palaeogeography of carthage tunisia coastal change during the first millennium bc abstract new geological data were recovered from 16 sediment sections cored in and around the cothon the harbour of ancient carthage they show a relatively thin less than 5 m post mid holocene sediment accumulation over a late pleistocene calcarenite bedrock surface analyses of core sediment samples for granulometry and microfossil remains combined with four radiocarbon dates have suggested several palaeogeographic reconstructions of the coastline of carthage and placed constraints on the nature and location of any punic port installation pre dating the visible remains of the 3rd century bc we also propose a geologically and historically plausible reconstruction of scipio s siege and capture of the city in 146 bc

holocene raised shorelines on the hatay coasts turkey palaeoecological and tectonic implications abstract the marks of two emerged shorelines superimposed erosional notches and in situ bioconstructed rims with the vermetid dendropoma on both sides of the orontes delta near the border between turkey and syria are interpreted as representing the occurrence of two rapid uplifts during the late holocene rather than representing eustatic fluctuations of climatic origin as claimed by previous authors in other areas of the eastern mediterranean the upper shoreline which has an elevation of about 2 0 m south of the delta and which increases from 2 5 m to 3 0 m between 2 and 8 km north of the delta has been radiocarbon dated four dates to between 5170 190 and 2595 100 yrs b p the lower shoreline indicating a former relative sea level situated consistently at about 0 7 to 0 8 m has yielded seven dates between 2910 95 and 1345 70 yrs b p the latter age being that of fossil oyster shells collected in growth position on a quay of the ancient harbour of seleucia pieria if the possible contamination of some oyster shells is taken into account the two uplift movements may be dated at around 2500 100 yrs b p for the upper shoreline and to historical times for the lower shoreline probably in july 551 a d when devastating earthquake damage was reported from all the levant regions the age of the second uplift movement falls within the possible time span of a major tectonic event the early byzantine tectonic paroxysm ebtp which about 1500 yrs b p caused sudden relative sea level changes in various areas of the eastern mediterranean antikythira western crete and alanya area the lebanon northern cyprus etc in the hatay region the effect of the ebtp has been a reactivation of local fault lines probably in connection with movements on the east anatolian fault system this has contributed a new jerk to the long term trend of uplift in this coastal area

the use of the common pb isotope composition of detrital k feldspar grains as a provenance tool and its application to upper carboniferous paleodrainage northern england k feldspar is a common detrital mineral in sandstones it contains little u or th and hence the common pb isotope composition of unaltered k feldspar is that of the source rock pb isotope variations in igneous and metamorphic crustal rocks define broad spatial patterns that make the pb signature of detrital k feldspar grains a useful provenance tool however it is unclear how robust this signal is and to what extent it can be modified by weathering transport burial diagenesis and or exposure to hydrothermal fluids this study reports an evaluation of the technique using two granite arkose pairs from helmsdale northern scotland and shap northwest england where the composition of the detrital grains can be compared to feldspars in the granite from which they were derived the results of this test have informed a pilot study using the pb isotope composition of detrital k feldspar in upper carboniferous fluvial sedimentary rocks of northern england to constrain the sediment routing pb isotope compositions have been measured using an in situ high resolution single grain technique that can distinguish original composition heterogeneity and subsequent alteration within individual sand grains the results for the granite arkose pairs show that the common pb isotope signature of the detrital k feldspar grains matches the in situ feldspars in the source granites the signal is independent of grain size medium grained sand to granules but alteration along a paleo regolith at helmsdale has resulted in perturbations in pb composition and an increase in the errors on the analyses the application of the technique to arkosic carboniferous serpukhovian bashkirian millstone grit group sandstones in the pennine basin reveals two discrete populations of k feldspars that cannot be distinguished petrographically matching of the compositions to potential sourcelands to the north and northeast of the basin suggest a far traveled 500 km source of k feldspar from the archean paleoproterozoic lewisian rocks of northwest scotland or their extension to the north but also an equally important proximal source emanating from the southern uplands belt of scotland in what would have been the lower part of the hinterland drainage basin of the millstone grit

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

geoarchaeological evidence for dredging in tyre s ancient harbour levant abstract chrono stratigraphic data from tyre s ancient northern harbour delineate extensive dredging practices during the greco roman and byzantine periods radiocarbon dates from four cores consistently cluster between ca 500 b c and 1000 a d and indicate rapid rates of sedimentation in the basin namely 10 mm yr during the greco roman and byzantine periods compared to 0 5 1 mm yr for the period 6000 4000 b c absence of strata between 4000 b c and 500 b c is not consistent with a natural base level sediment sink and cannot be interpreted as a depositional hiatus in the high stand systems tract ancient dredging is further corroborated by persistent age depth inversions within the fine grained harbour facies these data support removal of middle bronze age to persian period sediment strata with deliberate overdeepening of the harbour bottom by greco roman and byzantine societies

changes of relative sea level during the past 5000 years in the ancient harbor of marseilles southern france in the ancient harbor of marseilles marine fauna fixed upon archaeological structures as well as bio sedimentary units document a 1 5 m steady rise in relative sea level during the past 5000 years followed by a near stable level at present datum from about 1500 years ad to the last century this trend is similar to the one previously documented along the rocky coasts of the same region field observations inside and outside the harbor confirm that no sea level stand higher than the present ever occurred during the studied period in contradiction with the numerical model of peltier but in agreement with the glacio hydro isostatic models of lambeck and johnston and lambeck and bard q 2001 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

provenance of pliocene sediments and paleoenvironmental changes in the southern north sea region using samarium neodymium sm nd provenance ages and clay mineralogy abstract an 800 m thick sedimentary succession from the late pliocene north sea has been investigated on the provenance of the sediments and on changes of the source regions related to transport processes and climate changes the lower zanclean to piacenzian part of the succession from 1250 to 1050 m depth and the middle early gelasian part from 1100 to 700 m depth belong to one distributory system with at least two contributing source areas provenance ages calculated on basis of sm nd content indicate one old archean and one young

river terrace systems in north west europe an archive of environmental change uplift and early human occupation abstract staircases of large scale aggradational river terraces are a notable feature of many valleys in the temperate lattitudes particularly in areas beyond the reach of the erosive activities of pleistocene ice sheets it is now recognized that the cyclic fluctuations of climate during the quaternary have driven the generation of terraces through the direct and indirect influence of both temperature and precipitation on fluviatile activity where fossiliferous deposits are preserved within terrace sequences it is often possible to date these and to correlate them with the oceanic record thus providing an important framework for the evidence of environmental change on land middle and late pleistocene terraces in different areas can commonly be seen to have formed in synchrony with glacial interglacial cycles or with longer periodicity megacycles climatic forcing alone is insufficient to cause terraces to form however uplift is also necessary so that terrace sequences can provide a useful record of crustal movement in northwest europe where some of the best known studies of river terrace sequences have been carried out the fluviatile deposits are also an important repository for palaeolithic artefacts from which a record of early human occupation can be reconstructed

stable lead isotope studies of central taurus ore sources and related artifacts from eastern mediterranean chalcolithic and bronze age sites abstract this is the first paper in a series presenting stable lead isotope studies of geological and archaelogical specimens obtained in 7 years of archaeometallurgical surveys in turkey the geological specimens presented here are ore and slag samples taken from ancient mining sites in the central taurus mountain range the archaelogical specimens are metal objects dating to the chalcolithic and bronze ages from anatolia syria mesopotamia greece and the aegean the isotopic measurements on these specimens have been made and statistically analysed as part of a collaborative effort between the smithsonian institution conservation analytical laboratory and the united states national institute of standards and technology nist a comprehensive data base of approximately 1000 stable lead isotope measurements on such eastern mediterranean specimens has been formed by combining the accumulated measurements at nist with analyses published in the literature the overlap between specimens in the overall data bank and the central taurus source specimens provides a realistic evaluations of the effectiveness of the use of stable lead isotope measurements for metallic ore source characterization and for the recognition of exchange patterns of metal and metal artifacts in the formative periods of metallurgy

geoarchaeology of tyre s ancient northern harbour phoenicia tyre s ancient northern harbour has been a source of scientific intrigue and debate for many centuries today an insignificant fishing harbour looking north and sheltered from the dominant winds by a sandstone reef system is all that remains of the famous bronze age phoenician hellenistic roman and byzantine anchorage havens in light of this many scholars have long questioned whether the modern port corresponds to its counterpart in antiquity here we provide litho and biostratigraphical evidence for an ancient harbour approximately twice as large as the present comprising the modern day harbour and city centre four distinct sedimentary units have been identified translating the different holocene palaeoenvironments 1 the holocene transgressive contact is dated ca 7800 bp and lies at the base of a silty clay lithodependant unit our proxies are consistent with a low energy lagoonal type environment protected by an extensive reef system 2 transition to a coarse sand fraction after ca 5500 bp is concomitant with the accretion of a semi protected pocket beach this environment served as a proto harbour during the middle bronze age mba 3 after the mba artificial harbour sedimentation is represented by a fine grained silty sand unit with stress on the natural biosystem this unit attests to a closed marine lagoonal type environment which existed until around 1500 bp dredging activity during the roman and byzantine periods explains the absence of 1st millennium bc strata 4 the economic decline of the ancient city after the byzantine period is marked by the opening of the basin to greater marine influence with a progradation of the harbour coastline natural sediment infilling diminished the size of the harbour to its present dimensions lost until now beneath the medieval and modern centres

