The lost Adventure Archipelago (Sicilian Channel, Mediterranean Sea): Morpho-bathymetry and Late Quaternary palaeogeographic evolution

Episodic, rapid sea-level rises on the central Mediterranean shelves after the Last Glacial Maximum: A review

“…Bathymetric data were available in all study areas, whereas CHIRP sub-bottom profiles were acquired on the Ionian Calabrian margin (Zecchin et al, 2011), in the Sicilian Channel (Civile et al, 2015), and in the Adriatic shelf (Storms et al, 2008;Maselli et al, 2011) (Fig. 1).…”

“…MWPs were mostly recognized on the basis of coral reef data (e.g., Fairbanks, 1989;Peltier and Fairbanks, 2006;Deschamps et al, 2012); however the scarceness of such a bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea prevents a similar approach, forcing the adoption of a geomorphic criterion based on the study of submerged shorelines to recognize stepped relative sea-level changes (e.g., Zecchin et al, 2011;Civile et al, 2015). The methodology adopted in this study, therefore, consists in the comparison of geomorphological features recognized by means of geophysical data and interpreted as remnants of palaeoshorelines and coastal deposits, in order to define water depth intervals in which sea level temporarily stationed during the post-LGM relative sea-level rise.…”

“…CHIRP sub-bottom profiles document an irregular and locally stepped surface on the flanks of all banks present in the Adventure Plateau, particularly well visible at the Ante-Talbot and Pantelleria Vecchia banks (Civile et al, 2015) (Fig. 6).…”

“…Following Zecchin et al (2011), the stepped surface found at the Adventure Plateau was interpreted as a WRS developed after the LGM and reflecting a relative sea-level rise characterized by variable rate (Civile et al, 2015). The two steps at ca.…”

A submerged monolith in the Sicilian Channel (central Mediterranean Sea): Evidence for Mesolithic human activity

“…During the LGM, the Adventure Plateau was part of the former Sicily mainland, forming a peninsula (the Adventure Peninsula) bulging towards south into the Sicilian Channel, and separated from the North African coastline by less than 50 km. The gradual increase of the sea level caused the flooding of most of the peninsula, with the exception of some morphological highs that, until at least the Early Holocene, formed an archipelago of several islands separated by stretches of extremely shallow sea, as shown by the analysis of swath bathymetric mapping and high-resolution seismic profiles (Lodolo, 2012;Civile et al, 2015). Today, the Adventure Plateau is morphologically separated from Sicily by the Mazara del Vallo Channel (depth of about 120 m), and from Tunisia by the Pantelleria graben (depth of about 1300 m).…”