0000000000087856
AUTHOR
Kalliopi Baika
Impact of Holocene tsunamis detected in lagoonal environments on Corfu (Ionian Islands, Greece): Geomorphological, sedimentary and microfaunal evidence
Abstract In this paper, we present for the first time geomorphological, sedimentary and microfaunal evidence of palaeotsunami impact on Corfu (Ionian Islands, Greece). The island of Corfu is located in an area of exceptional tectonic stress: towards the south, the African oceanic plate is being subducted underneath the Aegean plate, whereas towards the north, the Adriatic and European plates form a continental collision zone. Recent publications provide evidence of earthquake related co-seismic movements that potentially trigger extreme wave events as well as relative sea level fluctuations. In this context, we investigated two selected near-coast geological archives – the Chalikiopoulou La…
Mid-Holocene tectonic geomorphology of northern Crete deduced from a coastal sedimentary archive near Rethymnon and a Late Bronze Age Santorini tsunamite candidate
Abstract The Late Bronze Age (LBA) tsunami and the A.D. 365 tsunami are supposed to have affected the northern coasts of Crete. However, near-coast sedimentary archives have been rarely investigated in this area, and sedimentary archives including palaeotsunami fingerprints are still unknown. The main objective of our research was to search for appropriate tsunami sediment traps in order to gain detailed insights into the Holocene palaeotsunami history of northern Crete. We found an excellent fine sediment archive near Pirgos, located to the west of Rethymnon. Based on a multi-electrode geoelectrical survey and an 11-m-deep sediment core, we analysed the event-geochronostratigraphical recor…
Geoarchaeological investigations of a prominent quay wall in ancient Corcyra: Implications for harbour development, palaeoenvironmental changes and tectonic geomorphology of Corfu Island (Ionian Islands, Greece)
Abstract In antiquity, the harbour-city of Corcyra (modern: Corfu) was a prevailing naval power in the Mediterranean and had several harbours to host a considerable fleet. Today, these harbours are totally or partly silted and concealed under modern urban infrastructure. Comprehensive geoarchaeological studies were conducted on the northeastern fringe of the Analipsis Peninsula where excavations have revealed the archaeological remains of a massive quay wall (Pierri and Arion sites). These remains are located east of known ancient harbour structures that belong to the Alkinoos Harbour. Our study aimed to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental setting of the harbour facilities at the Pierri sit…
Combined Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Direct-Push Electrical Conductivity (DP-EC) Logging and Coring - A New Methodological Approach in Geoarchaeological Research
Non-invasive geophysical methods have been increasingly applied in geoarchaeological research commonly showing the need of data calibration based on stratigraphical information deduced from outcrops or sediment cores. In this contribution, a methodological approach combining two-dimensional (2D) electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and stratigraphical data based on coring and, for the first time in geoarchaeological research, direct-push electrical conductivity (DP-EC) logging is presented and discussed. The approach yields high resolution data based on studies of two different types of archives, the Holsterburg site in central Germany located in a fluvio-terrestrial zone and the Corfu C…
The sedimentary and geomorphological imprint of the AD 365 tsunami on the coasts of southwestern Crete (Greece): Examples from Sougia and Palaiochora
Abstract The southwestern coast of Crete, one of the most seismically active regions in Europe, experienced co-seismic crust uplift by 9 m during the Ms = 8.3 mega-earthquake that struck the eastern Mediterranean world on 21 July AD 365. An associated tsunami event caused thousands of fatalities and destroyed many coastal settlements and infrastructure between the Levante in the east and the Adriatic Sea in the northwest. So far, coastal sedimentary archives in southwestern Crete including distinct palaeotsunami fingerprints are rarely investigated. Therefore, a multi-proxy study including sedimentological, geochemical, geochronological, and microfaunal methods was conducted in order to det…
Tracing the Alkinoos Harbor of ancient Kerkyra, Greece, and reconstructing its paleotsunami history
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