Alexander the Great's tombolos at Tyre and Alexandria, eastern Mediterranean

Marriner, Nick; Goiran, J.P.; Morhange, Christophe

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.01.013

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…By contrast, the other areas of the city center appear stable or are slightly subsiding. Indeed, the PSI results highlight ground movement of the order of 1 mm/yr, in particular at the former sandy tombolo which connects the palaeo‐island of Pharos to the continent and today constitutes a heavily urbanized peninsula [ Marriner et al ., ]. The mean ground motion for all the PS represented in Figure is −0.39 mm/yr (median: −0.37 mm/yr) with respect to the continuous GPS station, and the standard deviation is 1.05 mm/yr; 78% of the PS velocities are comprised within one standard deviation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, Marriner et al . [] indicate that seismic displacement accounted for the submergence of some parts of the ancient city, suggesting that the largest values of about 4–5 mm/yr subsidence reported on millennia timescale for Alexandria are likely due to tectonic activity and abrupt subsidence episodes occurring at intervals of hundreds of years or more rather than to Holocene sediment compaction and dewatering. In between these major episodes, no substantial land subsidence is affecting Alexandria and the coastal plain westward of Alexandria.…”

Section: Considerations and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is land subsidence increasing the exposure to sea level rise in Alexandria, Egypt?

Wöppelmann

Cozannet

Michele

et al. 2013

Geophysical Research Letters

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Delta margins are subject to relatively high rates of land subsidence and have the potential to significantly exacerbate future changes in sea levels predicted by global warming models used in impact studies. Through a combined analysis of GPS and persistent scatterer interferometry data, we determine that most of the coastline of Alexandria has been subject to moderate land subsidence over the past decade (0.4 mm/yr on average and up to 2 mm/yr locally). This contrasts to previous studies that suggested subsidence in excess of 3 mm/yr. Based on our findings, we infer that on multi‐century to millennia timescales, land subsidence in the area of Alexandria is dominated by tectonic setting and earthquakes or gravitational collapse episodes of a growth fault, whereas on shorter interseismic decadal to century timescales, subsidence rates are likely steady and moderate, in agreement with natural compaction and dewatering of the observed Holocene sediment layer.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Considerations and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is land subsidence increasing the exposure to sea level rise in Alexandria, Egypt?

Wöppelmann

Cozannet

Michele

et al. 2013

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The decline of harbours and their cities after the Roman period is a common phenomenon in the Mediterranean (e.g. Brückner, 1986;Pranzini, 2001;Marriner et al, 2008aMarriner et al, , 2008b. Along with a shrinking population, agricultural activities were diminished and the hillslopes started to recover (Pranzini, 2001).…”

Section: Palaeoenvironmental Changes and Their Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman harbour of Ephesus

Stock

Knipping

Pint

et al. 2016

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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During the past millennia, many erosion and accumulation processes have been modified by anthropogenic impact. This holds especially true for the environs of ancient settlements and their harbours along the Mediterranean coasts. Our multi-proxy investigations in the Roman harbour and the harbour canal of Ephesus (western Turkey) reveals that humans have significantly triggered soil erosion during the last three millennia. Since the eighth century BC, and especially since the Hellenistic period, a high sedimentation rate indicates fast alluviation and delta progradation of the Küçük Menderes. Deforestation, agriculture (especially ploughing) and grazing (especially goats) were the main reasons for erosion of the river catchment area. One consequence was significant siltation of the Hellenistic/Roman harbour basin. This sediment trap archives the human impact, which was strongly enhanced from Hellenistic/Roman to Byzantine times (second/first centuries BC to the sixth/seventh centuries AD), evidenced by high sedimentation rates, raised values of heavy metal contaminations [lead (Pb), copper (Cu)], the occurrence of fruit tree pollen and of intestinal parasites. From the middle to the end of the first millennium AD, the influence of Ephesus declined, which resulted in a decrease of human impact. Studies of several ancient settlements around the Mediterranean Sea tell a comparable story. They also confirm that during their most flourishing periods the human impact totally overprinted the climatic one. To detect the latter, geo-bioarchives of relatively pristine areas have to be investigated in detail.

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“…This interpretation is based on the observation that the back-barrier extends as much as 3 km to the northwest in a shallow area that is protected from ocean waves by rocky headlands and that links to the adjacent continent. The protection from the direct action of oceanic waves and associated longshore currents would have induced local sedimentation in the form of a tombolo (Zenkovich, 1967;Marriner et al, 2008). The sediments were available due to the erosion of the Pleistocene surface and sands transported by progradation of the Tubarão delta front, which in the Rio do Meio, reached a maximum advance over the lagoon.…”

Section: Tagelus Plebeius Intertidal Sand In Lagoons and Estuariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facies associations and controls on the evolution from a coastal bay to a lagoon system, Santa Catarina Coast, Brazil

2012

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Alexander the Great's tombolos at Tyre and Alexandria, eastern Mediterranean

Cited by 28 publications

References 51 publications

Is land subsidence increasing the exposure to sea level rise in Alexandria, Egypt?

Is land subsidence increasing the exposure to sea level rise in Alexandria, Egypt?

Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman harbour of Ephesus

Facies associations and controls on the evolution from a coastal bay to a lagoon system, Santa Catarina Coast, Brazil

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