late holocene coastline and landscape changes to the west of ephesus turkey abstract palaeogeographical research regarding coastline and landscape changes has been conducted in the kucuk menderes graben and the environs of the ancient city of ephesus in western turkey for a few decades based on geophysical data multi proxy and microfaunal analyses of sediment cores 14 c ams age estimates and diagnostic ceramics this study presents for the first time results of an area close to the present coastline where a byzantine church is located on top of a small hill the results reveal that this mica schist hill turned into an island during the 2nd 1st millennium bce it was reconnected to the mainland via a tombolo during the 5th century ce drill cores and geophysical measurements surrounding the hill show massive stone layers which were deposited intentionally during the 5th 6th century ce when the byzantine church was built geophysical images point to wall structures in the surroundings of the hill the area to the northeast hosts a small harbour site when the coastline continued to shift further to the west this site was still connected to the sea by the kucuk menderes river

worldwide initiation of holocene marine deltas by deceleration of sea level rise radiocarbon dated deltaic sequences of holocene age from different parts of the world began to accumulate within a restricted time range from about 8500 to 6500 years ago evaluation of major delta processes indicates that deceleration in sea level rise was the key factor in holocene delta formation within many deltas there is as much as a 2000 year age range between basal deposits in seaward and landward cores this age difference records the progressive landward migration of near mean sea level depositional environments during the lower to mid holocene establishment of a chronostratigraphic framework for holocene delta development provides a fundamental global baseline for distinguishing sea level change from vertical land motion by tectonism and isostasy and for evaluating rates of future marine incursion into low lying deltas

anticostia a distinctive new late ordovician glyptograptid diplograptacea graptoloidea based on three dimensionally preserved specimens from anticosti island quebec three dimensionally preserved specimens of late ordovician graptolites have been isolated from vaureal formation limestone samples collected from anticosti island quebec the morphology astogeny and systematics of anticostia macgregorae n gen n sp are described these specimens show a new astogenetic pattern pattern k described for the first time the similar glyptograptid species glyptograptus hudsoni jackson glyptograptus tenuissimus ross and berry and orthograptus fastigatus davies all possess a pattern k astogeny these species along with glyptograptus lorrainensis which possesses the less derived pattern g astogeny are included within anticostia n gen anticostia tenuissima ross and berry is redescribed and normalograptus occidentalis ruedemann is refigured based on their type specimens from coeval rocks in nevada and idaho

evidence of relative sea level rise along the coasts of central apulia italy during the late holocene via maritime archaeological indicators abstract we investigated archaeological sites located along the coasts of central apulia italy to estimate the relative sea level changes which have occurred in this region since the bronze age and test the most recent model of predicted sea level for this region surveys focused on six sites located on both the adriatic and ionian coasts of apulia at the feet of the carbonatic murge plateau a tectonically stable zone as of the last 125 ka the sites present the remains of ancient settlements ranging from the bronze age circa ii millennium bc to the messapian and magna grecia age c 2 5 ka bp the roman c 2 ka bp and middle ages c 1 ka bp the archaeological sea level markers investigated in these sites provided new insight into the history of the relative sea level changes which have occurred in this region during the last c 3 3 ka bp data from 17 archaeological settlements from the above mentioned sites placed above or below the present sea level were analyzed the intervening relative sea level changes successive to their construction were estimated via the submergence of the functional elevations of significant architectural features related to the mean sea level at the time during which the settlements were functioning the r s l changes were estimated using detailed topographic surveys tide analyses and or hydrodynamic equations although not all archaeological markers allowed univocal interpretations r s l rise at about 2 25 0 20 m as of the bronze age and at least 0 90 0 20 m in the last 2 0 1 5 ka was estimated a comparison between the elevation of the marker and two different predicted sea level models seems to confirm a tectonic stability of the investigated region in the last c 3 3 ka bp

