Water-level fluctuations in the Black Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum

Abstract

Abstract:Two IFREMER oceanographic surveys carried out in the northwestern Black Sea in 1998 and 2002 complement previous seabed mapping and subsurface sampling by various international expeditions. They show that the lake level rose on the continental shelf to at least the -40 to -30 m isobath based on the landward limit of a Dreissena layer representative of very low salinity conditions (< 5‰). The Black Sea then shows clear evidence for an onset of marine conditions at 7150 BP. From these observations, Ryan et al. (1997) concluded that the Black Sea could have filled abruptly with saltwater cascading in from the Mediterranean. Despite critical discussions of this interpretation, recent IFREMER discoveries of well preserved drowned beaches, sand dunes, and soils appear to lend support to the flood hypothesis. This new evidence includes (1) multibeam echo-sounding and seismic reflection profiles that reveal wave-cut terraces at about -100 m, (2) Romanian shelf cores that show an erosion surface indicating subaerial exposure well below the sill of the modern Bosphorus, (3) 14 C ages documenting a colonization of the former terrestrial shelf surface by marine molluscs at 7150 BP, (4) evidence of sea water penetration into the Black Sea in the form of recent canyon heads at the Bosphorus outlet, and (5) palynological analysis and V.

Contemporary genetic structure and postglacial demographic history of the black scorpionfish, Scorpaena porcus, in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas

“…; Lericolais et al . ). Following this dynamic, after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 20 000 years ago), the Black Sea sustained another major ecological shift through a postglacial transition from brackish waters to a marine ecosystem.…”

“…; Lericolais et al . ). Recolonization of this sea by marine organisms is therefore supposed to be as recent as 10 000–8000 years ago.…”

Landscape change and archaeological settlements in the lower Danube valley and delta from early Neolithic to Chalcolithic time: A review

“…Giosan et al (2006) suggest that the Black Sea level might have been stable since at least 3400 bce. The ASSEMBLAGE curve (in Strechie-Sliwinski, 2007) and Lericolais et al (2007) suggest that present day, or very close to, sea level, was reached between w5500 and 4800 bce. According to this last reconstruction, between w6000 and 4800 bce, the Black Sea level was between À10 and À2 m asl and rose rapidly to its present value.…”

“…The sea level change in Black Sea during the 6th millennium might result in a rise of the marine level of almost 50 ms between w6000 and 5500 bce (Lericolais et al, 2007). Such a rapid change can have blocked Neolithic settlement.…”

“…In contrast to the rest of the Mediterranean area whose evolution was under eustatic control during Late-and Post-Glacial (Lambeck and Bard, 2000;Pirazzolli, 2003), Eastern marginal Seas have experimented a complex evolution, due to their total or partial isolation from the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus, Dardanelles and Kerch straits and Manych pass. They show a succession of alternating lacustrine and marine phases at least until about w9400 cal BP (Lericolais et al, 2007) in relation with hydro-climatic variability.…”