturity in the vicinity of the nesson anticline original kinetic parameters used in the calibration were derived or each of the four source rocks from rock eval yield curves bakken overpressures are entirely due to oil generation not compaction disequilibrium very low bakken vertical permeabilities range from 0 01 to 0 001 nd are matched against observed overpressures whereas bakken porosities based on the model and confirmed by measurements are inferred to be also unusually low around 3 mature bakken shales do not seem to have reached hydraulic fractionation thresholds except perhaps locally in regions of extensional tectonic stress hydraulic fracturing cannot be viewed as a pervasive mechanism driving bakken oil expulsion our expulsion model confirms the high residual bakken oil saturations and explains the low residual s1 toc by the low bakken shale porosities approximately 85 of the oil generated in the bakken shales is predicted to have been expelled out of bakken strata which agrees with observed s1 toc trends madison group accumulations at the subcrop edge are found to be fed by lodgepole sourced oil only in particular by the rich middle lodgepole interval these accumulations probably result from a three dimensional migration pattern madison accumulations in the nesson anticline are found to be fed mostly by lodgepole sourced oil mixed with minor amounts of bakken sourced oil the vast majority of the expelled bakken oils are lost in the madison group at very low saturations this explains the low conventional oil resource associated with bakken sources by recent geochemical studies expulsion and migration occurred no earlier than the atest cretaceous paleocene in the yeoman and no earlier than the eocene in other source rocks consistent with temporal controls on oil migration flow models show no restriction to expulsion and migration of yeoman oil this suggests a potential undiscovered oil resource in ordovician and silurian strata of williston basin northeast of the nesson anticline

formation of late quaternary paleoshorelines in crete eastern mediterranean abstract paleoshorelines of late quaternary age in western crete do not exclusively increase in age with rising altitude as is generally observed worldwide at numerous sites for example late holocene paleoshorelines decrease in age with increasing altitude while in other cases paleoshorelines at similar altitude vary in age by tens of thousands of years we propose that the observed paleoshoreline altitude age relationships can be accounted for by eustatic sea level changes and tectonic rock uplift without requiring substantial errors on radiocarbon ages or tectonic subsidence as has been previously proposed to test this model we use a dataset consisting of altitude and age data for 71 individual paleoshorelines sampled from 21 sites distributed along the entire cretan coastline these data include radiocarbon ages of marine biota 40 new dates within beachrock resting on paleoshorelines ranging up to 48 kyr bp in age and 20 m above present sea level we find that paleoshoreline formation reflects late holocene tectonic rock uplift in western crete preceded by eustatic sea level rise and by 10 kyr bp rock uplift along the entire island our observations contravene existing models as they suggest that some paleoshorelines and their associated lithified beachrock survived passage through the wave zone multiple times and formed throughout the sea level cycle i e preservation is not restricted to highstand deposits these results may have application globally in regions where erosion resistant carbonate beachrock mantles paleoshorelines

anomolous multi origin marine notch sites three case studies in the central mediterranean sea abstract we present and discuss the genesis age and evolution of indented landforms carved at sea level in correspondence of carbonatic headlands in three sites of the central mediterranean coasts between marseille france and balzi rossi italy the island of tavolara sardinia italy and the promontory of tindari sicily italy the shape of these anomalous notches landforms can be referred to is very similar to tidal notches despite their genesis and morphometric parameters are different from those suggested by other authors for the central mediterranean area two of these sites are located in tectonically stable areas while the third falls is located in an uplifting area those the notches we investigated along the coast of southern france are submerged notch type landforms located in the vicinities surroundings of current modern tidal notches at tavolara island these anomalous notches are placed at about 25 m b s l these landforms and have the shape of mushroom like notches finally those investigated along the metamorphic carbonatic promontory of tindari are marine and abrasional notches that have been uplifted likely during the holocene