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

human influence and the changing geomorphology of mediterranean deltas and coasts over the last 6000 years from progradation to destruction phase the present geomorphology of the mediterranean s coasts is largely a product of an intricate long term relationship between nature and human societies a cradle of ancient civilisations the mediterranean has seen its shores occupied by humans since prehistory and is therefore a particularly pertinent unit of analysis the morphotectonic context and other forcing agents e g climate shaped out a highly diversified coastal morphology and generated a sediment supply regime potentially favourable to the formation of numerous open coast deltas and bay head deltas in infilled rias as sea level stabilised during the mid holocene this supply of riverine sediment has also been the key agent in mediating human occupation of the mediterranean s clastic coasts expressions of this relationship have been extensively archived in clastic coastal deposits including base level deltaic and estuarine sedimentary sinks which comprise records to explore the interactions between geosystems and the human environment the stratigraphic sequences in these coastal sedimentary archives comprise in many places a clearly identified anthropogenic signature notably in ancient harbours some of which underwent extremely rapid silting up due to massive sediment sourcing generated by new agricultural practices from the neolithic onwards increasing human influence especially over the last 3000 years has been in turn an important driver of changes in sediment supply strongly modulating deltaic development pulses of sediment supply from catchments rendered vulnerable by human perturbations during the roman period resulted in a new cycle of inception of many other deltas and in rapid delta growth e g the ebro the po the arno and the ombrone another progradation dynamic during the little ice age at a time of strong rural population growth river discharge increases technological developments and urbanisation further consolidated delta growth understanding the life cycle of these deltas since their initial formation is in turn key to unravelling the relative role of natural and anthropogenic forcing agents rapid climate changes are deemed to have contributed through both the stripping of landscapes rendered fragile by human activities and active fluvial sediment transport to the coast but disentangling climate change effects from human impacts in the mediterranean remains a challenge the patterns of subsequent deltaic growth and delta morphodynamics reflect adaptations to pulsed sediment supply river discharge variations the microtidal fetch limited context of the mediterranean and direct engineering interventions the progradation dynamic of the roman period and little ice age contrasts markedly with the situation of common coastal destabilisation over the last two centuries particularly well documented for the last 50 years this period has been characterised by reduced sediment flux to base level geosystems due to catchment reforestation retenion within reservoirs fluvial regulation and dredging resulting in the erosion of deltas and barrier lagoon and beach dune systems large stretches of shoreline and narrow coastal plains have been massively engineered for coastal defence and protection against erosion but also for the construction of marinas leisure harbours and artificial beaches resulting in the emergence of veritable artificial seafronts these interventions have collectively and progressively raised societies to a pervasive and overarching position in the geomorphic stability instability of the mediterranean s coasts a situation that will be exacerbated by pressures from sea level rise paving the way for rampant coastal erosion and delta destruction

itrax description and evaluation of a new multi function x ray core scanner a new automated multi function core scanning instrument named itrax has been developed that records optical radiographic and elemental variations from sediment half cores up to 1 8 m long at a resolution as fine as 200 m an intense micro x ray beam focused through a flat capillary waveguide is used to irradiate samples to enable both x radiography and x ray fluorescence xrf analysis data are acquired incrementally by advancing a split core via a programmable stepped motor drive through the flat rectangular section x ray beam traditional xrf determination of element composition in sediments provides high quality data but it takes a considerable time and normally consumes gram quantities of material that is often only available in limited quantities the itrax core scanner non destructively collects optical and x radiographic images and provides high resolution elemental profiles that are invaluable for guiding sample selection for further destructive detailed sampling this paper presents a description of the construction characteristics and capabilities of the itrax system high resolution itrax data obtained from sediment cores are also presented and compared with results from traditional wavelength dispersive xrf analysis at lower resolution finally some recent technical developments linked to the second generation itrax are presented

the contribution of geochemistry to ancient harbor geoarcheology the example of ostia antica abstract once trapped in ancient harbor basins sediments form environmental archives that have been widely studied by geoarcheologists in recent decades especially to help reconstruct fluvio marine landscapes of the last millennia in some cases classic environmental markers cannot be used for this purpose either because of their scarcity in the sedimentary deposits or because analytical costs limit the resolution that can be achieved in order to remedy these shortcomings and to complement the more commonly used proxies elemental and isotopic geochemistry has been added to the geoarcheological toolkit here we show how to read the evolution of the paleo environmental dynamics in the water column of ostia antica rome s first maritime harbor using the geochemical and isotopic record of a 3000 year old sediment core drilled in the ancient harbor basin a comparison of the results obtained from ostia antica with those of other ancient mediterranean harbors reveals the nature of the main environmental processes operating during the formation of sedimentary deposits in harbor basins from this comparative approach it appears that the respective weight of each control factor is dependent on the coastal geomorphological context of the sites where the harbors were established since the discovery of the harbor of ostia antica in 2014 this method has provided the means for the first time to identify two distinct harbor basin regimes an initial marine dominated regime from the middle of the 4th c bc to the 3rd c bc and a later freshwater dominated regime up to the 2nd c bc more generally we observe the effects of the dynamics of the deltaic progradation of the tiber which very early on was subject to a hydro climatic component on the processes of alluviation of the harbor basin additionally and also for the first time in harbor geoarcheology pb isotope compositions measured specifically on uncontaminated sediments demonstrate their utility for both identifying the geological sources of the sediments of the tiber delta and discriminating finer from larger particles the present study further provides an opportunity to test the validity of two hypotheses recently put forward 1 that a series of three tsunamis is recorded in the harbor silts and 2 that an initial lagoon type harbor was constructed at ostia antica which later evolved into a fluvial harbor neither of these hypotheses are supported by the present data

