Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evidence of repeated late Holocene rapid subsidence in the SE Cyclades (Greece) deduced from submerged notches

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An underwater geomorphological survey along the coasts of six Cycladic islands (Sifnos, Antiparos, Paros, Naxos, Iraklia and Keros) revealed widespread evidence of seven submerged tidal notches. At least seven former shorelines were identified at depths between 280 ± 20 and 30 ± 5 cm below modern sea level. The vertical succession of several submerged notches suggests the occurrence of rapid subsidence events, potentially of seismic origin. Comparison with other sea-level indicators from Naxos and Delos islands indicates that these relative sea-level changes took place after 3300 BP and provides a rough estimate of the time of development of several submerged shorelines. The submergence of the uppermost notch at −30 ± 5 cm is ascribed to effects of the recent global sea-level rise occurred during the last two centuries and, at least in part, to effects of recent earthquakes. Potential effects of the 1956 Amorgos earthquake with regard to coseismic and post-seismic vertical displacement have been recently investigated using a modellistic approach. According to the above, the lower shorelines should result from repetitive subsidence events and not from gradual subsidence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexandersson T (1972) Mediterranean cementation: marine precipitation of Mg calcite. In: Stanley DJ (ed) The Mediterranean Sea: a natural sedimentation laboratory. Pennsylvania, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, pp 203–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Armijo R, Flerit F, King G, Meyer B (2003) Linear elastic fracture mechanics explains the past and present evolution of the Aegean. Earth Planet Sci Lett 217:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Beuzart P (1972) La Sismicite de la Region Mediterraneenne et de ses Bordures. Diplome d’Ingenieur Geophysicien, Universite de Strasbourg, 77 pp

  • Cosmopoulos MB (1998) Reconstructing Cycladic prehistory: Naxos in the early and middle late bronze age. Oxf J Archaeol 17(2):127–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalongeville R, Desruelles S, Fouache E, Hasenohr C, Pavlopoulos K (2007) Hausse relative du niveau marin à Délos (Cyclades, Grèce): rythme et effets sur les paysages littoraux de la ville hellénistique. Méditerr 108:17–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desruelles S, Fouache E, Ciner A, Dalongeville R, Pavlopoulos K, Kosun E, Coquinot Y, Potdevin J-L (2009) Beachrocks and sea level changes since Middle Holocene: comparison between the insular group of Mykonos–Delos–Rhenia (Cyclades, Greece) and the southern coast of Turkey. Glob Planet Chang 66(1–2):19–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evelpidou N, Pavlopoulos K, Vassilopoulos A, Triantaphyllou M, Vouvalidis K, Syrides G (2010) Paleogeographical record in western Naxos (Greece) and sea level changes in the Upper Holocene. Geodyn Acta 34(5–6):233–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evelpidou N, Pirazzoli PA, Saliège JF, Vassilopoulos A (2011) Submerged notches as evidence for Holocene subsidence of the northern Corinth Gulf (Greece). Cont Shelf Res 31:1273–1281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evelpidou N, Melini D, Pirazzoli P, Vassilopoulos A (2012a) Evidence of a recent rapid subsidence in the S-E Cyclades (Greece): an effect of the 1956 Amorgos earthquake? Cont Shelf Res. doi:10.1016/j.csr.2012.03.011

    Google Scholar 

  • Evelpidou N, Pavlopoulos K, Vassilopoulos A, Triantafyllou M, Vouvalidis K, Syrides G (2012b) Holocene palaeogeographical reconstruction of the western part of Naxos Island (Greece). Quat Int 266:81–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbridge RW (1952) Marine erosion. In: Proceedings of 7th Pacific Science Congress 3: 347–359

  • Flemming NC, Webb CO (1986) Tectonic and eustatic coastal changes during the last 10,000 years derived from archaeological data. Z Geomorphol NF Suppl 62:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Furlani S, Cucchi F, Forti F, Rossi A (2009) Comparison between coastal and inland Karst limestone lowering rates in the northeastern Adriatic Region (Italy and Croatia). Geomorph 104:73–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaki-Papanastassiou K, Evelpidou N, Maroukian H, Vassilopoulos A (2010) Palaeogeographic evolution of the Cyclades islands (Greece) during the Holocene. In: Green DR (ed) Coastal and marine geospatial technologies. Springer, Netherlands, pp 297–304

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gautier P, Brun JP, Moriceau R, Sokoutis D, Martinod J, Jolivet L (1999) Timing, kinematics and cause of Aegean extension: a scenario based on a comparison with simple analogue experiments. Tectonophysics 315:31–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkin EP (1964) Rate of erosion of intertidal limestone. Z Geomorphol 8:385–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Kontoleon NM (1958) Excavations of Naxos. Prakt, pp 228–229 (in Greek)

  • Kontoleon NM (1967) Excavation of Naxos. Prakt, pp 112–123 (in Greek)

  • Laborel J, Laborel-Deguen F (2005) Sea-level indicators, biologic. In: Schwartz ML (ed) Encyclopedia of coastal science. Springer, Netherlands, pp 833–834

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambeck K (1995) Late-Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change in Greece and south-western Turkey: a separation of eustatic, isostatic and tectonic contributions. Geophys J Int 122:1022–1044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Pichon X, Angelier J (1979) The Hellenic arc and trench system: a key to the neotectonic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean area. Tectonophysics 60:1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Pichon X, Chamot-Rooke N, Lallemant S, Noomen R, Veis G (1995) Geodetic determination of the kinematics of central Greece with respect to Europe: implications for eastern Mediterranean tectonics. J Geophys Res 100:612675–612690

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykousis V (2009) Sea-level changes and shelf break prograding sequences during the last 400 ka in the Aegean margins: subsidence rates and paleogeographic implications. Cont Shelf Res 29:2037–2044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie D (1978) Active tectonics of the Alpine–Himalayan belt: the Aegean Sea and surroundings regions. Geophys J R Astron Soc 55:217–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercier J-L, Sorel D, Vergely P, Simeakis K (1989) Extensional tectonic regimes in the Aegean basins during the Cenozoic. