A review of 917 relative sea-level (RSL) data-points has resulted in the first quality-controlled database\ud constraining the Holocene sea-level histories of the western Mediterranean Sea (Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia,\ud Croatia, Malta and Tunisia). We reviewed and standardized the geological RSL data-points using a new multiproxy\ud methodology based on: (1) modern taxa assemblages in Mediterranean lagoons and marshes;\ud (2) beachrock characteristics (cement fabric and chemistry, sedimentary structures); and (3) the modern distribution\ud ofMediterranean fixed biological indicators. These RSL data-pointswere coupled with the large number of\ud archaeological RSL indicators available for the westernMediterranean. We assessed the spatial variability of RSL\ud histories for 22 regions and compared these with the ICE-5G (VM2) GIA model. In the western Mediterranean,\ud RSL rose continuously for the whole Holocene with a sudden slowdown at ~7.5 ka BP and a further deceleration\ud during the last ~4.0 ka BP, afterwhich time observed RSL changes are mainly related to variability in isostatic adjustment.\ud The sole exception is southern Tunisia, where data show evidence of a mid-Holocene high-stand compatible\ud with the isostatic impacts of the melting history of the remote Antarctic ice sheet.\ud Our results indicate that late-Holocene sea-level rise was significantly slower than the current one. First estimates\ud of GIA contribution indicate that, at least in the northwestern sector, it accounts at least for the 25–30% of the ongoing\ud sea-level rise recorded by Mediterranean tidal gauges. Such contribution is less constrained at lower latitudes\ud due to the lower quality of the late Holocene index points. Future applications of spatio-temporal\ud statistical techniques are required to better quantify the gradient of the isostatic contribution and to provide improved\ud context for the assessment of 20th century acceleration of Mediterranean sea-level rise

Sea-level changes in the Adriatic from tide-gauge data Fabio RaicichAssessing the impact of climate change in Italian coastal areas: tools and methods of risk and vulnerability assessment. Silvia Torresan, Elisa Furlan, Petra dalla Pozza, Diana Derepasko, Andrea Critto, Melania Michetti, Mattia Amadio, Jaroslav Mysiak 35131, Padova, Italy alessandro.fontana@unipd.it, livio.ronchi@gmail.com ANNAMARIA CORREGGIARI CNR-ISMAR Institute of Marine Sciences in BolognaVia Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy anna.correggiari@bo.ismar.cnr.it STEFANO FURLANIUniversity of 34128, Trieste, Italy Stefano.furlani@units.it MLADEN JURAČIĆ, IGOR FELJAUniversity of Zagreb -Faculty of Science, Department of Geology Horvatovac 102a, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia mjuracic@geol.pmf.hr, igorfelja@geol.pmf.hr In the last years strong e orts have been done by the scienti c community to reconstruct the post-LGM transgression and describe it through geophysical models that could match with the observed eld data. Notwithstanding, the eustatic curve is still largely unconstrained before 8 ka BP because of the few available data. Northern Adriatic is one of the very few places in the Mediterranean Basin where the sea-level variations occurred between Lateglacial and Early Holocene are recorded. These changes are documented by sediments and landforms, thanks to the gentle slope of the continental shelf and the occurrence of lagoon and paralic environments, which are strongly sensitive even to subtle variations of the sea level. This research considered the large database of CHIRP-Sonar pro les and stratigraphic cores collected by CNR-ISMAR of Bologna, especially through the oceanographic missions carried out on-board of the research vessel Urania. A major issue is the recognition and characterization of the periods of rapid increase of the sea level, which punctuated some phases during the Lateglacial and the rst part of Holocene, which caused the abrupt submersion of large sectors of the coast. In the study area the remnants of a large barrier-island system formed during Younger Dryas and drowned in place soon after are present. Moreover, important information about a sea-level jump occurred around 9.5-9.2 ka BP have been recently documented in the deltaic plain of Po River and in the submerged shelf. This phase of transgression led the Adriatic to enter in the Gulf of Trieste, dramatically transforming the area between Istria and the coast of Friuli. Some key questions, still partly unsolved, are related to the main indexes allowing the identi cations of sea-level jumps and the possible occurrence of sea-level stillstands or the apparent decrease of the marine rise because of the increase in sediment supply.Keywords: transgressive deposits, lagoon environments, submarine landforms We investigated MIS 5.5 fossil tidal notches located in tectonically stable coasts of the central Mediterranean. In these stable areas, the elevation of the base of the MIS 5.5 notch ranges from 2.09 to 12.48 m, with a mean of 5.7 m. Such variability,...

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This article reviews key data and debates focused on relative sea-level changes since the Last Interglacial\ud (approximately the last 132,000 years) in the Mediterranean Basin, and their implications for past human\ud populations. Geological and geomorphological landscape studies are critical to archaeology. Coastal regions\ud provide a wide range of resources to the populations that inhabit them. Coastal landscapes are\ud increasingly the focus of scholarly discussions from the earliest exploitation of littoral resources and early\ud hominin cognition, to the inundation of the earliest permanently settled fishing villages and eventually,\ud formative centres of urbanisation. In the Mediterranean, these would become hubs of maritime transportation\ud that gave rise to the roots of modern seaborne trade. As such, this article represents an original\ud review of both the geo-scientific and archaeological data that specifically relate to sea-level changes and\ud resulting impacts on both physical and cultural landscapes from the Palaeolithic until the emergence of\ud the Classical periods. Our review highlights that the interdisciplinary links between coastal archaeology,\ud geomorphology and sea-level changes are important to explain environmental impacts on coastal human\ud societies and human migration. We review geological indicators of sea level and outline how archaeological\ud features are commonly used as proxies for measuring past sea levels, both gradual changes and\ud catastrophic events. We argue that coastal archaeologists should, as a part of their analyses, incorporate\ud important sea-level concepts, such as indicative meaning. The interpretation of the indicative meaning of\ud Roman fishtanks, for example, plays a critical role in reconstructions of late Holocene Mediterranean sea\ud levels. We identify avenues for future work, which include the consideration of glacial isostatic adjustment\ud (GIA) in addition to coastal tectonics to explain vertical movements of coastlines, more research on\ud Palaeolithic island colonisation, broadening of Palaeolithic studies to include materials from the entire\ud coastal landscape and not just coastal resources, a focus on rescue of archaeological sites under threat by coastal change, and expansion of underwater archaeological explorations in combination with submarine\ud geomorphology. This article presents a collaborative synthesis of data, some of which have been\ud collected and analysed by the authors, as the MEDFLOOD (MEDiterranean sea-level change and projection\ud for future FLOODing) community, and highlights key sites, data, concepts and ongoing debates