demise of a harbor a geochemical chronicle from ephesus a b s t r a c t at the end of the first century bc ephesus became the roman capital of asia minor and the most important commercial religious and cultural center of the region in order to evaluate the status of anthropogenic fluxes in the port of ephesus a 12 m long sediment core drilled in the roman basin was investigated to shed light on the paleo environmental evolution of the harbor using grain size distri bution analysis 14 c ages major and trace element geochemistry and pb isotope compositions with the help of complementary sedimentological data and principal component analysis five distinct units were identified which together reflect the different stages of water history in the harbor among the major disruptive events affecting the port were earthquakes and military events both of which were partic ularly effective at destroying the water distribution system seasonal floods of the cayster river kucuk menderes were the major source of the silt that progres sively infilled the harbor silting in was further enhanced by the westward migration of the river mouth a single major disruptive event located at 550 cm core depth and heralding the development of anoxia in the harbor marks the end of the dynamic regime that otherwise controlled the harbor water throughout the roman empire period this remarkable event may correspond to a major disruption of the aqueduct system or to a brutal avulsion of the cayster river bed it clearly represents a major disturbance in the history of life at ephesus it is poorly dated but probably occurred during the reign of augustus or shortly after lead isotope and trace metal evidence suggest that in the four bottom units pollution was subdued with respect to other pb metal inputs presumably those from aqueducts and natural karstic springs near the top of the core which coincides with harbor abandonment and the more recent period anthropogenic pb contam ination is clearly visible in both pb abundances and isotopic compositions

floodplain occupation and landscape modification in early rome abstract the site of rome in central italy provided many opportunities for the development of a city access to natural resources defensible terrain a ford in the tiber river among others in addition to these advantages the environment and landscape also presented numerous challenges to early inhabitants this ecological dichotomy is especially observable in the forum boarium a region situated in the tiber s floodplain at the base of the capitoline and palatine hills by the archaic period 7th 6th centuries bce this vital gateway for trade and communication was operating as a river port equipped with a harbor temple periodic flooding of the tiber river however consistently jeopardized these commercial and cult pursuits in the forum boarium as a result this region became the focus of early endeavors at landscape modification which helped to protect and facilitate the growth of urban infrastructure in the floodplain in order to explore geoarchaeological conditions in the floodplain a multi disciplinary research project was undertaken in the forum boarium between 2013 and 2015 this paper presents preliminary results from this recent investigation including evidence on the natural topography of the river valley floods and sedimentation as well as building techniques in a flood prone region in archaic and early republican rome it is argued that in response to varied and prolonged environmental stress landscape modification and continuous management became important prerequisites to rome s urbanization process in this way ecological pressures directly influenced the development of the city s built landscape this research not only represents a significant step towards a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of early rome but also demonstrates the advantages of coring survey in urban areas where access to deeply buried archaeological and geological stratigraphy is restricted

a precise worldwide correlation of early ordovician graptolite sequences fourteen early ordovician tremadoc llandeilo graptolite sequences from around the world are precisely infrazonally correlated based on the stratigraphic ranges of 130 species and species groups the composite standard sequence css of graptolites has been determined from the six best regional sequences by a nonparametric graphic correlation two data sets were selected one comprised first appearance events of 103 taxa the other first and last appearance events of 45 taxa the results of the two runs accord well and reveal respectively 66 and 73 successive bioevents in early ordovician time event spacing averages 0 7 0 8 ma and enables fine subdivision correlation and homotaxial testing for diachroneity the strong correlation between each of the six regional sequences and the css indicates the high level of accordance among graptolite successions around the world