the palaeoenvironmental study of the alimini piccolo lake enables a reconstruction of holocene sea level changes in southeast italy based on multiproxy investigations of a 250 cm long sediment core ali1 a reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental dynamics for the alimini piccolo lake south adriatic coast of apulia italy is proposed our results indicate that shortly before 5500 cal yr bp a marsh environment established from 5400 cal bp the marsh progressively became a lagoon and did not change until 3320 cal bp when alimini piccolo evolved into a shallow sheltered freshwater basin around 1400 cal yr bp the basin became again a lagoon changes of the deposition environments and the chronological framework defined in the ali1 sequence allowed speculation about local relative sea level motions through the mid late holocene using proxy data molluscs foraminifers ostracods and plant macro remains as environment and bathymetry indicators we reconstruct the elevation of the basin bottom above or below sea level through time plant macro fossils have proved to be an especially reliable source of data for sea level reconstr

sea level changes in the holocene over the last 30 years the emphasis in studies of the recovery from low last glaciation sea levels has changed significantly the search for a eustatic sea level curve having global relevance has ended studies into the rheology of the earth s crust and recognition that the geoid has not remained stable over time have resulted in the recognition that there must have been regional differences in eustatic response to deglaciation as a part of this re appraisal there has been a growing appreciation that crustal isostatic response to the removal of the weight of ice sheets has been accompanied by a consequential hydro isostatic response particularly in the areas of the shelf seas in the later part of the post war period attention has additionally been focussed on the much greater potential for error over the whole field of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the holocene including not only errors in dating but also a large number of possible sources of errors in heighting as a result of this an increasing number of scientists are withholding judgement on the nature of sea level rise and more particularly on the problem of higher than present late holocene eustatic sea levels the problems outstanding in the early 1960s have not yet been resolved but the bases of uncertainty have changed

evolution of the rhone delta plain in the holocene abstract the delta plain of the rhone shows many sandy beach ridges cropping out at the surface we propose here a radiocarbon chronology for the accumulation of the sedimentary bodies and an interpretation of the morphology of the mouth lobes that they form morphologies of the lobes depend on four principal factors 1 the variation of the relative sea level which constitutes the morphogenic base level 2 the fluvial input volume of water discharge and sedimentary input number and position of the mouths 3 marine dynamics volume and direction of the longshore drift dominant wave direction 4 the accommodation space created by the rise of relative sea level along with the paleobathymetry onto which the lobe will prograde immediately in front of the delta and at sea our conclusions are the main holocene paleo delta lobes of ulmet and saint ferreol were contemporaneous being deposited from 4000 to 2000 yr bp however the fluvial style of their downstream channel meandering for ulmet channel and linear for saint ferreol and the lobe morphologies of both channels are contrasted rounded in the case of ulmet and elongated for saint ferreol the role of the accommodation space is confirmed by two recent drillholes traversing the entire holocene succession which reveal a prior stage of sedimentary filling in the case of the saint ferreol lobe thus limiting the accommodation space and favouring a rapid and pointed progradation of this lobe the decoupling between hydrological activity and progradation of lobe indicates the complexity of mechanisms in the large catchment basin of rhone however the high rate of progradation of saint ferreol lobe after 2900 bp is probably a consequence of the increase of human activity after this date the variation of relative sea level remains an important factor controlling the evolution of the rhone delta after 6000 bp the local stabilization of the relative sea level between 4585 bp and 3520 bp played an important role in the triggering of coastal progradation saint ferreol lobe eastern margin rhone delta

evidence for active retreat of a coastal cliff between 3 5 and 12 ka in cassis south east france this study on the cap canaille cliff n 43 19 e 5 55 cassis se france combines cosmic ray exposure cre dating using two cosmogenic nuclides in situ produced 10be and 36cl and morphological analyses to gain a better understanding of a major coastal cliff collapse event morphological analysis reveals evidence cliff morphology presence of big collapsed blocks of a possible major collapse of cap canaille in the past aerial pictures and gis software allow estimation of a potential collapsed volume of at least 7 106 m3 of which roughly 6 106 m3 fell into the mediterranean sea in situ produced 10be and 36cl concentrations were measured in samples collected on collapsed block surfaces and in situ produced 10be was measured along the cliff face to date the last major collapse event statistical analysis of the cre ages calculated from cliff samples shows that these ages cluster around 3 5 and 6 7 ka suggesting the existence of a two step past major collapse the older ages obtained at 9 and 12 ka coincides with the approach of present day sea level implying a control of sea level on the cliff retreat the cre ages calculated from collapsed block samples are more scattered toward younger ages due to several geomorphological factors the estimated collapsed volume associated with the last major collapse around 3 5 ka seems sufficient to have triggered a local tsunami in the cassis bay if it fell at once into the sea