ground penetrating radar and its use in sedimentology principles problems and progress abstract ground penetrating radar gpr also referred to as ground probing radar surface penetrating radar subsurface radar georadar or impulse radar is a noninvasive geophysical technique that detects electrical discontinuities in the shallow subsurface

a geochemical comparison of the dalradian leven schists and the grampian division monadhliath schists of scotland suites of samples from the type area of the leven schist and from localities within the monadhliath schists of the central highlands have been analysed for major and trace elements and for their sr isotopes petrologically the two schist groups are consistently different the leven schists are muscovite rich plagioclase poor semipelites to pelites whereas the monadhliath schists are a typical moinian semipelite consisting almost entirely of biotite sodic andesine and quartz equally consistent geochemical differences between the two include more nb zr y and rb and less ca sr and ni in the leven than the monadhliath schists ratios of rb sr and of y to p 2 o 5 sr and cao discriminate the leven from the monadhliath schists factor analyses of the chemical data also serve to distinguish the two suites rb sr isochron studies give 655 f2 5ma initial 87 sr 86 sr 0 7232 f10 for the leven schists and 486 9ma initial sr 87 sr 86 0 7190 1 for the monadhliath schists and also separate the two formations from one another the 655 ma age for the leven schists is thought to record sedimentation and diagenesis whereas the 486 9 age for the monadhliath schists is probably related to the cessation of rb and sr migration at or after the peak of the grampian orogeny their sr isotopic compositions were also completely different hack to 1300 ma ago and serve to confirm the lack of any continuity between the leven and monadhliath schists sets of schists located between the main outcrop areas were also analysed and can be assigned without ambiguity either to the leven or the monadhliath schists on the basis of their chemistry the results of this study imply that the lower dalradian appin group rests on the grampian division unconformably and that the latter is closely related through its geochemistry to the moinian nw of the great glen

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

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

earthquake clustering in the eastern mediterranean during historical times most coastal sectors which show evidence of holocene coseismic uplift in greece and the eastern mediterranean were raised during a short period called here the early byzantine tectonic paroxysm ebtp between the middle of the fourth and the middle of the sixth century a d the areas uplifted at that time include cephalonia and zante in the ionian islands lechaion and the perachora peninsula in the gulf of corinth the pelion coast of thessaly antikythira and the whole of western crete a coastal sector near alanya in southern turkey and the entire levant coast from hatay turkey to syria and the lebanon the amount of the ebtp uplift was generally between 0 5 m and 1 0 m but reached a maximum of about 9 m in southwestern crete in several areas zante pelion coast antikythira western crete alanya the ebtp uplifted shoreline is the only evidence of holocene emergence in other areas however a similar uplift occurred earlier in the holocene levant coast or more recently cephalonia evidence of preseismic subsidence prior to the ebtp uplift has been reported from thessaly antikythira and crete in both the latter islands the ebtp uplift was preceded by a series of about 10 coseismic small subsidence movements each measuring some tens of centimeters which took place in the preceding 3000 years no evidence was observed of postseismic vertical displacements

holocene sea level changes along the mediterranean coast of israel based on archaeological observations and numerical model local sea level curves reflect global eustatic changes regional isostatic adjustments of the crust to changing ice and ocean volumes and tectonically controlled crustal movements in this study we evaluate the relative contribution of each of these factors to the holocene sea level curve of the mediterranean coast of israel we use archaeological data as constraints on palaeo sea levels and we then compare the observational limits with isostatic models for sea level change across the region the isostatic model includes the contribution arising from the relative minor increase in ocean volumes for the past 6000 years due to residual melting of ice sheets the effect of the changing shape of the ocean basin the time dependence of shorelines as sealevel changes and the changing surface area occupied by ice sheets differences if significant between the observed and predicted change are interpreted as being of tectonic origin the archaeological observations and the model sea level curve along the mediterranean coast of israel were found to be generally consistent and any discrepancies lie within the uncertainties of both values our model predicted that 8000 years ago sea level at the israel coast was at about 213 5 2 m whereas the archaeological data place it at 216 5 1 m by 7000 bp the predicted level has risen to about 27 1 m consistent with the archaeological evidences according to both observations and predictions sea level was still lower than 2 3t o24 5 m at 6000 bp and remained below its present level until about 3000 2000 bp the comparison between the model sea level curve and the archaeological observations also enable to conclude that the average rate of vertical tectonic movement for the last 8000 years at the carmel coast israel has been less than 0 2 mm year q 2001 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

the early paleozoic sedimentary tectonic evolution of the circum mangar areas tarim block nw china constraints from integrated detrital records abstract the mangar depression located in the eastern part of the tarim basin had deposited extremely thick lower paleozoic sediments which yields great scientific value and hydrocarbon resource potential due to the lack of enough outcrop and core studies many issues e g early paleozoic geographical evolution basin nature and tectonic affinity are still poorly understood in this study we selected circum mangar areas i e the south quruqtagh tabei and tazhong areas and carried out comprehensive detrital provenance analysis including detrital modal analysis heavy mineral and trace element analysis and detrital zircon u pb dating on the middle upper ordovician and silurian sandstones the results show that upper ordovician lower silurian detrital provenances of the south quruqtagh and tabei areas were primarily derived from the intracontinental uplifts in tarim meanwhile upper silurian detrital provenances of the above two areas were mainly derived from the mix of intracontinental uplifts and continental margin arcs dramatic late silurian provenance change suggests the evident tectonic transition of the northern tarim margin which is the opening of the south tianshan back arc oceanic basin combining the previous studies an integral redefinition model for the mangar depression has been made the evolution process of the mangar depression could be divided into four stages graben stage late neoproterozoic transitional stage cambrian to middle ordovician downwarp stage late ordovician to early silurian and extinction stage late silurian hence the mangar depression evolved as an aulacogen significantly the evolutional scenario of the mangar aulacogen was consistent with that of the north altyn tagh and the north qilian suggesting that the mangar aulacogen was involved mainly in the proto tethys tectonic realm south to the tarim block however the late silurian tectonic activity in the northern tarim margin did produce massive detrital sources for northern part of the mangar aulacogen and aggravated the extinction process of the mangar aulacogen

pollutant lead reveals the pre hellenistic occupation and ancient growth of alexandria egypt 1 it is generally accepted that alexandria ad aegyptum was founded ex nihilo in 331 bc by alexander the great rapidly growing into one of antiquity s most opulent economic and intellectual centers however ancient texts by strabo 17 1 6 and pliny nh 5 11 62 suggest the existence of a pre hellenistic settlement named rhakotis this literary evidence has fuelled contentious scholarly debate for decades here we present new geochemical data from alexandria s ancient bay sediments elucidating unequivocal proof for pollutant lead pb input into the harbor during the egyptian old kingdom 2686 2181 bc a second contamination peak is detected during the iron age 1000 800 bc at the end of the prosperous ramesses reigns these findings evidence thriving pre hellenistic settlements in alexandria during the greek and roman periods we expound the largest pb pollution ever encountered in ancient city sediments with pb levels twice as high as those measured in contemporary industrialized estuaries

ancient coastal wells of caesarea maritima israel an indicator for relative sea level changes during the last 2000 years abstract during the detailed excavations of ancient caesarea israel east mediterranean 64 coastal water wells have been examined that date from the early roman period with the oldest occurring in the 1st century ad up to the end of the crusader period mid 13th century ad the depths of these coastal water wells establish the position of the ancient water table and therefore the position of sea level for the first century ad up to 1300 ad the connection between the coastal water table and changes in sea level has been established from modern observations in several wells on time scales of days and months and this is used to reconstruct sea level during historical time the results indicate that during the byzantine period sea level at caesarea was higher by about 30 cm than today the late moslem and crusader data shows greater fluctuations but the data sets are also much smaller than for the earlier periods the consistency of the data indicates that the near coastal well data from caesarea provides a reliable indicator of sea level change with an accuracy of about 10 15 cm these results are consistent with observations for earlier periods and with comparisons to model predicted glacio hydro isostatic sea level change indicate that ocean volumes have been constant for much of the past 2000 years the well data is also consistent with an absence of significant vertical tectonic movement of the coast at caesarea over about 2000 years