the generative phase and the first radiation event in the early silurian monograptid history abstract the generative phase in the monograptid history that is a period between the appearance of the uniserial colony the persculptograptus persculptus biozone and the first radiation event the cystograptus vesiculosus biozone shows neither morphological nor taxonomical variety in the rhabdosomal and thecal structure it is characterized by the speciation events in the single atavograptus linage these events coincide with the recovery phase of the early silurian diplograptids and are associated mostly with deep water environments within the marginal basins in the low latitude equatorial belt the monograptid radiation in the c vesiculosus biozone is well represented in the bornholm and south urals sections koren and bjerreskov 1997 it resulted in a significant increase in diversity of derived thecal morphologies based on a simple atavograptus primitivus morphotype some important morphological novelties that were typical for almost all early monograptids such as the position of the theca 1 bud at the metasicula were also introduced in several akidograptid and dimorphograptid lineages within the parakidograptus acuminatus and c vesiculosus biozones the vesiculosus radiation led to geographical and ecological expansion of monograptids which became globally recognizable within the epipelagic and marginal basins in the low to moderate palaeolatitudes

the late ordovician mass extinction abstract near the end of the late ordovician in the first of five mass extinctions in the phanerozoic about 85 of marine species died the cause was a brief glacial interval that produced two pulses of extinction the first pulse was at the beginning of the glaciation when sea level decline drained epicontinental seaways produced a harsh climate in low and mid latitudes and initiated active deep oceanic currents that aerated the deep oceans and brought nutrients and possibly toxic material up from oceanic depths following that initial pulse of extinction surviving faunas adapted to the new ecologic setting the glaciation ended suddenly and as sea level rose the climate moderated and oceanic circulation stagnated another pulse of extinction occurred the second extinction marked the end of a long interval of ecologic stasis an ecologic evolutionary unit recovery from the event took several million years but the resulting fauna had ecologic patterns similar to the fauna that had become e

late alpine evolution of the central menderes massif western turkey the central menderes massif western turkey is characterized by an overall dome shaped alpine foliation pattern and a n nne trending stretching lineation a section through the southern flank of the central submassif along the northern margin of buyuk menderes graben has been studied there asymmetric non coaxial fabrics indicate that the submassif has experienced two distinct phases of alpine deformation a top to the n nne contractional phase and a top to the s ssw extensional event the former fabrics are coeval with a regional prograde barrovian type metamorphism at greenschist to upper amphibolite facies conditions this event known as the main menderes metamorphism is thought to be the result of internal imbrication of the menderes massif rocks along south verging thrust sheets during the collision of the sakarya continent in the north and the anatolide tauride platform in the south across the izmir ankara suture during the palaeocene eocene top to the s ssw fabrics represented by a well developed ductile shear band foliation associated with inclined and or curved foliation asymmetric boudins and cataclasites were clearly superimposed on earlier contractional fabrics these fabrics are interpreted to be related to a low grade greenschist retrogressive metamorphism and a continuum of deformation from ductile to brittle in the footwall rocks of a south dipping presently low angle normal fault that accompanied early miocene orogenic collapse and continental extension in western turkey a similar tectono metamorphic history has been documented for the northern flank of the dome along the southern margin of the gediz graben with top to the n nne extensional fabrics the exhumation of the central menderes massif can therefore be attributed to a model of symmetric gravity collapse of the previously thickened crust in the submassif area the central submassif is thus interpreted as a piece of ductile lower middle crust that was exhumed along two normal sense shear zones with opposing vergence and may be regarded as a typical symmetrical metamorphic core complex these relationships are consistent with previous models that the miocene exhumation of the menderes massif and cycladic massif in the aegean sea was a result of bivergent extension

human environment interaction in the hinterland of ephesos as deduced from an in depth study of lake belevi west anatolia abstract lacustrine sediments are important archives for high resolution palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the holocene despite the density of ancient cities and settlements along the western coast of turkey the archives from coastal lakes in this area have until now not been recognized to their fullest potential and are therefore only poorly studied the exceptional geo bio archive of lake belevi is located close to the ancient city of ephesos in western turkey two sediment cores have been analysed using geochemical sedimentological microfaunal palynological and archaeoparasitological methods the in depth study of these holocene deposits is supported by a robust age depth model that used 33 radiocarbon dates and tephrochronology the results reveal the existence of a freshwater lake in the early holocene which turned brackish when the rising sea level connected it with the sea the delta evolution of the kucuk menderes led to the re establishment of a freshwater lake the natural vegetation was represented by open oak woodlands there are hints for first agricultural activities in the environs of belevi as early as 8000 cal yr bp intensive cultivation of olea is proven since 3000 cal yr bp starting during the 3rd millennium bp the human impact with enhanced deforestation activities and correlative high sedimentation rates is attested for sites such as belevi ephesos elaia pergamon and miletos for the first time tephra from the eruption of minoan santorini has been identified in the environs of ephesos this ash covered the vegetation by a thick layer wherefore low growing plants were strongly affected the comparison between the results from the quasi natural area of lake belevi and the area around the city of ephesos gives insights into the development and use of the landscapes the environmental changes as well as the duration and intensity of the human impact