holocene uplift rates and historical rapid sea level changes at the gargano promontory italy this paper uses a combination of geomorphological and radiometric data from the northern coast of the gargano promontory comprising the fortore river coastal plain and punta delle pietre nere to reconstruct holocene uplift rates the coastal plain consists of a sandy progradational beach sequence that extends seawards from the base of a relict cliff this cliff probably marks the maximum position reached by the holocene transgression altimetric data compared with the age of beach deposits and the available eustatic sea level curves indicate an average holocene uplift rate of 1 5 mm yr 1 a similar uplift rate has been estimated by dating a bioherm constituted of calcareous algae vermetids and subordinately by cladocora caespitosa l which crops out in the locality of punta delle pietre nere this deposit which was previously assigned an interglacial age yielded a mid holocene age by means of th u and 14c age determinations our observations also reveal evidence for coseismic deformation along the northern coast of the gargano promontory during the last millennium vertical displacements of 0 5 m have affected the punta delle pietre nere coastal block and were preceded by periods of slow coastal subsidence which increased rapidly shortly before a major earthquake copyright 2002 john wiley sons ltd

coralline algae corallinales rhodophyta in western and central mediterranean messinian reefs abstract coralline algae are common components in messinian reefs in the sorbas basin in se spain and in the salento peninsula southern italy they occur encrusting coral skeletons and other bioclasts forming rhodoliths and as fragments in back reef reef framework and proximal to middle slope facies corallines also occur in halimeda boundstones associated to coral reefs in contrast no coralline algae have been recorded in the fine grained distal slope deposits in both areas and in lagoonal marly limestones in salento the relative abundance of corallines in reefs and their species richness is significantly higher in the salento platform than in the intermontane sorbas basin which was affected by terrigenous influx neogoniolithon brassica florida and spongites fruticulosus dominate the shallow water assemblages lithophyllum records peak at the base of reef core and upper slope deposits around 20 m palaeodepth and phymatolithon calcareum and species of lithothamnion are most abundant in deeper slope facies the main components of the messinian mediterranean reef coralline assemblages are extant species common in the mediterranean and along the north atlantic coast from morocco and the canary islands to the british islands a few such as spongites fruticulosus and phymatolithon calcareum have been living in the mediterranean region for more than 25 ma four species still live in the indo pacific but disappeared from the mediterranean during the messinian salinity crisis the typical components of present day indo pacific coral reefs do not occur in the mediterranean messinian reefs the mediterranean atlantic character of the messinian reef corallines reflects the decrease in tropical biotas in the mediterranean throughout the miocene probably related to global cooling and isolation of the mediterranean from the indian ocean since the middle miocene

age and significance of late pleistocene lithophyllum byssoides intertidal algal ridge nw sardinia italy abstract intertidal coralline red algal build ups lithophyllum byssoides rims or ridges are considered precise sea level markers and mostly used for holocene sea level history several well preserved patches of relict red algal ridges crop out along the north west sardinian coast mediterranean sea italy and have great potential in reconstructing the late pleistocene sea level history of the western mediterranean the aim of this paper is to determine the sedimentary characteristics of the relict lithophyllum byssoides build ups cropping out along the sardinian nw coast and to demonstrate how these can be used as past sea level indicators to establish a chronological framework for these deposits luminescence dating both quartz osl and k feldspar pirir290 has been applied and allows for the lithophyllum byssoides ridge formation to be assigned to marine isotopic stage mis 5e 132 112 ka the studied relict ridges confirmed that mis 5e sea level was at least at 4 m above present well matching the widely accepted last interglacial global sea level curves hence fossil lithophyllum byssoides ridges can be used as stratigraphic and chronologic indicators of late pleistocene sea level moreover the study has underlined that lithophyllum byssoides may grow 1 in sheltered places along high cliffy coasts forming bench like structures and 2 in high energy environments on wave cut platforms around fallen blocks or potholes first as isolated mounds and then merging to form reef like structures

