Extreme storms during the last 6500 years from lagoonal sedimentary archives in the Mar Menor (SE Spain)

Abstract

Abstract. Storms and tsunamis, which may seriously endanger human society, are amongst the most devastating marine catastrophes that can occur in coastal areas. Many such events are known and have been reported for the Mediterranean, a region where high-frequency occurrences of these extreme events coincides with some of the most densely populated coastal areas in the world. In a sediment core from the Mar Menor (SE Spain), we discovered eight coarse-grained layers which document marine incursions during periods of intense storm activity or tsunami events. Based on radiocarbon dating, these extreme events occurred around 5250, 4000, 3600, 3010, 2300, 1350, 650, and 80 years cal BP. No comparable events have been observed during the 20th and 21st centuries. The results indicate little likelihood of a tsunami origin for these coarse-grained layers, although historical tsunami events are recorded in this region. These periods of surge events seem to coincide with the coldest periods in Europe during the late Holocene, suggesting a control by a climatic mechanism for periods of increased storm activity. Spectral analyses performed on the sand percentage revealed four major periodicities of 1228 ± 327, 732 ± 80, 562 ± 58, and 319 ± 16 years. Amongst the well-known proxies that have revealed a millennial-scale climate variability during the Holocene, the ice-rafted debris (IRD) indices in the North Atlantic developed by Bond et al. (1997, 2001) present a cyclicity of 1470 ± 500 years, which matches the 1228 ± 327-year periodicity evidenced in the Mar Menor, considering the respective uncertainties in the periodicities. Thus, an in-phase storm activity in the western Mediterranean is found with the coldest periods in Europe and with the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. However, further investigations, such as additional coring and high-resolution coastal imagery, are needed to better constrain the main cause of these multiple events.

Fossil leaf wax hydrogen isotopes reveal variability of Atlantic and Mediterranean climate forcing on the southeast Iberian Peninsula between 6000 to 3000 cal. BP

“…BP. The latter two periods of enhanced Mediterranean sourced precipitation correspond well with times of dominant positive modes of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO + ) [ 87 ] and reduced Western Mediterranean storminess [ 88 , 89 ] ( Fig 4 ). The Western Mediterranean storminess record, however, shows higher variability, which might be related to its distant location in the Gulf of Lions.…”

Extreme flood events reconstruction during the last century in the El Bibane lagoon (Southeast of Tunisia): A Multi-proxy Approach

“…These results corroborate the marine origin of these sediments as revealed by the binocular microscope observations mainly due to the existence of shell debris and confirmed by the grain-size distributions. Therefore, we suggested that the first component agreed with the fine fraction of the sediment, which is mainly composed of various types of clay minerals, usually abundant in surface sediments (De Lazzari et al, 2004). On the other hand, factor 2 ( Fig.…”

Bathymetry Time Series Using High Spatial Resolution Satellite Images

“…This contribution can reach 1863 t yr −1 [95]. Contributions from the Mediterranean or exchanges through the inlets have not been studied in depth, but there is evidence that they can be significant throughout the recent history of the Mar Menor lagoon, especially during extreme storm events [96]. Sedimentation rates have changed during the evolution of the Mar Menor lagoon linked to human uses in the drainage basin, and have increased with time, from 30 mm/century before the Middle Age to more than 30 cm/century in the 20th century, particularly due to deforestation and agricultural practices [97].…”