human impact on holocene sediment dynamics in the eastern mediterranean the example of the roman harbour of ephesus during the past millennia many erosion and accumulation processes have been modified by anthropogenic impact this holds especially true for the environs of ancient settlements and their harbours along the mediterranean coasts our multi proxy investigations in the roman harbour and the harbour canal of ephesus western turkey reveals that humans have significantly triggered soil erosion during the last three millennia since the eighth century bc and especially since the hellenistic period a high sed imentation rate indicates fast alluviation and delta progradation of the kucuk menderes deforestation agriculture especially ploughing and grazing especially goats were the main reasons for erosion of the river catchment area one consequence was significant siltation of the hellenistic roman harbour basin this sediment trap archives the human impact which was strongly enhanced from hellenistic roman to byzantine times second first centuries bc to the sixth seventh centuries ad evidenced by high sedimentation rates raised values of heavy metal contaminations lead pb copper cu the occurrence of fruit tree pollen and of intestinal parasites from the middle to the end of the first millennium ad the influence of ephesus declined which resulted in a decrease of human impact studies of several ancient settlements around the mediterranean sea tell a comparable story they also confirm that during their most flourishing periods the human impact totally overprinted the climatic one to detect the latter geo bio archives of relatively pristine areas have to be investigated in detail

the geodynamics of the aegean and anatolia introduction the complexity of the plate interactions and associated crustal deformation in the eastern mediterranean region is reflected in many destructive earthquakes that have occurred throughout its recorded history many of which are well documented and intensively studied the eastern mediterranean region including the surrounding areas of western turkey and greece is indeed one of the most seismically active and rapidly deforming regions within the continents fig 1 thus the region provides a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the complexities of continental tectonics in an actively collisional orogen the major scientific observations from this natural laboratory have clearly been helping us to better understand the tectonic processes in active collision zones the mode and nature of continental growth and the causes and distribution of seismic volcanic and geomorphological events e g tsunamis and their impact on societal life and civilization the tectonic evolution of the eastern mediterranean region is dominated by the effects of subduction along the hellenic aegean arc and of continental collision in eastern turkey anatolia and the caucasus northward subduction of the african plate beneath western turkey and the aegean region is causing extension of the continental crust and volcanism in the overlying aegean extensional province eastern turkey has been experiencing crustal shortening and thickening as a result of northward motion of the arabian plate relative to eurasia and the attendant postcollisional magmatism taymaz et al 1990 1991a b mcclusky et al 2000 2003 dilek pavlides 2006 and references therein fig 2 the resulting combination of forces the pull from the subduction zone to the west and push from the convergent zone to the east is causing the turkish plate to move southwestward bounded by strike slip fault zones the north anatolian fault zone nafz to the north and the east anatolian fault zone eafz to the south interplay between dynamic effects of the relative motions of adjoining plates thus controls large scale crustal deformation and the associated seismicity and volcanism in anatolia and the aegean region taymaz et al 2004

ostracodological studies in archaeological settings a review during recent years geo archaeology has been revitalised and much effort has been made to combine geo archaeological sciences like geomorphology sedimentology micropalaeontology and geochemistry with the cultural archaeological approach the first definition of geo archaeology dates back to the late seventies and since then has evolved to include more and more multidisciplinary studies in this perspective ostracods play a crucial role since they are valuable palaeoenvironmental indicators in all aquatic habitats from freshwater to marine despite their potential the integration of ostracods in archaeological studies has not been immediate only in the nineties did ostracod geo archaeology seem to finally take its place including a systematic approach to ostracod studies in archaeological excavations since then many geo archaeological investigations have included ostracod analyses exploiting their potential as multitask tools the research papers composing this special issue demonstrate that ostracods can be used in the most diverse settings as tracers of archaeological material provenance proxies for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimate reconstructions as well as clues to human impact