biological evidence of sea level rise during the last 4500 years on the rocky coasts of continental southwestern france and corsica on the rocky coasts of the northwestern mediterranean basin biogenic littoral rims built by the coralline rhodophyte lithophyllum lichenoides develop whose remains may be preserved for millennia when submerged in a rising sea environment these remains can be used as biological indicators of recent sea level variations our survey of the continental coasts of var and bouches du rhone west of marseilles southern france and of northern corsica shows that relative sea level rose about 1 6 m in the study area during the last 4500 years without exceeding the present datum the rate of sea level rise was 0 4 mm per year between 4500 and 1500 yr b p and slowed down to 0 2 mm per year from 1500 yr b p to present time there are also morphological indications of an acceleration of the rate of sea level rise during the last century supporting the evidence of tide gauges regions at the periphery of the above zone alpes maritimes italian border zone and the french and spanish catalonia regions were also surveyed but a weaker development of lithophyllum rims and bad preservation of algal remains led to unconvincing dates which could also be linked to regional tectonic trends

sea level changes and geoarchaeology between the bay of capo malfatano and piscinni bay sw sardinia in the last 4 kys abstract the bay of malfatano cape is the berthing home to one of the most important maritime structures from the punic roman times in the mediterranean two opposing monumental structures have been preserved between 7 and 2 m due to rising sea level recent studies have identified the paleo sea level relating the eustatic component to the glacio hydroisostatic deformations this paper through stratigraphic palaeontological and geochronological data aims to trace the bay of capo malfatano s evolution in relation to the sea level rise during the last 4 kys based on data derived from geophysical surveys paleoshore lines have been redrawn and compared with data derived from coring in the inner part of the creek finally we evaluated the relationship between changes in palaeogeography and human settlements from the bronze age the breakwaters have been surveyed in detail using d gps techniques correlated to the geodesic 0 level through this data the shape of the breakwaters has been reconsidered and consequently the palaeo sea level has been re evaluated

7000 years of paleostorm activity in the nw mediterranean sea in response to holocene climate events abstract a high resolution record of paleostorm events along the french mediterranean coast over the past 7000 years was established from a lagoonal sediment core in the gulf of lions integrating grain size faunal analysis clay mineralogy and geochemistry data with a chronology derived from radiocarbon dating we recorded seven periods of increased storm activity at 6300 6100 5650 5400 4400 4050 3650 3200 2800 2600 1950 1400 and 400 50 cal yr bp in the little ice age in contrast our results show that the medieval climate anomaly 1150 650 cal yr bp was characterised by low storm activity the evidence for high storm activity in the nw mediterranean sea is in agreement with the changes in coastal hydrodynamics observed over the eastern north atlantic and seems to correspond to holocene cooling in the north atlantic periods of low ssts there may have led to a stronger meridional temperature gradient and a southward migration of the westerlies we hypothesise that the increase in storm activity during holocene cold events over the north atlantic and mediterranean regions was probably due to an increase in the thermal gradient that led to an enhanced lower tropospheric baroclinicity over a large central atlantic european domain

the holocene sea level story since 7500 bp lessons from the eastern mediterranean the black and the azov seas abstract this paper addresses the obvious controversy between the so far published sea level curves of the black sea and the mediterranean it starts with a discussion of the methods of reconstructing sea level curves the evaluation of sea level indicators and the application of the radiocarbon dating method at least since 7500 bp when the black sea and the mediterranean were connected both water bodies must have reacted synchronously on glacio eustatic changes it is documented that none of the mediterranean sea level curves shows the major wiggles postulated for the black sea which are supposed to reflect trans and regression cycles the very shallow bathymetric condition of the azov sea and the northern black sea should have led to considerable and traceable shoreline displacements there is neither archaeological nor historical evidence of mid and late holocene regressions of several meters the tectonic setting of the black and azov seas implicates that the tectonic signal often overrides the eustatic one therefore only local sea level curves can be established in this paper based on vibracores a locally valid sea level curve for the taman peninsula is demonstrated layers of paralic peat were used as sea level indicators and for 14 c dating the shape of this curve follows the one known from the mediterranean this study also revealed that the present peninsula of taman evolved out of a former archipelago

