Sea-level change and shore-line evolution in Aegean Greece since Upper Palaeolithic time

Abstract

Examples of where such rapid encroachment of the sea occurred include the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Carpentaria of northern Australia, between about 12,000 and 10,000 years b.p. In some areas of the world the sea-levels peaked at about 6000 years b.p., inundating now low-lying areas before falling slowly to their present position. The consequences of these changes on human settlement and movement have been recognized in the archaeological and pre-historic records. Thus it is widely accepted that levels during 1 otherwise specified.All ages are in conventional radiocarbon years unless the Last Glacial Maximum, about 20,000 to 18,000 years ago, were sufficiently lower than today to leave exposed coastal plains that have since flooded. But less attention appears to have been focused on the timing and rates of change after the onset of melting of the great ice-sheets. What discussion there is -with the exception of the important paper by van Andel & Shackleton (1982) (see also van Andel 1989) -often leaves the distinct impression that this change in level occurred early and quickly with rather minimal human impact. This paper sets out to describe, using the Aegean Sea region as an example, a realistic model of sea-level change and shoreline migration for the past 20,000 years, one that can provide a framework for discussing impacts of :such change on human movements and settlement.If, during the decay of the ice sheets, the meltwater volume is distributed uniformly over the oceans, then the sea-level change at time t would be A&@) = change in ocean volume/ocean surface area (1) This 'eustatic sea-level change' is a function of time. It represents only a zero-order approximation because sea-level does not respond uniformly to the melting of the ice caps: the rates of rise are spatially variable, and in some localities sea-level may actually be falling rela-* Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.Received 2 3 January 1996, accepted 2 6 April 1996.ANTIQUITY 70 (1996):

Palaegeographic evolution of the Kerinthos coastal area (NE Evia island) during the late Holocene

“…Approximate sea-level 'curve' based on data from Lambeck(1996). Given the inherent complexity of such transitional sedimentary environments (Reineck & Singh, 1973), until more cores are sampled to allow the establishment of a more complete 'stratigraphie section' along -and across-the Peleki embayment, any interpretation of the details of the presented data can only be considered preliminary.…”

“…4). Data from Lambeck (1996) were used to plot the approximate 'curve' of Fig. 4, which is accurate enough for our purposes and shows that when K2-7 was deposited, sea-level was about 3,6 m lower than present.…”

Paleoenvironmental evolution of Istron (N.E Crete), during the last 6000 years: depositional environment, climate and sea level changes

“…The sea transgressed about 120-130 m. Especially from 16000-8000BP, when the sea level rose annually at an estimated rate of ca. 15-20mm/y [30] . The evidence for sea-level change along the Greek coastline is inferred from a variety of geological and archaeological indicators, the latter being more plentiful for about the last 4000 years.…”

“…It is noted that the study of sea level changes in Greece is more complicated, considering that the Eastern Mediterranean is a region of active tectonics and Greece in particular is one of the most rapidly deforming continental areas on Earth [33]. According to Lambeck's sea-level curve for the island of Crete, sea level had been at -130 m at 18000BP, -56 m at 10000BP, -6 m at 6000BP and -1.5 m at 2000BP [30] [34]. It is obvious that from 6000BP-2000BP, sea rose ca.…”

Yria (western Naxos island, Greece): Sea level changes in Upper Holocene and palaeogeographical reconstruction

“…He has concluded that the glacio-hydro-isostatic adjustment had reached amplitude of 1 mm yr -1 during the last few millennia [5]. Subsequently, Lambeck (1996) [6] and Lambeck & Purcell (2005) [4] estimated that the relative sea-level in the Aegean was 110-130 m, 44-60 m, 2-8 m and 1-1.75 m below the present day level, at 18000, 10000, 6000 and 2000 years before present respectively. Moreover, Lambeck (1995) [5] has concluded that the rising sea level around Greece is mainly due to glaciohydro-isostasy and not due to a long-term tectonic process.…”