holocene environmental change and its impact on sediment dynamics in the eastern mediterranean abstract investigators have studied past environmental change in the eastern mediterranean region from a number of perspectives while climate reconstructions and palynological research have focused on forces that drive the geomorphologic system many researchers have attempted to use sediment archive studies to identify periods of change in sediment dynamics due to the large variability in environmental parameters and the variety of landscapes present in the eastern mediterranean region research has focused on sediment archives ranging from small colluvial sites to deltas of large rivers on the mediterranean coast as the cultural record for the region is extremely rich the main goal of palaeo environmental research in the eastern mediterranean has been to identify the relative importance of human impact on the landscape nevertheless sediment archives have significant limitations chronological control for many palaeo environmental records is highly uncertain and rates of landscape change are oftentimes difficult to assess most palaeo environmental research has been conducted on or near archeological sites where direct human impact may obscure the indirect impact on sediment dynamics through land use changes quantification and modeling of sediment dynamics in the eastern mediterranean environment offer one solution when erosion and sediment transport rate analyses are incorporated periods of relatively important change can be identified using multiple approaches the relative importance of the main driving forces climate and land use become distinguishable since field based data from the actual sediment archives remain vital an overview of numerous studies in the eastern mediterranean is provided in order to draw a general picture for different time periods and the relative scale of regional landscape development during the holocene a comparison of sediment dynamics with the record of driving forces indicates that while climate was the main driver of the geomorphic system during the early holocene at some point human impact became widespread and began to dictate sediment dynamics to a large extent from the byzantine period onward soil properties seem to play an increasingly important role as the hillslope soil reservoir in the eastern mediterranean was progressively depleted during the late holocene

neotectonic activity in caesarea the mediterranean coast of central israel abstract evidence for neotectonic activity along the coast of the southern levant exists in the ancient harbor of caesarea in central israel where large herodian breakwaters are presently submerged 5 8 m below sealevel whereas other contemporary coastal installations in the same area remain at sealevel high resolution seismic reflection surveys on the very shallow continental shelf encountered a series of coast parallel faults that displace both the eolianite which crops out along the coastal zone and the submerged breakwaters the faults have 1 3 m of offsets downthrowing their seaward flank and leaving their landward flank stable we suggest that the subsidence of the ancient breakwaters was caused by neotectonic displacements on these faults and enhanced by solifluction records of historical earthquakes in the coastal levant region and archaeological evidence of faulting are compatible with the geophysical findings the neotectonic activity of the mediterranean coast of israel which is a consequence of the plio quaternary subsidence of the southeastern mediterranean basin has shaped the coast of the southern levant even during the past 2000 years

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

the history of a continent from upb ages of zircons from orinoco river sand and smnd isotopes in orinoco basin river sediments abstract we report shrimp u pb ages of 49 zircons from a sand sample from the lower orinoco river venezuela and nd model ages of the fine sediment load from the main river and tributaries the u pb ages reflect individual magmatic or metamorphic events the sm nd model ages reflect average crustal residence ages of the sediment sources together they allow delineation of the crust formation history of the basement precursors of the sediments the u pb ages range from 2 83 to 0 15 ga and most are concordant or nearly so discrete age groupings occur at 2 8 2 1 and 1 1 ga the oldest group contains only three samples but is isolated from its closest neighbors by a 600 ma age gap larger age groupings at 2 1 and 1 1 ga make up about a third and a quarter of the total number of analyses respectively the remaining analyses scatter along concordia and most are younger than 1 6 ga the 2 8 and 2 1 ga ages correspond to periods of crust formation of the imataca and trans amazonian provinces of the guyana shield respectively and record intervals of short but intensive continental growth these ages coincide with 2 9 and 2 1 ga nd model ages of sediments from tributaries draining the archean and proterozoic provinces of the guyana shield respectively indicating that the u pb ages record the geological history of the crystalline basement of the orinoco basin zircons with ages corresponding to the major orogenies of the north atlantic continents the superior at 2 7 ga and hudsonian at 1 7 1 9 ga were not found in the orinoco sample the age distribution may indicate that south and north america were separated throughout their history nd model ages of sediments from the lower orinoco river and andean tributaries are 1 9 ga broadly within the range displayed by major rivers and dusts this age does not coincide with known thermal events in the region and reflects mixing of sources with different crust formation ages the igneous and metamorphic history of these sources as recorded by the detrital zircons is that of the orinoco basin basement this implies that despite evidence of fast sedimentary recycling global similarities in nd crustal residence ages and the probability of cross continent mixing through continental drift the sedimentary material carried by individual rivers is mainly derived from the crystalline basement in the basin the global semblance in nd isotope ratios in major river sediments and atmospheric dusts results from the averaging effect of large scale sampling of the continents which are heterogeneous in age on smaller regional scales a large portion of the continental crust in the orinoco basin formed during the trans amazonian orogeny at 2 0 2 1 ga and smaller portions formed both earlier at 2 8 ga and later after 1 6 ga these observations which are consistent with the relative sizes of crustal age provinces in the orinoco basin indicate that sediments from the lower orinoco and andean tributaries contain 25 35 of material added to the crust since trans amazonian times nd model ages of these sediments underestimate the average crust formation age of the basement of the orinoco basin by only about 10 if this relationship holds in other river basins then nd model ages of major rivers and wind blown particulates indicate that the mean age of the continental crust is 1 9 2 ga

a palaeoseismological and geoarchaeological investigation of the eliki fault gulf of corinth greece abstract palaeoseismological and morphotectonic analyses enable us to define a 400 m wide actively deformed zone associated with the active eliki normal fault central greece bounded on the south by a second order fault and on the north by a composite and prominent fault scarp this scarp is further analysed by trenching based on colluvium stratigraphy displacement of distinct horizons and deposition of sedimentary layers three faulting events have been identified along four fault strands affecting unconsolidated sediments in the trench the two younger events with throws of 0 93 and 1 37 m respectively the third event with a throw of 0 44 m and the penultimate 373 bc event suggest a variable seismic history the entire alluvial plain of the kerynitis and vouraikos rivers which cross the eliki fault has subsided at a rate of 1 4 mm year resulting in the burial of the late hellenistic roman occupation horizons under 3 m of fluvial and colluvial sediments in places extension in the broader area is accommodated by the seismically active eliki and egion faults structural and palaeoseismological analysis of those two faults indicates that they accommodate 1 5 mm year or about 10 of the geodetically estimated extension of up to 13 mm year

palaeoenvironmental evolution of the ancient harbor of lechaion corinth gulf greece were changes driven by human impacts and gradual coastal processes or catastrophic tsunamis abstract the corinth gulf central greece is one of the most rapidly widening tectonic rifts on earth where large earthquakes with magnitudes of up 7 0 have been documented not only by instrumental records but also assessed from historical reports extending back to the 5th century bce several of these earthquakes were associated with tsunamis particularly in the western part of the gulf of particular interest is the ancient harbor of lechaion in the eastern side of corinth gulf we reexamine the hypothesis that lechaion was hit by high energy tsunami waves in the 8th 6th century bce 1st 2nd century ce and during the 6th century ce on the basis of sedimentological seismotectonic archaeological and historical data completed with field observations we support that there is no evidence for tsunami impact in lechaion local stratigraphy and environmental changes are rather interpreted by human impacts and gradual coastal processes such interpretations confirm that the tsunami potential in the east corinth gulf is relatively low

trace element characteristics and pb isotopic evolution of metasediments and associated proterozoic rocks from the amphibolite to granulite facies bamble sector southern norway abstract a study of trace element distribution and rb sr sm nd and pb isotopic compositions has been performed on amphibolite and granulite facies metasediments mafic granulites dioritic gneiss intrusive enderbitic veins and calc alkaline tonalitic gneisses from the proterozoic bamble sector southern norway the lile content of the granulite facies metapelites is similar to the average of the upper crust and post archaean average shales the k rb ratios of the amphibolite and granulite facies semipelites and impure quartzites are similar and the k rb ratios of the metapelites show overall similarities to the ratios of undepleted metapelites sr isotopic system and a poor correlation in the sm nd system the calculated t dm model ages for the metasediments can represent crustal residence times of 1 67 to 2 05 ga the present day lead isotopic data can be reproduced by a three stage model of pb evolution in which t 0 4 57 ga t 1 1 9 or 1 5 ga t2 1 1 ga 1 238 u 204 pb 7 9 1 232 th 238 u 2 5 2 4 15 where t 1 and t 2 are related to separation from the mantle and the sveconorwegian orogeny respectively the protolith of the metasediments the dioritic gneiss and the mafic granulites evolved in high u pb environments prior to sveconorwegian times 2 16 32 19 and18 45 respectively most of these rock units experienced conditions of 2 3 and 2 3 suggesting a large scale fractionation in the u th pb system connected to u mobility during the medium to high grade metamorphism there are no unambiguous differences in the pb isotopic composition between the amphibolite and granulite facies rocks but the mafic granulites from the classical depleted granulite area of tromoy island evolved in overall lower 2 238 u 204 pb environments than similar rocks from the neighbouring hisoy island this suggests that the similar u content of these rocks largely can be due to local pre sveconorwegian 238 u 204 pb variations sveconorwegian intrusive enderbitic dykes and veins crystallized with low lile and nb concentrations at granulite facies p t aco 2 conditions pre sveconorwegian granulite facies tonalitic gneisses show a less depleted trace element pattern and low nb concentrations and the hornblende free tonalitic gneisses have significantly lower u content than their hornblende bearing counterparts the investigated metasediments have very low contents of the less mobile elements nb sr cu and p 2 o 5 which probably represent characteristics of the pre sedimentary protolith