holocene coastal notches in the mediterranean region indicators of palaeoseismic clustering abstract marine tidal notches are developed by bioerosion in the intertidal zones of rocky coasts but a combination of sea level change and crustal movements can result in them being raised above or submerged below the water line for that reason the present day elevation of these former shorelines relative to the mean sea level has long been used to quantify relative coastal uplift and subsidence in tectonically active areas assuming that the sea level eustatic change component is known along the microtidal mediterranean littoral it is generally assumed that notches develop during relative stillstands of sea level when tectonic and eustatic trends are in unison and that discrete notch levels record abrupt shoreline changes caused by local seismic displacements recently however a climatic model for notch formation has been proposed in which stable periods of holocene climate favour enhanced erosion in this competing model the rate of sea level rise is lower than the tectonic uplift rate and individual notches are not specific seismic indicators because marine notches are widely used as geomorphic markers of tectonic and in some cases palaeoseismic movements a reappraisal of the geological significance of these strandlines is warranted in this paper we explore the two conflicting notch models using a database of eastern mediterranean palaeoshorelines although we conclude that the spatial and temporal distribution of the notches supports a dominantly tectonic control on notch genesis as a result of earthquake clustering we highlight how the diachronous timing of notch development tempers their value as tectonic markers

calibration of the c 14 timescale over the past 30 000 years using mass spectrometric u th ages from barbados corals uranium thorium ages obtained by mass spectrometry from corals raised off the island of barbados confirm the high precision of this technique over at least the past 30 000 years comparison of the u th ages with 14c ages obtained on the holocene samples shows that the u th ages are accurate because they accord with the dendrochronological calibration before 9 000 yr bp the 14c ages are systematically younger than the u th ages with a maximum difference of 3 500 yr at 20 000 yrbp the u th technique thus provides a way of calibrating the radiocarbon timescale beyond the range of dendrochronological calibration

relative sea level rise and neotectonic events during the last 6500 yr on the southern eastern rhone delta france abstract the analysis of peat formations from the eastern limit of the rhone delta allows us to follow relative sea level changes over the last 6300 yr the curve represents two periods of rapid relative sea level rise about 2 mm yr the first between 6295 50 and 4585 45 bp and then the second between 2120 55 and 1200 55 bp these two periods are separated by a period of stability between 4085 60 and 3520 55 bp the comparison with data from the rocky coast to the east of marseille indicates a negative difference of between 1 5 and 0 5 m then rapid adjustment after 2120 55 bp the existence of an incompressible substrate along with the thinning out of the holocene deposits along the limits of the deltas restricted the effects of subsidence and compaction we prefer the hypothesis that tecto subsident movements account for these differences as well as the rapid rise in relative sea level during this second period this is compatible with the network of post miocene faults that account for the differences in altitude of the roman quarries carved out from the miocene layers

relative sea level change and climate change in the northeastern adriatic during the last 1 5 ka istria croatia abstract a new high resolution relative sea level rsl reconstruction is presented for the past 1500 years based on four bio constructions formed by alga lithophyllum byssoides algal rims two algal structures have been studied on the southern premantura site and two on the eastern istrian coast uboka and brsec sites in the northeastern adriatic the data from the algal rims 47 radiocarbon data points enabled the distinction of four major phases of rsl change which corresponds to periods of climate change rsl between ad 400 and 800 during the dark ages cold period dacp was almost stable after ad 800 during the medieval climate anomaly mca the rsl increased up to 0 8 mm yr the following little ice age period lia interval i ad 1400 till 1600 is again characterised by rsl stability rsl slowed down which allows the rims at the southern coast to reach the width of 40 80 cm at their uppermost part and up to 20 cm for those along the eastern coast between ad 1600 and 1750 during the colder lia ii interval algal rims do not form as lia ii is assumed to be a period of rsl fall algal rims reveal that from the second part of the 19th century the rsl rose by 13 15 cm at the premantura location and around 10 cm at the brsec and uboka areas providing rates between 1 and 0 7 mm yr respectively for the current warm period cwp the sea level trends were quantitatively defined using an errors in variables integrated gaussian process eiv igp model with full consideration of the available uncertainty following correction for the total land level change assumed to be around 0 4 mm yr four successive trends in sea level change were confirmed sea level dropped during the dacp at a mean rate of 0 4 mm yr and increased to 0 5 mm y as a consequence of medieval warmth thereafter it was relatively stable during lia i fell up to 0 1 mm yr during lia ii interval and has been slowly rising again during the cwp moreover l byssoides 18o records show that these periods of sea level changes are consistent with changes in temperature and thus with periods of rapid climate change

