| Summary: | After the analysis of more than 1200 radiocarbon dated Relative Sea-Level (RSL) data-points we present here the first quality-controlled database constraining the Holocene sea-level histories along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. We reviewed and standardized the geological RSL data-points using a new multi-proxy methodology based on: (1) modern taxa assemblages in Mediterranean lagoons and marshes; (2) beachrock characteristics (cement fabric and chemistry, sedimentary structures); and (3) the modern distribution of Mediterranean fixed biological indicators (Vacchi et al., 2016b). These RSL data-points were coupled with the large number of archaeological RSL indicators available for the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. Such standardized methodology allowed the robust assessment of the spatial variability of RSL histories among the different regions and the comparison with the ICE-5G (VM2) Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) model (Spada and Stocchi, 2007). In the western Mediterranean, RSL rose continuously for the whole Holocene with a sudden slowdown at ∼7.5 ka BP and a further deceleration during the last ∼4.0 ka BP, after which time observed RSL changes are mainly related to variability in isostatic adjustment (Vacchi et al., 2016a,b). The sole exception is southern Tunisia, where data show evidence of a mid-Holocene high-stand compatible with the isostatic impacts of the melting history of the remote Antarctic ice sheet. In the eastern Mediterranean, we depicted the role of the right-lateral North Anatolic Fault in controlling the Late Holocene RLS variation in Northern Aegean Sea (Vacchi et al., 2014) and we better constrain the subsidence rates in the broad Nile delta area (Khan et al., 2015). Current analysis are focused on Black Sea coasts where compaction-related subsidence plays a major role in controlling the Holocene sea-level variability, notably in the Danube delta and in the Taman peninsula (Giaime et al., 2016) Our results indicate that late-Holocene sea-level rise was significantly ...
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