Abstract
Water levels in the Mediterranean and Black Seas since the Last Glacial Maximum have varied substantially across the region because of the influence of the melting of the last great ice sheets in redistributing ice and water over the Earth's surface. This spatial variability is significant for discussions of the timing of water exchange between the Aegean and Black Sea, which reached ca.-10 m relative to present sea level at 12 ky calBP. In the absence of direct observational evidence, sea-level change at sill locations is predicted here using isostatic models that have been calibrated against observational data from other Mediterranean localities. If one assumes a depth of ∼-32 m for the Bosphorus sill, the Black Sea is predicted to have been reached by rising Mediterranean water between about 10.3 and 9.5 ky calBP. Alternatively, if the Bosphorus bedrock gorge at ∼-100 m depth is adopted as the sill, then the first Mediterranean influx over the shallower Dardanelles sill at ∼-80 m is predicted to have occurred between 15 and 13.7 ky calBP.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Black Sea Flood Question |
Subtitle of host publication | Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement |
Publisher | Springer Netherlands |
Pages | 797-808 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISBN (Print) | 1402047746, 9781402047749 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2007 |
Keywords
- Black Sea
- Marmara Sea
- glacio-hydroisostasy
- sea-level prediction
- sill height
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences
- General Environmental Science