evidence of mis 5 sea level highstands in gebel mousa coast strait of gibraltar north of africa abstract the last interglacial is considered the most suitable episode from which to infer patterns of rapid sea level change since its climatic conditions were similar to those of the present interglacial however specifying the true position of its sea level with high accuracy is very troublesome in the absence of sedimentological erosional or even palaeontological markers this study investigates the morphosedimentary evidence beach deposits cliff notch and shore platform of two highstands registered and dated during mis 5 stage by u series dating in the north of morocco strait of gibraltar bioerosive notches and mixed siliciclastic and carbonate deposits high energy beaches with algal bioherms were formed in coastal environments during mis 5a a sea level height of 10 m asl can be inferred for this substage the record of mis 5e substage is less defined in the geomorphological record consisting of backshore foreshore deposits located at 13 to 15 m asl a tectonic uplift rate of 0 1 mm yr has been estimated for the last 130 kyr these data are consistent with models of coastal uplifting calculated for the strait of gibraltar

uplift rate transients at subduction margins due to earthquake clustering coastal uplift is common in continental fore arc systems with elevated paleoshorelines indicating that uplift rates can vary dramatically over time on individual margins the origins of these changes in uplift rates are examined using a global data set of paleoshorelines together with 2 d numerical models of subduction systems empirical paleoshoreline data n 282 from eight subduction margins indicate that uplift rates are generally not steady state and varied by up to a factor of 20 during the late quaternary 125 ka on many subduction margins uplift rates increase to the present day a finding which we attribute to sampling bias toward those locations where holocene uplift rates have been highest with respect to other global margins which have undergone fast subsidence or no vertical motion e g a property akin to the so called sadler effect paleoshorelines and 2 d models suggest that transient uplift rates at subduction margins are mainly a short term 20 ka phenomenon that cannot be accounted for by plate boundary scale processes such as changes in the rates of plate convergence sediment underplating or isostatic unloading instead time variable uplift rates are ascribed to temporal clustering of large magnitude earthquakes on upper plate faults and to a lesser extent the subduction thrust the potential for future damaging earthquakes and tsunamis may have been underestimated at active subduction margins with no measureable holocene uplift and in such cases late quaternary paleoshorelines could provide an important constraint for hazard analysis

sea level and subsidence data from a late holocene back barrier lagoon valle standiana ravenna italy abstract late holocene back barrier sediments have been studied in a former lagoon reclaimed during the last century several shallow boreholes were cored from which nine organic rich samples were selected for radiocarbon dating and others for palynological and palaeontological analysis this enabled the reconstruction of the evolution of a back barrier coastal basin during the late holocene coastline progradation since late roman times the rate of relative sea level rise rslr has increased from 1 1 mm yr to over 2 mm yr even after removal of the main human impacts during of the last century this change is ascribed to sediment compaction related to changes in the hydrological regime and possibly to an isostatic subsidence wave accompanying the northward shift of the po delta during the last 2000 years

clusters of megaearthquakes on upper plate faults control the eastern mediterranean hazard the hellenic subduction margin in the eastern mediterranean has generated devastating historical earthquakes and tsunamis with poorly known recurrence intervals here stranded paleoshorelines indicate strong uplift transients 0 7 mm yr along the island of crete during the last 50 kyr due to earthquake clustering we identify the highest uplift rates in western crete since the demise of the minoan civilization and along the entire island between 10 and 20 kyr b p with the absence of uplifted late holocene paleoshorelines in the east being due to seismic quiescence numerical models show that uplift along the hellenic margin is primarily achieved by great earthquakes on major reverse faults in the upper plate with little contribution from plate interface slip these earthquakes were strongly clustered with recurrence intervals ranging from hundreds to thousands of years and primarily being achieved by fault interactions future great earthquakes will rupture seismically quiet areas in eastern crete elevating both seismic and tsunami hazards

