Geoscience rediscovers Phoenicia's buried harbors

Marriner, Nick; Morhange, Christophe; Doumet-Serhal, Claude; Carbonel, Pierre

doi:10.1130/g21875.1

Cited by 41 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Similar mid-Holocene lagoonal sediments have been documented at a large number of coastal and deltaic sites across the Eastern Mediterranean in Turkey (e.g., Kraft et al, 2003;Goodman et al, 2008), in Greece (e.g., Kraft, Rapp, & Aschenbrenner, 1975;Pavlopoulos et al, 2010;Triantaphyllou et al, 2010;Vouvalidis et al, 2010), and in the Levant (e.g., Marriner et al, 2006). In the Red Sea coast of Egypt at Myos Hormos, the Roman harbor and lagoon were progressively in-filled during the 8th to 12th centuries A.D. (Blue, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

Allison

Niemi

2010

Geoarchaeology

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Stratified cultural remains from the Early Roman/Nabataean to Byzantine periods in the coastal zone of Aqaba, Jordan, and analyses of thirteen sediment cores provide evidence for changes in the depositional environment during the Holocene. The overall trend in subsurface sediments is a basal marine transgressive layer overlain by a regressional sequence of embayment lagoonal sediments identified from microfossil analyses, and backshore pond, alluvium, and eolian deposits until the 1st century B.C., when mudbrick structures appear. Based on two radiocarbon dates, a brackish water coastal embayment formed prior to ca. 5900-5700 B.C. and was subsequently filled by siltation. Local tectonic subsidence along faults of the Dead Sea transform may have helped form the lagoon. Freshwater Candona sp. ostracods found in sand layers in the lagoon facies show signs of having been transported and redeposited. These data indicate that lakes or marshes were likely located inland of the study area. Supporting faunal and floral evidence for wetter climatic conditions, wetland habitats, and extensive water diversion and agricultural terraces has been excavated at late Chalcolithic (4000-3500 B.C.) sites in the Aqaba region (Khalil & Schmidt, 2009). By the 8th century B.C., the depositional environment along the coastal plain of Aqaba was dominated by distal alluvial fan and eolian sedimentation and the shoreline had prograded about 400 m seaward. The migration of human settlements since the 8th century B.C. from the center of the valley toward the southeast may be driven by the changing course of Wadi Yutim and conditions along the coastal plain.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

Allison

Niemi

2010

Geoarchaeology

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“…Archaeological data from the Tyrian horst manifest Ϸ3 m of tectonic collapse since late Roman times (8,24). This subsidence has resulted from the activation of the Yammuneh and the RoumTripoli Thrust, as well as slip along east-northeast transverse fault panels in the vicinity of Tyre (24).…”

Section: Geomorphological and Archaeological Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coastal sediments at numerous Mediterranean sites have been shown to be rich time series replete with data on the magnitude, variability, and direction of natural and anthropogenically forced change since antiquity (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Within this context, the logistics behind Alexander's causeway have been a matter of archaeological speculation for some time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene morphogenesis of Alexander the Great's isthmus at Tyre in Lebanon

Marriner

Morhange

Meulé

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great constructed an Ϸ1,000-m-long causeway to seize the offshore island of Tyre. The logistics behind this engineering feat have long troubled archaeologists. Using the Holocene sedimentary record, we demonstrate that Alexander's engineers cleverly exploited a shallow proto-tombolo, or sublittoral sand spit, to breach the offshore city's defensive impregnability. We elucidate a three-phase geomorphological model for the spit's evolution. Settled since the Bronze Age, the area's geological record manifests a long history of natural and anthropogenic forcings. (i) Leeward of the island breakwater, the maximum flooding surface (e.g., drowning of the subaerial land surfaces by seawater) is dated Ϸ8000 B.P. Fine-grained sediments and brackish and marine-lagoonal faunas translate shallow, low-energy water bodies at this time. Shelter was afforded by Tyre's elongated sandstone reefs, which acted as a 6-km natural breakwater. (ii) By 6000 B.P., sea-level rise had reduced the dimensions of the island from 6 to 4 km. The leeward wave shadow generated by this island, allied with high sediment supply after 3000 B.P., culminated in a natural wave-dominated proto-tombolo within 1-2 m of mean sea level by the time of Alexander the Great (4th century B.C.). (iii) After 332 B.C., construction of Alexander's causeway entrained a complete anthropogenic metamorphosis of the Tyrian coastal system. geoarchaeology ͉ Mediterranean ͉ tombolo ͉ coastal geomorphology

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“…Seawalls may have proliferated in recent decades [24,180], but they are an ancient technology [181,182]. Recurrent beach nourishment is nearly a century old [183], and analysis of long-term shoreline change rates suggests that towns along the US Mid-Atlantic collectively implement enough beach nourishment to obscure if not mask physical evidence of chronic coastal erosion [184].…”

Section: Geoengineered Coastsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Global Classification of Coastal Anthromes

Lazarus

2017

Land

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Given incontrovertible evidence that humans are the most powerful agents of environmental change on the planet, research has begun to acknowledge and integrate human presence and activity into updated descriptions of the world's biomes as "anthromes". Thus far, a classification system for anthromes is limited to the terrestrial biosphere. Here, I present a case for the consideration and validity of coastal anthromes. Every coastal environment on Earth is subject to direct and indirect human modification and disturbance. Despite the legacy, ubiquity, and pervasiveness of human interactions with coastal ecosystems, coastal anthromes still lack formal definition. Following the original argument and framework for terrestrial anthromes, I outline a set of coastal anthrome classifications that dovetail with terrestrial and marine counterparts. Recognising coastal environments as complex and increasingly vulnerable anthropogenic systems is a fundamental step toward understanding their modern dynamics-and, by extension, realising opportunities for and limits to their resilience.

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Geoscience rediscovers Phoenicia's buried harbors

Cited by 41 publications

References 16 publications

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal sediments adjacent to archaeological ruins in Aqaba, Jordan

Holocene morphogenesis of Alexander the Great's isthmus at Tyre in Lebanon

Toward a Global Classification of Coastal Anthromes

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