hydrological controls of in situ preservation of waterlogged archaeological deposits abstract environmental change caused by urban development land drainage agriculture or climate change may result in accelerated decay of in situ archaeological remains this paper reviews research into impacts of environmental change on hydrological processes of relevance to preservation of archaeological remains in situ it compares work at rural sites with more complex urban environments the research demonstrates that both the quantity and quality of data on preservation status and hydrological and chemical parameters collected during routine archaeological surveys need to be improved the work also demonstrates the necessity for any archaeological site to be placed within its topographic and geological context in order to understand preservation potential fully it is necessary to move away from studying the archaeological site as an isolated unit since factors some distance away from the site of interest can be important for determining preservation the paper reviews what is known about the hydrological factors of importance to archaeological preservation and recommends research that needs to be conducted so that archaeological risk can be more adequately predicted and mitigated any activity that changes either source pathways or the dominant water input may have an impact not just because of changes to the water balance or the water table but because of changes to water chemistry therefore efforts to manage threatened waterlogged environments must consider the chemical nature of the water input into the system clearer methods of assessing the degree to which buried archaeological sites can withstand changing hydrological conditions are needed in addition to research which helps us understand what triggers decay and what controls thresholds of response for different sediments and types of artefact

contrasting provenance of triassic jurassic sediments in north sea rift a single zircon sims sm nd and trace element study abstract an ion microprobe sims u pb zircon study has been performed on a selection of five samples in order to identify the various provenances of sands sandstones from the lunde and statfjord formations the gullfaks oilfield the data are integrated with sr element analyses and new and published sm nd whole rock data which give consistent and additional information in this geologically complex area previous work has shown that the upper parts of the lunde formation have relatively low nd model ages typically 1 5 to 1 6 ga reflecting stable tectonic conditions the overlying raude and eirikson members of the statfjord formation record interfingering units recording relatively low 1 5 ga and substantially higher nd model ages this may reflect an early stage of rifting in the northern north sea rift zone while the upper nansen member represents a return to relatively low uniform nd ages and quiet tectonic conditions the present data reveal a more complex interplay between sediment provenance terranes than previously assumed the sample of the lunde fm is characterised by a high number of zircon age peaks at 0 39 to 1 75 ga it was transported from the south and has an ultimate provenance in the sw margin of norway after the mid devonian the eirikson 1 sample with t dm of 2 4 ga represents the income of units with substantially higher nd model ages a prominent peak of archaean zircons at 2 56 to 3 00 ga reflects a sediment source in archaean gneisses which were located in the north smaller peaks at 0 38 to 0 54 ga and 1 10 to 1 90 ga represent a separate provenance component in the east shetland platform the raude and eirikson 2 samples have t dm of 1 7 and 1 8 ga and show a cumulative zircon peak at 0 38 to 0 46 ga and a high number of small peaks in the age ranges 0 70 to 2 23 ga and 2 40 to 3 00 ga these units where transported from the south and have an ultimate provenance in the east shetland platform the sample of the nansen fm records a peak of zircon ages at 1 58 to 1 74 ga was derived from the south and represents re cycled devonian sediments from sw norway the four samples derived from the south may have experienced sediment redeposition of these the nansen sample is the best example of a sediment sequence which has been preserved and transported as an isolated unit through erosion sediment transport and re deposition there is a perfect match between the geochemistry of this sample and devonian sediments from sw norway suggesting subordinate contamination from other provenance terranes during sedimentation and sediment re deposition this suggests that provenance studies of devonian sediments from the north sea area are important for an understanding of the ultimate source areas and processes of sediment re deposition in the younger rift

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

the use of diatom analysis in archaeology a review abstract although diatom analysis has been used in archaeological science for over 40 years it is still an under used technique in this paper the basis of the technique is explained and the literature on diatoms in archaeology is reviewed diatoms are good indicators of a range of water quality variables but emphasis here reflecting their dominant use so far in archaeology is placed on their value as indicators of water salinity a number of case studies are described from different parts of europe demonstrating the use of the technique in the location of prehistoric settlement sites along former shorelines in reconstructing salinity and tidal regimes in estuaries and in the location of clay sources for pot manufacture the potential of diatom analysis in contributing to questions of pottery typology is also indicated although diatom taxonomy remains very difficult and specialist analysis will always be required it is stressed that when there is an archaeological need to ask questions relating to the presence absence level pollution productivity acidity or salinity of a waterbody on or near to an excavation diatom analysis should be considered

seismic stratigraphic subdivision of the triassic succession in the central north sea integrating seismic reflection and well data the triassic sedimentary succession in the central north sea has been investigated to establish a broader understanding of the triassic period from the combined interpretation of seismic reflection data and well data the triassic succession has been subdivided into four seismic units where unit boundaries are characterized by regional seismic amplitude anomalies reflecting changes in gross sedimentary facies or rock properties a successful correlation between sedimentary facies interpreted within the well sections and distinct seismic reflection patterns allowed a thorough mapping of the gross palaeoenvironment throughout the triassic the method presented of subdividing a continental sedimentary succession into seismic units should be applicable elsewhere in other basins the main source area during the triassic was scandinavia to the north and sediment transportation was mainly along north south and ne sw trending lineaments which are at present located onshore southern norway and in the asta graben and the varnes graben offshore an uplifted skagerrak graben area acted as source area in the early and early middle triassic with sediment dispersal to the south and sw high relief existed for a longer period in western scandinavia than in eastern scandinavia which supports an asymmetric shape of the scandinavian mountains during the triassic accommodation space in the early triassic was mainly controlled by the relief inherited from a late carboniferous permian rift phase although thermally induced regional subsidence continued in the middle and late triassic creation of local accommodation space was mainly limited to halokinesis including redistribution and withdrawal of salt from the subsurface the upper triassic succession is eroded across the western and central parts of the study area although the upper triassic unit is preserved in synforms adjacent to salt structures in the western part of the study area dry playa conditions prevailed during the early triassic although fluvial systems supplied long transported sandy detritus southeastwards in the late early triassic more sandy detritus was transported into the sedimentary basin in the middle and late triassic concurrently with a gradually wetter climate supplementary material uninterpreted seismic sections are available at www geolsoc org uk sup18726

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

a review of possible eustatic isostatic and tectonic contributions in eight late holocene relative sea level histories from the mediterranean area abstract this paper consists of a comparison between eight late holocene sea level histories investigated by the author in different mediterranean areas and sea level predictions in the same areas made by global isostatic models the areas include three regions that are generally considered as tectonically relatively stable 1 the southern coast of france 2 sardinia and 3 the southern coasts of tunisia where late holocene evidence may be either of submergence or of emergence also considered are 4 a subsidence region in the northern adriatic and actively uplifting areas 5 in calabria and 6 in nisyros island greece lastly case studies in areas affected by repeated coseismic vertical displacements include 7 western crete and antikythira island in the hellenic arc and 8 the levant coasts of turkey syria and the lebanon in each case the question of whether the evidence available may or may not be consistent with gradual isostatic or eustatic displacements has been explored it appears that in non tectonic areas the hydro isostatic effects have been overestimated sardinia or underestimated southern tunisia by the same models in the northern adriatic the closest mediterranean area to the former scandinavian ice sheet glacio eustatic effects are suspected to be almost absent our analysis failed to quantify isostatic effects in areas of rapid tectonic uplift calabria and nisyros but rejected predictions of significant isostatic subsidence in the hellenic arc and on the levant coast finally several data from tectonic and non tectonic areas are consistent with nearly stable global eustasy since 6000 bp thus challenging the assertion of significant additional melting of antarctica after the complete melting of the former northern hemisphere ice caps

rapid strand plain accretion in the northeastern nile delta in the 9th century a d and the demise of the port of pelusium an unusually large 1 km 3 and rapid influx of nile river sediment in the early 800s a d resulted in accretion of an extensive strand plain 6 to 15 m thick 35 km long and as much as 12 km wide on the subsiding northeastern nile delta margin egypt this event is related to blockage of the pelusiac branch and breaking through of a new distributary to the west of present day port said probably representing initiation of the damietta branch the sand is of analytically identical age throughout the area and was deposited within less than 60 yr as indicated by 14 c and amino acid racemization analyses of donax shells from a series of cores radiocarbon dates in combination with historical accounts by al jakubi who found the strand plain already in existence when he visited the area in the late 800s place this event in the early 800s nilometer flood records suggest that the sequence of great floods of 813 816 and 820 may have been the triggering events this sudden displacement of sand caused pelusium then the principal port and fortified city of the northeastern nile delta located at the mouth of the pelusiac branch to be cut off from both the nile and the mediterranean and led to its decline and eventual abandonment by the 12th century when the crusaders arrived