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

a conodont based silurian chronostratigraphy ranges of 79 conodont species are used to effect a graphic correlation of upper llandoverian pridolian silurian rocks in 30 stratigraphic sections in europe and north america a silurian composite standard section css developed by this method provides the total stratigraphic ranges for all species for which there is information in the system these ranges are stated in terms of the sequence of silurian rocks at cellon austria which is the standard reference section srs the llandoverian wenlockian and ludlovian pridolian boundaries are recognized based on the position of the golden spike in the boundary stratotypes the leasows hughley brook and pozary sections which form parts of the css range data for graptolite species in ten of the stratigraphic sections are used to approximate positions of all other boundaries between silurian series and stages that have been designated in boundary stratotypes that are not parts of the composite standard section the pridolian is shown to have had a longer duration than either the ludlovian or wenlockian and the llandoverian possibly approximated the pridolian in duration the css is divisible into 48 standard time units stu9s of conceptually equal length hence the chrono stratigraphy based on it resolves at a level two to four times higher than any previously proposed for the silurian the css is also divided into a succession of conodont chronozones that are based on zones proposed by walliser 1964 aldridge 1972 and barrick and klapper 1976 conodont chronozones can be recognized with confidence only in sections that are parts of the css framework

the environs of elaia s ancient open harbour a reconstruction based on microfaunal evidence during hellenistic and roman times elaia the harbour city of ancient pergamum was an important place of trading and traffic intense mercantile and military activities are documented by literary sources and archaeological evidences geomagnetic and geoelectric investigations detected building structures close to the ancient coastline which are interpreted as ship sheds the aim of this study was to reconstruct the coastal evolution particularly with regard to harbour related facilities for that purpose a 10 m long sediment core was drilled in the area of the ancient open harbour immediately in front of the supposed ship sheds it was studied with the tools of micropalaeontology geophysics sedimentology and geochemistry to improve the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental conditions reference samples of modern environments of the area were analysed as indicated by marine ostracod and foraminifer taxa the sediment core shows from bottom to top that the initially fully marine conditions changed to a more restricted fauna indicative for a more sheltered bay with brackish waters this layer dates to hellenistic times it can however be shown that the siltation process had produced a lagoon system already several hundred years bc the elaia embayment was first used as a natural harbour it was equipped with breakwaters in the hellenistic period the progressive siltation caused the abandonment of the harbour in late roman times

holocene stratigraphy and geomorphological evolution of the aegean coastal plains of anatolia abstract three main stages can be distinguished in the sedimentary development and geomorphological formation of the present delta plains on the aegean coast of turkey the early holocene is characterized by post glacial transgression and dependent sedimentation the middle holocene was the period when sea level reached the present level and apart from small fluctuations stopped rising alluviation and deltaic progradation were prevalent during this transition period from marine to terrestrial environments as for the late holocene deltaic progradation slowed down and delta plains were covered by floodplain sediments these characteristics can be observed in the same sequence throughout the aegean coast of turkey

preliminary report on the late ordovician graptolite extinction in the yangtze region abstract the present work is mainly based on five continuous ashgillian to earliest llandovery sections together with data from more than 30 other published sections from south china rarefaction analysis indicates a sudden drop in diversity from the upper part of the paraorthograptus pacificus zone to the akidograptus ascensus zone we combined the species range data from some of these sections into a single graptolite composite standard sequence css using graphic correlation technique a temporal scale for graptolite zones in the ordovician and silurian was adopted and the css ranges were plotted against this temporal scale the new css reveals that the mass extinction was gradual or stepwise and began with a major extinction spanned an interval from near the top of the tangyagraptus typicus subzone to the middle of the normalograptus extraordinarius zone a secondary more minor pulse of extinction minor extinction took place late in the interval of the upper normalograptus persculptus zone using temporally scaled range data species diversities can be calculated more precisely according to the species area relationship we can calculate that reduction in the area of the yangtze sea only led to less than 21 5 decrease in graptolite diversity at least 41 decline of the species diversity was due to the destruction of the favorite habitat of graptolites such as a sudden change from dysoxic to fully oxygenated waters decreasing of water temperature reduction of primary producers and interruption of food web