new relative sea level insights into the isostatic history of the western mediterranean abstract a recent suite of relative sea level rsl data for the past 12 ka bp has provided new insights into the sea level histories of the western mediterranean region our analysis of the chronostratigraphic context of sea level indicators from spain catalonia the balearic islands and the gulf of valencia france corsica island and italy sardinia island has yielded 162 new sea level index and limiting points these data have considerably enhanced previous rsl compilations in addition to improving the quality of spatio temporal sea level reconstructions and our capacity to estimate isostatic related vertical motions in the western mediterranean basin the glacial and hydro isostatic adjustment gia pattern elucidated by the new database shows discrepancy with respect to those predicted by the available gia models in particular the new results underscore a non coherent isostatic response of the central portion of the western mediterranean with the balearic islands manifesting significant departures from the sea level histories of corsica sardinia and more generally along most of the western mediterranean coast our results are a crucial contribution to defining both the pattern and the magnitude of the isostatic signal along the western mediterranean coast in fact vertical isostatic motions represent a key to better assess any possible post industrial acceleration in sea level rise and to define future scenarios of coastal inundation in the context of global change

late pleistocene holocene deposits of the rhone inner continental shelf france detailed mapping and correlation with previous continental and marine studies very high resolution seismic data acquired on the rhone continental shelf were used to address the detailed morphology of late pleistocene and post glacial units from 18 000 yr bp to the present two groups of units can be distinguished 1 lower units that are mainly the product of variations in relative sea level they comprise the last pleistocene regressive deposits made of alluvial sheets u0 u1 and above transgressive deposits that can be divided into backstepping transgressive units u3 and u4a deposited during the landward retreat of the river mouth and transgressive units u4b u4c laid down during the inundation of the shelf a prograding littoral lagoon system u5 u6 indicating a fluctuation during the rise in sea level caps the transgressive units this work has emphasized the complexity of these depositional environments mainly related to a river system situated near the current petit rhone 2 upper units that make up the recent rhone delta and correspond to the current highstand systems tract hst developed since the stabilization of relative sea level seven prodeltaic lobes have been identified u7 u13 two of them are bilobate u7 and u8 and date from a period when the delta was split as a result of the fluviatile system being progressively divided into several channels other prodeltaic lobes u9 u10 are stacked in front of the distributary s outlet recording several periods of outflow the results show a strong correlation with studies on land the distribution of recent prodeltaic lobes was constrained by canalization of the rhone river to prevent the effects of climatic crises or other natural disasters

holocene sea level change in sicily and its implications for tectonic models new data from the taormina area northeast sicily the northeast coast of sicily shows emergent marine features that have been uplifting during the holocene along the footwalls of two major regional fault systems the malta escarpment and messina fault system previously uplift rates were interpreted as up to about 1 8 mm mm a 1 new dates on shelly remains collected close to sea level from the taormina area north of mount etna and amended sea level curves are used to show that uplift over the past 6000 years has been proceeding at a slower rate of about 1 4 mm a 1 however over a longer time period from the tyrrhenian oxygen isotope stage 5 5 about 125 ka to the present day the uplift rate has been yet slower at about 1 mm a 1 northeast sicily lies in a complex plate boundary region whereas in contrast the rest of sicily appears to have been stable throughout the later quaternary further comparisons show that the french mediterranean coast lambeck bard 2000 earth planet sci lett 175 202 222 is a region of crustal stability where movement is dominated by subsidence of the outer portion of the proglacial forebulge of the last glaciation there the coastline has been progressively submerged during the holocene and sea level has never been higher than at present northeastern sicily uplift is therefore more likely controlled by plate processes that mask most of the effects of glacio hydro isostatic adjustment