samarium neodymium isotope stratigraphy of the lunde and statfjord formations of snorre oil field northern north sea two sequences of fluviatile sediments from snorre oil field are investigated by the sm nd isotopic method the results illustrate distinctly different source areas for the upper triassic upper member of the lunde formation and for the lower jurassic statfjord formation the lunde formation has sm nd provenance ages mainly in the range 1500 to 1700 ma which is not diagnostic of a specific source area the statfjord formation has provenance ages in the range 1700 to 2150 ma this is old within the context of source areas in the hinterland of the northern north sea and provenance partly from the archaean lewisian shield to the northwest is suggested intensive sampling through the statfjord formation in one well illustrates that the provenance ages evolve systematically with time the pattern provides a detailed record of how source areas evolved during deposition of these strata the possibility is recognized of correlating changes or trends in provenance between wells the data also suggest that sm nd ratios and isotopic compositions of these rocks are not significantly fractionated between fine and coarse grained sediments by mechanical or diagenetic processes

taken from the sea reclaimed by the sea the fate of the closed harbour of elaia the maritime satellite city of pergamum turkey abstract during hellenistic times when the pergamenian kingdom was prospering pergamum was operating an important harbour used by merchants and military at the city of elaia this paper focuses on the development utilisation and decay of the closed harbour of elaia which is discussed in the context of the landscape evolution of the environs of the ancient settlement based on geoarchaeological archaeological and literary evidence the construction of two harbour moles in order to provide shelter against wave action and enemies can be attributed to the early hellenistic period geoelectric measurements revealed the construction profile of the moles coring evidence indicated that together with mole construction a greater area of the formerly shallow marine and sublittoral terrain was consolidated most probably to create space for harbour installations the closed harbour basin was used intensely during hellenistic and roman times later continued siltation hindered further usage in combination with the decline of the city of elaia in late antiquity this was the reason why the harbour was abandoned scenarios for the time of the maximum transgression of the sea around 2500 bc the early hellenistic times around 300 bc and late antiquity ad 500 are presented

sea level in roman time in the central mediterranean and implications for recent change instrumental records indicate that ocean volumes during the 20th century have increased so as to raise eustatic sea level by f1 2 mm year and the few available records suggest that this is higher than for the previous century geological data indicate that ocean volumes have increased since the main phase of deglaciation about 7000 years ago but whether this continued into the recent past remains unclear yet this is important for establishing whether the recent rise is associated with global warming or is part of a longer duration non anthropogenic signal here we present results for sea level change in the central mediterranean basin for the roman period using new archaeological evidence these data provide a precise measure of local sea level of 1 35f0 07 m at 2000 years ago part of this change is the result of ongoing glacio hydro isostatic adjustment of the crust subsequent to the last deglaciation when corrected for this using geologically constrained model predictions the change in eustatic sea level since the roman period is 0 13f0 09 m a comparison with tide gauge records from nearby locations and with geologically constrained model predictions of the glacio isostatic contributions establishes that the onset of modern sea level rise occurred in recent time at f100f53 years before present d 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

geochemical characterization of the luochuan loess paleosol sequence china and paleoclimatic implications abstract chemical major and trace element and isotopic sr nd analyses of the luochuan loess paleosol sequence in china were performed in order to examine the following problems 1 potential source heterogeneity 2 element behavior during pedogenesis 3 paleoclimatic implications and 4 the use of loess data to determine the average composition of the upper continental crust new results clearly indicate that rb sr u and ce abundances are severely depleted in paleosols relative to their parental loess the behavior of these elements is strongly controlled by the breakdown of primary minerals such as carbonate sr or by alteration processes in highly oxidizing environments ce and u the pattern of element variations through the upper section of the luochuan sequence mimics the magnetic susceptibility signal both in position and in intensity thus reinforcing the pedogenesic origin of the enhanced magnetic susceptibility in paleosols all loess samples display highly uniform ree patterns except for ce characterized by the upper continental crust ucc ratios la yb n 10 and eu eu 0 66 the paleosol ree patterns are similar to those of the loess with the same lree hree fractionation but they also show distinct and variable negative ce anomalies nd and sr isotopic compositions are rather uniform in both loess and paleosols and do not vary with stratigraphic position nd 10 5 to 9 2 87 sr 86 sr 0 715 to 0 719 the isotopic homogeneity in the luochuan sequence strongly suggests a uniform source region during the entire period of deposition since 800 ka ago to the present several conclusions may be drawn from the present study 1 1 no geochemical distinction can be made between loess layers l1 to l7 the sources and the dust storm trajectories must have been essendally the same for the last 800 ka 2 2 some elements e g ca rb sr u ce are strongly fractionated by pedogenesis between loess and paleosols ce mobility in soils is clearly demonstrated but the process responsible for this leaching is still poorly understood 3 3 systematic variations of element abundances and ratios between loess and paleosols can be used as chemical indicators for pedogenesic intensity and so for paleoclimatic change these chemical indicators serve a function similar to that of oxygen isotopes in deep sea sediments pelagic foraminifera or that of magnetic susceptibility in loess sequences they are different recorders of paleoclimatic change 4 4 the striking uniformity of ree patterns and la th ratios in the luochuan loess and paleosols as well as in loess worldwide is an excellent starting point for estimating the average composition of the upper continental crust

u pb ages of ophiolites and arc related plutons of the norwegian caledonides implications for the development of iapetus u pb zircon ages are reported for four ophiolites and three crosscutting arc related plutons from the norwegian caledonides plagiogranite differentiated from gabbro of the karmoy ophiolite is dated at 493 7 4 ma whereas arc related trondhjemite cutting this ophiolite crystallized at 485 2 ma a crosscutting clinopyroxene phyric gabbro intrusion is dated at 470 9 5 ma by near concordant magmatic titanite sphene and discordant u rich 2903 6677 ppm zircon lower intercepts of 247 68 and 191 70 ma defined by the plagiogranite and clinopyroxene phyric gabbro best fit lines may reflect a real low t alteration rift related event

destruction of atlantis by a great earthquake and tsunami a geological analysis of the spartel bank hypothesis numerous geographical similarities exist between plato s descriptions of atlantis and a paleoisland spartel in the western straits of gibraltar the dialogues recount a catastrophic event that submerged the island ca 11 6 ka in a single day and night due to violent earthquakes and floods this sudden destruction is consistent with a great earthquake m 8 5 and tsunami as in the gulf of cadiz region in 1755 when tsunami run up heights reached 10 m great earthquakes m 8 9 and tsunamis occur in the gulf of cadiz with a repeat time of 1 5 2 k y according to the sedimentary record an unusually thick turbidite dated as ca 12 ka may coincide with the destructive event in plato s account the detailed morphology of spartel paleoisland as determined from recently acquired high resolution bathymetric data is reported here the viability of human habitation on this paleoisland ca 11 6 ka is discussed on the basis of a new bathymetric map

petrogenesis and significance of late caledonian granitoid magmatism in western norway obduction of the late ordovician solund stavfjord ophiolite complex 443 3 ma west norwegian caledonides involved generation and high level emplacement of granitic and granodioritic dikes and plutons initial 87sr 86sr ratios in the granites are low 0 7042 0 7059 suggesting either a mantle component or a rb poor crustal source initial end end t ranges from 0 8 to 8 8 indicating that the granites represent recycling of old crustal rocks which is supported by precambrian inheritance in zircons from two of the studied granites i argue that the rb sr and the sm nd isotope systems are decoupled in the sense that the sr and the nd isotopes derive their dominant signals from two different sources a mantle source and a crustal source respectively the granites are metaluminous to peraluminous and typically have high sr ba and na2o k2o ratios sio2 contents range from 66 to 74 wt ree abundances are highly variable the la contents range from 80 to 200 times chondrite and are inversely correlated with the contents of sio2 the concentration of nd in the granites decreases asymptotically with decreasing end t suggesting fractional crystallization of accessory phases and assimilation of continental crust this argument is supported by the presence of partly dismembered xenoliths in the granites with end t values that are significantly lower than end t values in the host granite the following models are suggested for the granites when the ophiolite complex obducted an outboard subduction zone approached the continental margin and subduction related magmas accumulated beneath the continental margin and probably intruded the overlying eugeosynclinal deposits the mantle derived magmas most likely evolved to granitoid composition by assimilation of these eugeosynclinal sediments and by fractional crystallization of amphibole feldspar sphene and allanite alternatively but less likely the heat content of the mantle derived magmas caused extensive melting of immature graywackes and calc alkaline volcaniclastic rocks in the deepest portions of the eugeosyncline either way during ascent the compositions of the granitic melts were modified by fractional crystallization of lree rich phases and by assimilation of continental metasediments

recent holocene paleo environmental evolution and coastline changes of kition larnaca cyprus mediterranean sea abstract sedimentological paleontological analysis and 14c dating of 17 cores obtained in the vicinity of the phoenician military harbor viii iv bc of kition bamboula cyprus provide new paleo environmental information for the reconstruction of shoreline changes for kition and larnaca bay over the last 4000 years we propose that a communication existed between the inner harbor of bamboula presently 400 m inland and the northern district of lichines which was a marine embayment our core data led us to revisit the previous hypothesis of a direct east west channel between the harbor and the open sea nicolaou k 1976 the historical topography of kition studies in mediterranean archaeology goteborg vol 153 pp 1 373 gifford j a 1978 paleogeography of archaelogical sites of the larnaca lowlands southeastern cyprus phd thesis university of minnesota pp 1 192 we propose instead that a spit of coarse material isolated the lagoon from the open sea from 2600 to 1600 years bp