the use of ostracods from marginal marine brackish waters as bioindicators of modern and quaternary environmental change abstract ostracoda microscopic aquatic crustacea from brackish waters have a great potential for ecological monitoring and palaeoenvironmental analyses in highly variable environments this has been proven in many articles during recent decades but their potential has yet to be fully developed or utilised the analysis of ostracod assemblage composition species distributions eco phenotypic variability and the analysis of stable isotopes and trace elements in ostracod shells provide valuable information on present and past water salinity temperature and chemistry hydrodynamic conditions substrate characteristics climate sea level variations oxygen and nutrient availability this article provides an overview on the application of ostracods from brackish waters for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the quaternary and for environmental studies in present day environments

new techniques in sediment core analysis an introduction marine sediment cores are the fundamental data source for information on seabed character depositional history and environmental change they provide raw data for a wide range of research including studies of global climate change palaeoceanography slope stability oil exploration pollution assessment and control and sea floor surveys for laying cables pipelines and siting of sea floor structures during the last three decades a varied suite of new technologies have been developed to analyse cores often non destructively to produce high quality closely spaced co located downcore measurements characterizing sediment physical properties geochemistry and composition in unprecedented detail distributions of a variety of palaeoenvironmentally significant proxies can now be logged at decadal and in some cases even annual or subannual scales allowing detailed insights into the history of climate and associated environmental change these advances have had a profound effect on many aspects of the earth sciences particularly palaeoceanography in this paper we review recent advances in analytical and logging technology and their application to the analysis of sediment cores developments in providing access to core data and associated datasets and data mining technology in order to integrate and interpret new and legacy datasets within the wider context of sea floor studies are also discussed despite the great advances in this field however challenges remain particularly in the development of standard measurement and calibration methodologies and in the development of data analysis methods new data visualization tools and techniques need to be developed to optimize the interpretation process and maximize scientific value amplified collaboration environments and tools are needed in order to capitalize on our analysis and interpretation capability of large multi parameter datasets sophisticated yet simple to use searchable internet databases with universal access and secure long term funding and data products resulting in user defined data mining query and display so far pioneered in the usa and australia provide robust models for efficient and effective core data stewardship

palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the medjerda delta tunisia during the holocene abstract the progradation of the medjerda delta has been the subject of many studies since the 19th century the scale and the rapidity of this phenomenon interested researchers in various fields early on such as geomorphology geology palaeogeography history archaeology or geoarchaeology indeed the delta prograded by around 10 km over 3 millennia at the time of its foundation supposedly at the end of the 12th century bc the phoenician city of utica was located on a promontory bathed by the sea but the sediments carried by the medjerda progressively sealed the bay leaving the tip of the utica promontory now 10 km inland this area is therefore an exception to the general pattern along the tunisian coast since as over the same period everywhere else there is a regression of the coastline owing to a sea level rise of several decimeters based on multi proxy analyses of two coring transects this paper aims to reconstruct the palaeoenvironments and the palaeogeography of the medjerda delta s progradation since the mid holocene some aspects of which are described in ancient sources the results highlight in particular an episode of high intensity flooding around the 4th century ad which is consistent with episodes of high floods and an increase in sedimentation rates recorded in the watershed at the end of the roman period the gradual abandonment of the city of utica can certainly be related to the activity of the medjerda river but our results show that it is because of an increase of fluvial sediment contribution in connection with an erosive crisis in the headwaters and not because of the change of course of the river which had occurred long before

late ordovician to earliest silurian graptolite and brachiopod biozonation from the yangtze region south china with a global correlation late ordovician to earliest silurian is an important geological period marked by large geological and biological events however the strata and fossils of this interval are not complete in many parts of the world based on studies of 43 sites in south china in particular the continuous sections on the yangtze platform we recognize a complete succession including seven graptolite zones and two shelly faunas in ascending order the graptolite zones are the dicellograptus complanatus dicellograptus complexus paraorthograptus pacificus including lower subzone tangyagraptus typicus subzone and diceratograptus mirus subzone normalograptus extraordinarius normalograptus ojsuensis normalograptus persculptus akidograptus ascensus and parakidograptus acuminatus zones the shelly faunas are the foliomena nankinolithus and hirnantia faunas which may be correlated with d complanatus zone and n extraordinarius n ojsuensis to part of n persculptus zones respectively the biozonation through this interval from the yangtze region can be correlated with that of other parts of the world such as dob s linn in scotland spain and portugal thuringia saxonia bavaria bohemia poland kazakhstan kolyma malaya peninsula yukon canadian arctic islands nevada argentina niger and victoria australia the hirnantian substage which has been proposed by us recently includes the n extraordinarius n ojsuensis zone hirnantia fauna and n persculptus zone the base of the hirnantian substage is marked by the first appearance data fads of n extraordinarius and n ojsuensis which have been determined to be synchronous on a global scale