two stage erosion and deposition in a continental margin setting an 40ar 39ar laserprobe study of offshore detrital white micas in the norwegian sea detrital white micas from a restricted region of the norwegian sea have been analysed by the 40ar 39ar laserprobe examining the ages of individual white mica grains from offshore triassic jurassic and cretaceous sandstones reveals a narrow range of detrital white mica ages 369 424 ma moreover there is an inverse relationship between sediment age and detrital white mica age with the triassic sands containing a larger proportion of younger white micas and the cretaceous sands containing the oldest white micas in addition residence times of the detritus which is the age of the sediment subtracted from the age of the detrital white mica range from c 150 to c 300 ma for the triassic and cretaceous sands respectively the inverse age relationships combined with the large residence times for these stratigraphic levels can best be explained by an erosion deposition model involving at least two stages taking into account previous provenance studies in the lofoten region of the norwegian sea these new data suggest that detritus shed initially from the exhuming caledonian nappes of nw norway in late silurian early devonian times was deposited in intramontane basins that were themselves subsequently unroofed and re eroded from permo triassic times this caused the recycling of the caledonian detritus from the devono carboniferous basins and led to the inverted detrital age distribution ovserved in the triassic cretaceous sediments examined in this study while sedimentary recycling is not a surprising feature for mesozoic basins in the north and norwegian seas this study documents a previously untapped method 40ar 39ar laserprobe provenance studies by which to identify its effect and extent

the application of samarium neodymium sm nd provenance ages to correlation of biostratigraphically barren strata a case study of the statfjord formation in the gullfaks oilfield norwegian north sea

historical coseismic uplift on euboea island greece abstract in the aegean region it is usually accepted that uplift is confined to the southern areas near the outer island arc whereas subsidence prevails in the inner basin areas however we give evidence of elevated notches andlithophaga shells dated by ams14c showing that holocene coseismic uplift of the order of about a metre occurred in inner aegean areas too and affected parts of the coasts of north and central euboea island between 510 and 380 b c and also possibly between 1050 and 900 b c

geomorphological effects of tsunami run up and backwash abstract geomorphological processes associated with tsunami run up and backwash are highly complex to date most studies have considered the sedimentology of palaeo tsunamis while almost no detailed studies have been undertaken in areas known to have been affected by tsunamis in recent times research on contemporary tsunamis show that coastal landscapes may be greatly altered not only by direct tsunami run up orthogonal to the shoreline but also by episodes of vigorous backwash and by water flow sub parallel to the coastline the combined effect of these processes produces hitherto unrecognised coastal landforms that are dominated by the effects of high magnitude erosion and deposition deposition of large boulders is also associated with severe tsunamis while in adjacent areas run up processes often result in the deposition of continuous and discontinuous sediment sheets in many instances the upper limit of sediment deposition lies well below the upper limit of wave run up which is frequently marked by a well defined zone of stripped vegetation and soil the processes described have considerable implications for models of coastal evolution it may even be the case that the evolution of particular stretches of coastline are dominated by such high magnitude low frequency events

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

human climate interactions in the central mediterranean region during the last millennia the laminated record of lake butrint albania lake butrint 39 47 n 20 1 e is a ca 21 m deep coastal lagoon located in sw albania where finely laminated sediments have been continuously deposited during the last millennia the multi proxy analysis sedimentology high resolution elemental geochemistry and pollen of a 12 m long sediment core supported by seven ams radiocarbon dates and 137cs dating enable a precise reconstruction of the environmental change that occurred in the central mediterranean region during the last 4 5 cal kyrs bp sediments consist of triplets of authigenic carbonates organic matter and clayey laminae fluctuations in the thickness and or presence of these different types of seasonal laminae indicate variations in water salinity organic productivity and runoff in the lake s catchment as a result of the complex interplay of tectonics anthropogenic forcing and climate variability the progradation of the pavllo river delta favoured by variable human activity from the nearby ancient city of butrint led to the progressive isolation of this hydrological system from the ionian sea the system evolved from an open bay to a restricted lagoon which is consistent with archaeological data an abrupt increase in mass wasting activity between 1515 and 1450 bc likely caused by nearby seismic activity led to the accumulation of 24 homogenites up to 17 cm thick they have been deposited during the onset of finely laminated sedimentation which indicates restricted anoxic bottom water conditions and higher salinity periods of maximum water salinity biological productivity and carbonate precipitation coincide with warmer intervals such as the early roman warm period rwp 500 bc 0 ad the medieval climate anomaly mca 800 1400 ad and recent times after 1800 ad conversely lower salinity and more oxic conditions with higher clastic input were recorded during 1400 500 bc the late roman and the early medieval periods 0 800 ad and during the little ice age 1400 1800 ad hydrological fluctuations recorded in butrint are in phase with most central and western mediterranean records and correlate with nao variability in contrast opposite hydrological patterns have been recorded in the eastern balkans and the levant during the last millennium emphasizing a complex spatial variability in the region phases of maximum settlement intensity in butrint roman late antique coincide with warmer and or stable climate periods 0 800 ad and mca respectively indicating a long term influence of climatic conditions on human activities the late holocene sedimentary record of lake butrint demonstrates the complex interplay of climate variability tectonics and human impact in the recent evolution of coastal mediterranean regions

geoarchaeology of sidon s ancient harbours phoenicia abstract geoarchaeological data from sidon s ancient harbour areas elucidate six evolutionary phases since the bronze age 1 at the time of sidon s foundation during the third millennium bc medium sand facies show the city s northern and southern pocket beaches to have served as proto harbours for middle to late bronze age societies 2 towards the end of the late bronze age and the early iron age expanding international trade prompted coastal populations into modifying these natural anchorages in sidon s northern harbour transition from shelly to fine grained sands is the earliest granulometric manifestation of human coastal modification the lee of zire island was also exploited as a deep water anchorage or outer harbour at this time 3 although localised sediments evoke developed port infrastructure during the phoenician and persian periods high resolution reconstruction of the northern harbour s iron age history is problematic given repeated dredging practices during the roman and byzantine periods 4 fine grained silts and sands in the northern harbour are coeval with advanced roman engineering works significantly deforming the coastal landscape bio and lithostratigraphical data attest a leaky lagoon type environment indicative of a well protected port 5 the technological apogee of sidon s northern harbour is recorded during the late roman and byzantine periods translated stratigraphically by a plastic clays unit and brackish lagoon fauna 6 a final semi abandonment phase comprising coarse sand facies concurs silting up and a 100 150 m progradation of the port coastline after the seventh century ad we advance three hypotheses to explain these stratigraphic data namely cultural tectonic and tsunamogenic finally our results are compared and contrasted with research undertaken in sidon s sister harbour tyre

neodymium isotope stratigraphy of gullfaks oilfield samples collected from over 500 m of stratigraphy from 4 wells which represent the complete reservoir interval of gullfaks oilfield have been analysed for sm nd isotopic composition the data are used to examine variations in the provenance of the various reservoir units to assess the utility of the sm nd method as a correlation tool and to illuminate palaeogeography

combined stratigraphic and isotopic studies of triassic strata cuyo basin argentine precordillera the evolution of the triassic cretaceous cuyo basin located in the andean precordillera nw argentina was mainly controlled by extensional transtensional tectonics along nw trending structures inherited from paleozoic sutures stratigraphic and isotopic studies are herein presented in order to constrain the sedimentary infilling and source areas as well as the age of triassic strata related to the active faulted margin of the cacheuta sub basin the whole stratigraphic package of the cuyo basin is interpreted as a second order depositional sequence comprising lowstand alluvial fan deposits transgressive fluvial deltaic and facustrine deposits and highstand oxidized lacustrine and high sinuosity luvial deposits systems tracts this stacking pattern was mainly controlled by the interplay between sedimentary influx and accommodation space with important volcaniclastic contribution especially during the early stages of basin development sm nd depleted mantle model ages tdm for both basement and volcano sedimentary samples range from 867 to 1345 ma all samples have negative end t values 0 33 to 5 02 basal deposits present older tdm model ages compared to intermediate positioned deposits and upper deposits present a wider range of model ages this time integrated factor correlates with paleocurrent data which indicate changes in the source areas through time the nd isotopic signature also suggests that sources of sediments for the cacheuta sub basin during the triassic were restricted to units of mesoproterozoic grenvillian age probably related to the cuyania terrane the u pb sensitive high resolution ion microprobe shrimp zircon age of 243 5 ma obtained in juvenile magmatic zircons from a lithoclast free ignimbrite interlayered within the basal alluvial fan facies of the cacheuta sub basin places the lowstand deposits in the olenekian and establishes a potential chronostratigraphic horizon for future correlations

the quaternary uplift history of central southern england evidence from the terraces of the solent river system and nearby raised beaches abstract we have used fluvial solent river system and marine terraces to reconstruct the uplift history of central southern england in the case of the former we make the assumption that fluvial incision has been a direct response to surface uplift with its precise timing controlled by climatic forcing of fluvial activity such that height of terrace gravel above modern river is a consequence of uplift since deposition in the case of the marine sequence we take the height of interglacial raised beaches above a calculated contemporaneous sea level as a measure of uplift the calculation involving an adjustment from modern sea level using the deep oceanic oxygen isotope signal as an indication of global ice volume at the time of deposition this exercise requires some degree of dating constraint which is problematic for both environments the solent terraces have yielded little biostratigraphical evidence whereas the south coast raised beaches have either been poorly exposed in recent years or their ages have been controversial because of disputes between biostratigraphy and geochronological data we have supplemented the evidence available from these sources by using key aspects of the archaeological record as dating constraints in particular the first appearances of levallois technique a marker for mis 9 8 and of bout coupe handaxes mis 3 the first of these has been particularly useful in modelling of the middle pleistocene parts of the river terrace staircases of the solent system in undertaking this reappraisal we have noted several inconsistencies and disagreements between past correlation schemes for the terraces of the solent and its various tributaries we find that versions involving shallower downstream gradients in the main solent river are most likely to be correct and that revisions on this basis solve a number of problems in interpretation encountered previously our results show that most of this region has uplifted by 70 m since the late early pleistocene and by 150 m since the middle pliocene there being a high degree of consistency between uplift histories inferred for river terraces and marine terraces uplift rates increase gradually westward such that along the river frome at the western end of the hampshire basin 80 m of uplift since the late early pleistocene is indicated this variation is interpreted as a consequence of a regional scale variation in crustal properties about 80 m of uplift is also indicated on this timescale by raised beaches in the portsdown area and adjacent terraces of the river test and solent in the vicinity of the portsdown anticline to the north of southampton we interpret this as a consequence of 10 m of vertical slip in the past million years on the blind reverse fault beneath this anticline this dataset thus provides the first clear indication of measurable quaternary structural development in crustal basement in the onshore uk the solent has formed more than a single terrace per 100 ka milankovitch cycle leading us to attribute terraces to isotopic substages potentially improving upon the resolution available from sequences in which terraces formed once per cycle athough the first appearence of levallois technique was initially considered to date from the mis 9 8 transition based on evidence from the thames we found that there was a better modelling fit if this was taken as having occurred slightly earlier in mis 9b perhaps in association with the post mis 9e or 9c marine regression which could have permitted immigration into a previously insular britain of people versed in levallois technology

the ad 365 crete earthquake and possible seismic clustering during the fourth to sixth centuries ad in the eastern mediterranean a review of historical and archaeological data abstract historical and archaeological data are used to test geological claims that in the fourth to sixth centuries ad the eastern mediterranean experienced an unusual clustering of destructive earthquakes the early byzantine tectonic paroxsym a review of historical accounts of a notable earthquake at this time that of 21 july ad 365 indicates that this event destroyed nearly all the towns in crete and was followed by a tsunami which devastated the nile delta the ad 365 event was also probably responsible for reported or observed destruction in ancient towns of west cyprus and libya this earthquake is most likely to be identified with a hellenic arc subduction zone event of great m 8 magnitude as testified by up to 9 m of uplift in western crete dated by previous geological studies to around this time historical and archaeological data also support the hypothesis that the fourth to sixth centuries ad was a period of abnormally high seismicity in the eastern mediterranean the high seismicity rates of this period may reflect a reactivation of all plate boundaries in the region dead sea transform east anatolian fault north anatolian fault hellenic arc cyprus arc fault

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

depth and configuration of the crystalline basement in the viking graben area northern north sea the depth of the crystalline basement in the viking graben area has been mapped the dominant structural feature in the study area is a n s trending zone approximately 150 km wide containing a variety of structures graben basins and structural highs and named the northern north sea rift zone the viking graben is only one structural element though a major one in this zone the following depth ranges appear to apply a on platforms basement shelves and major structural highs 1 3 km b in basins 7 9 km maximum depth c in graben 8 10 km maximum depth

decollement folding as a mechanism for thrust ramp spacing the hypothesis that early formed decollement folds localize thrust ramps explaining the regular spacing of major thrust ramps observed in many mountain belts is examined the model for folding instability consists of a rigid basement a weak decollement zone and a stiff thrust sheet the model incorporates the effects of topographic stresses and syntectonic erosion and redeposition and uses a linearized power law rheology for the thrust sheet this approximation is valid for small angles of fold limb dip 15 and is appropriate for analysis of the wave length selection of folds at the onset of deformation the spacing of major thrust ramps and the stratigraphic thicknesses of the decollement zone and thrust sheet from the wyoming portion of the sevier fold and thrust belt are used to test the model the ratio of the fold dominant wavelength to thrust sheet thickness ld h2 increases with the ratio r of the viscosity of the stiff layer to that of the decollement zone and decreases with the power law stress exponent n2 the fold amplification factor increases with both n2 and r as the topographic decay ratio d increases ld h2 increases at fixed n2 and r acceptable models for the absaroka and darby thrust sheets have n2 3 only when r 1000 and significant erosion and redeposition of sediments accompany the folding of the thrust sheet d 103 does the required r fall below a reasonable limit thus a model in which decollement folding is accompanied by syntectonic erosion and redeposition precedes thrusting is consistent with the available observational constraints

historical coastal evolution of the ancient harbor of aegina in relation to the upper holocene relative sea level changes in the saronic gulf greece abstract the extensive ancient harbor installations today submerged on the seafront of kolona in aegina are associated with the great trading and maritime development of the island from the middle bronze age to the middle classical period based on geomorphological and archeological indications three distinct relative sea levels can be defined at depths of 3 17 0 05 m 0 97 0 05 m and 0 52 0 05 m the dating of the sea level changes based on archeological evidence and historical sources shows that the initial sea level change in aegina occurred certainly after ad 170 and most likely after ad 250 the intermediate change is dated between ad 1586 and ad 1839 and the most recent change occurred between 1839 and 1999 a transgression followed a long period of sea level stability that lasted at least 2200 years from the middle bronze age ca 3900 yr bp to the late roman period ca 1700 yr bp according to the paleogeographical reconstruction of the coast the ancient harbor installations stretch along 1600 m of coastline the north harbor is bounded by the north breakwater the riprap on the once wide sandy coast the detached west breakwater and the uplift morphology of the west end of kolona hill on the south coast the harbor installations comprise the fortified closed harbor with the shipsheds the commercial harbor which is entirely destroyed by the modern port the anchorage area that is bounded by the west breakwater and built of cone shaped piles of stones the tops of which once projected above the sea level and the south curved breakwater at its southernmost boundary

geochemical and stratigraphic indicators of late holocene coastal evolution in the gythio area southern peloponnese greece the study of past changes in sea level and of historical and pre historical coastal evolution using coastal sediment stratigraphies is well established over a range of geographic areas in both seismic and aseismic settings in the eastern mediterranean however such studies are less common and notably the use of sediment geochemistry and its combination with lithostratigraphic studies to analyze palaeoenvironmental and palaeo sea level change has not been explored to any significant extent despite the fact that geochemical data have been successfully used elsewhere to aid in the identification of sea level changes here we use a combined geochemical stratigraphic and microfossil approach to reconstruct late holocene coastal evolution and sea level change at two sites near gythio in the southern peloponnese greece the sites show stratigraphic and geochemical evidence of the presence in late helladic times ca 1500 bc of barrier protected coastal lagoonal wetland environments which have gradually infilled over the last ca 3500 yr archaeological remains and ceramic and charcoal bearing horizons within the sediment sequences indicate late roman occupation of the area although there is no sedimentary evidence of significant pre roman activity at the study sites an apparent brackish wetland peat deposit at 3 4 m overlain by anoxic lagoonal clays at kamares kato vathi bay shows a calibrated radiocarbon age of 1640 1440 bc suggesting a relative sea level rise of 0 8 1 mm yr in this area over the past 3500 yr in good agreement with previous archaeological and sea level modelling studies there is no evidence based on the stratigraphic microfossil or geochemical record of sudden marine flooding events related to local or regional seismic activity despite the presence of the area in a seismically active zone known to be subject to periodic earthquakes and tsunami the data highlight the utility of combining geochemical and stratigraphic studies in the reconstruction of coastal evolution and the study of palaeo sea level changes particularly in sequences such as those described here where microfossils are poorly preserved