quantitative stratigraphy of the wufeng and lungmachi black shales and graptolite evolution during and after the late ordovician mass extinction article i nfo graptolite bearing black shales are widely distributed on the yangtze platform in south china based on 19 sec tions systematically studied recently we conducted a quantitative stratigraphic analysis of the graptolite biodi versity change during and after the late ordovician mass extinction the combination of graphic correlation and rarefaction methods make it possible to evaluate the effect of sampling intensity on biodiversity estimates graptolite diversity reached its peak in the dicellograptus complexus chron and then a gradual decline to the p pacificus chron it was followed by a two step mass extinction the first and major phase occurred in the metabolograptus extraordinarius chron and the second and minor phase in the latest m persculptus chron the second phase of the extinction was mostly represented by the elimination of the diplograptina survivors from the major extinction event but did not show significant decline in standardized diversity curve thereafter a moderate increase in richness appeared in the early and mid parakidograptus acuminatus chron which was followd by a considerable decrease of graptolite richness in the late p acuminatus chron and early c vesiculosus chron the present study also indicates slow and uneven sedimentation rates in the studied sections from mid katian to early rhuddanian including a relatively slower sedimentation rate during the hirnantian epoch the latter andthehiatusatthe honghuayuanandguanwusections probablyreflecttheeffectsofthe hirnantian glaciation and regional tectonic movements

in search of the harbours new evidence of late roman and byzantine harbours of ephesus abstract ephesus greek name ephesos in western turkey was an important harbour city during antiquity the progradation of the kucuk menderes delta has continuously shifted the coastline westwards thus along with the delta progradation new harbour sites had to be established in a western direction historical sources refer to different harbours while much is known about the roman and older ones the exact location of the ports and the coastline in late roman and byzantine times is still an open question this article presents the results of geoarchaeological research in the area located along the southern flank of the kucuk menderes graben near ephesus sediments from cores were examined with geochemical sedimentological and microfaunal analyses these data were combined with the study of ancient maps and satellite images the chronological framework was rendered by ams 14 c ages and diagnostic ceramics the farthermost inland shoreline dates from 5000 bc since then delta progradation has continuously shifted the shoreline westwards canakgol today a little lake to the west of the city of ephesus is identified as the harbour site in late roman and byzantine times this harbour persisted at least until the 16th century ad further a landing site with a pier was discovered west of canakgol presumably dating to the late byzantine ottoman times

human and natural impacts on fluvial and karst depressions of the maya lowlands abstract this paper begins to differentiate the major drivers and chronology of erosion and aggradation in the fluvial and fluviokarst landscapes of the southern and central maya lowlands we synthesize past research on erosion and aggradation and add new data from water soils radiocarbon dating and archaeology to study the quantity timing and causes of aggradation in regional landscape depressions geomorphic findings come from many excavations across a landscape gradient from upland valleys karst sinks and fans into the coastal plain floodplains and depressions findings from water chemistry show that sources in the uplands have low quantities of dissolved ions but water in the coastal plains has high amounts of dissolved ions often nearly saturated in calcium and sulfate we found significant geomorphic complexity in the general trends in upland karst sinks in a few instances sediments preserve late pleistocene paleosols buried 2 3 m though many more have distinct middle to late holocene paleosols buried 1 2 m after c 2300 bp maya early to late preclassic from 2300 1100 bp late preclassic to classic periods the landscape aggraded from five main mechanisms river flooding climatic instability accelerated erosion ancient maya landscape manipulation and gypsum precipitation from a rise in a water table nearly saturated in calcium and sulfate ions evidence exists for two or three high magnitude floods possibly driven by hurricanes moreover lake core and geophysical studies from the peten lakes region have shown high rates of deposition of silicate clays maya clays starting and peaking during the maya preclassic and continuing to be high through the late classic the main driver on upland karst depressions the peten lakes upland valleys and fans was accelerated soil erosion but water table rise probably driven by sea level rise was the main driver on the wetlands of the coastal plain because the aggraded sediments here are dominantly composed of gypsum precipitated from the groundwater this latter mechanism represents a little recognized mechanism of aggradation over a large region these large scale environmental changes occurred during periods of intensive ancient maya land use and climatic instability both of which may have contributed to erosion by increasing runoff despite these geomorphic changes ancient maya farmers adapted in several key cases