detrital zircon ages a key to understanding the deposition of deep marine sandstones in the norwegian sea abstract the provenance of cretaceous to paleocene sandstones from the norwegian sea has been determined by laser ablation icpms u pb and pb pb dating of detrital zircons the zircon grains were extracted from sandstones sampled in the more and the voring basins the potential source regions for the norwegian sea sediments are the surrounding landmasses of east greenland and norway the basement of east greenland contains both archaean 3800 2500 ma and early proterozoic ca 2000 ma rocks whereas the main norwegian basement ages are younger 1000 1600 ma sandstones of known provenance derived from east greenland and the norwegian landmasses have been analysed for comparison with the investigated sandstones of unknown provenance the analysed detrital zircons derived from the east greenland and norwegian landmasses reflect the known basement ages as the sandstones derived from east greenland are characterized by a wide detrital zircon age pattern with a considerable archaean component the norwegian derived detrital zircons show a narrow age pattern with the age maxima between 1000 and 1600 ma the turonian maastrichtian sandstone samples from the voring basin show wide range zircon age patterns all with a discernible archaean component indicating an east greenland provenance a sample of cenomanian sandstone from the donna terrace located on the eastern flank of the voring basin shows a narrower detrital zircon age pattern typical of sediments derived from the norwegian landmass sandstones of maastrichtian paleocene ages in the more basin show zircon age patterns that are indicative of an eastern source whereas a coniacian sandstone sample from the more basin shows detrital zircon age spectra typical of a western source the provenance change from a western to an eastern source found in the more basin sandstones was most likely a result of the baltic margin elevation during coniacian to maastrichtian times resulting in an increased sediment supply from the eastern margin

harbor areas at ancient troy sedimentology and geomorphology complement homer s iliad for at least two thousand years scholars have debated the location of troy and the events and geographic features described in homer s iliad geologic evidence is used to present a series of maps of the trojan plain that show the geomorphic changes over the past six millennia the geologic evidence correlates very well with the relevant homeric geography

destruction of herod the great s harbor at caesarea maritima israel geoarchaeological evidence geoarchaeological analysis of ancient harbor deposits has answered questions regarding the timing and extent of the destruction of the harbor at caesarea maritima built by herod the great on israel s mediterranean coast by using stratigraphic micropaleontological foraminifera and geochemical sr isotopes analyses of the ancient harbor deposits we can establish a late first to early second century a d date for the destruction of the harbor this destruction occurred earlier was more rapid and widespread than previously proposed and was probably caused by seismic activity the new excavations also indicate that during the fourth to early sixth centuries a d geomorphological processes and siltation within the inner harbor allowed this area to be used in a limited capacity as a harbor

late holocene relative sea level changes in lebanon eastern mediterranean twenty nine 14 c dates of precise biological sea level indicators from the lebanese coast show evidence for two significant regional crustal uplift episodes during the past 6000 years we elucidate 1 an upper shoreline at ca 120 to 140 cm which lasted from ca 6000 to 3000 bp and 2 a lower shoreline at 80 40 cm developed between the fifth century bc and the sixth century ad these movements are associated with 1 two major seismic crises along the yammuneh fault and the roum tripoli thrust rtt and 2 subsequent seismic events on a series of second order ene trending dextral transpressive faults vertical movements affected north lebanon whilst the coasts of south lebanon generally underwent crustal downlift this is in contrast with relative stability in northern israel suggesting an area of stationary tectonic conditions west of the dead sea rosh hanikra ras nakoura fault the main 14 c age cluster corresponding to the second uplift event may have resulted from fault movements during the early byzantine tectonic paroxysm ebtp between ca 1750 and 2000 bp relative sea level stabilised to present level around 1000 bp 2006 elsevier b v all rights reserved

the socio environmental history of the peloponnese during the holocene towards an integrated understanding of the past published archaeological palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data from the peloponnese in greece are compiled discussed and evaluated in order to analyse the interactions between humans and the environment over the last 9000 years our study indicates that the number of human settlements found scattered over the peninsula have quadrupled from the prehistoric to historical periods and that this evolution occurred over periods of climate change and seismo tectonic activity we show that societal development occurs both during periods of harsh as well as favourable climatic conditions at some times some settlements develop while others decline well known climate events such as the 4 2 ka and 3 2 ka events are recognizable in some of the palaeoclimatic records and a regional decline in the number and sizes of settlements occurs roughly at the same time but their precise chronological fit with the archaeological record remains uncertain local socio political processes were probably always the key drivers behind the diverse strategies that human societies took in times of changing climate the study thus reveals considerable chronological parallels between societal development and palaeoenvironmental records but also demonstrates the ambiguities in these correspondences and in doing so highlights some of the challenges that will face future interdisciplinary projects we suggest that there can be no general association made between societal expansion phases and periods of advantageous climate we also propose that the relevance of climatic and environmental regionality as well as any potential impacts of seismo tectonics on societal development need to be part of the interpretative frameworks

linking tsunami deposits submarine slides and offshore earthquakes abstract the recognition that many tsunamis are associated with coastal sedimentation has been of great value in the study of tsunamis prehistorically geological investigation of such sediments has resulted in the identification of a series of palaeotsunamis that appear to have taken place in different areas of the world in most cases however it has proved difficult to link former tsunamis to specific source mechanisms studies of modern tsunamis have also faced difficulties in the recognition of the specific source mechanisms for example offshore earthquakes may trigger submarine slides that combine to produce complex patterns of tsunami flooding at the coast

large scale linked drainage systems in the nw european triassic insights from the pb isotopic composition of detrital k feldspar pb isotopic data from k feldspars in middle triassic anisian sandstones in the wessex basin onshore sw uk and the east irish sea basin some 350 km to the north show that the same grain populations are present this indicates that the drainage system the budleighensis river feeding these basins originated from the same source s most probably the remnant variscan uplands to the south fluvial and aeolian sandstones have the same provenance suggesting that if water and wind driven sands were originally derived from different sources this has been obscured through reworking prior to final deposition significant recycling of feldspar from arkosic sandstones in earlier sedimentary basins can be ruled out the provenance data agree with previous depositional models indicating transport distances in excess of 400 km with a drainage pattern that linked separate basins this supports the idea that the regional fluvial system was driven by topography and episodic flooding events of sufficient magnitude to overcome evaporation and infiltration over hundreds of kilometres importantly this drainage system appears to have been isolated and independent from those operating contemporaneously to the nw of the irish and scottish massifs where the remnant variscan uplands apparently exerted no influence on drainage or sand supply

short paper lyell s pillars and uniformitarianism it is suggested that the roman pillars at pozzuoli near naples the great symbols of uniformitarianism record not gradual but very sudden changes in sea level and a more catastrophic or at least episodic concept of changes in the recent geological past than was envisaged by charles lyell the great symbols of uniformitarianism were the marine borings in the roman pillars of serapeo serapis at pozzuoli near naples charles lyell used the pillars as the frontispiece of his great book principles of geology 1831 which was to have such a fundamental effect on geological thought in the last century they also appear on the reverse side of the lyell medal of the geological society of london the importance of these pillars was that they proved that changes in sea level had occurred in historic times they were the proof it might be said that the present may be used as the key to the past if sea level changes could occur so recently then all the complex pattern of transgressions and regressions in the geological past could be explained by reference to what was seen happening today they put an end it was thought to catastrophism and the doctrine of sudden short lived episodes in earth history which was always associated with the thought of that great frenchman georges cuvier but the lyell and cuvier of standard text books are cardboard figures as stephen gould called them 1987 cuvier is particularly maligned and blamed for all the later excesses of catastrophism it

holocene palaeogeographies of the astakos coastal plain akarnania nw greece abstract this paper deals with holocene coastal changes of the astakos plain in akarnania nw greece palaeoenvironmental scenarios are based on the analysis of the lateral and vertical distribution patterns of sedimentary facies sediments from vibracorings were studied using geomorphological sedimentological microfaunal palaeobotanical and geochemical methods a geochronostratigraphy was achieved by 14c ams dating of organic matter we present palaeogeographical maps for different points in time since the mid holocene the evolution of the coastal area was generally controlled by the migration of a complex system of a shallow marine embayment an adjacent lagoonal environment and an adjoining coastal lake forced by the interaction of sea level rise tectonic movements and sediment supply from the hinterland the maximum transgression of the ionian sea took place at circa 5500 cal bc reaching approx 1 1 km inland the lagoon as well as the coastal lake had their largest dimensions around 4500 cal bc indicating a more humid climatic period in the course of a long lasting regression an asymmetric sedimentation pattern developed around 2500 cal bc it was characterized by strong fluvial deposition of the xeropotamos in the western plain and a small and narrow marine embayment with associated lagoonal to limnic coastal water bodies in the eastern plain the latter were related to karstic springs draining the adjacent rigani ridge around 500 cal bc the coastline lay about 200 m landward of its present position possible harbour sites for the ancient polis of astakos are a the area of modern astakos where a mole in a position seawards of the present coast would have guaranteed deep water conditions for anchoring or b the southeastern fringe of the plain where deep water prevailed and the nearby freshwater outlet protected the site from rapid siltation we found increased torrential activity i for the 6th 5th millennium bc ii for the 2nd half of the 1st millennium bc until roman times and iii at the end of the 19th century ad at least the two younger phases are mostly due to anthropogenic soil erosion between the 4th and the 2nd millennium bc a period of ecological stability existed relative changes in sea level for the bay of astakos were reconstructed for the first time since the mid holocene the relative sea level has never reached a higher position than today it rose from 12 50 m b s l at 6200 cal bc via 2 20 m b s l at 500 cal bc to its present level besides eustatic reasons tectonic subsidence due to the half graben structure of the area is the main trigger of the relative rise in sea level

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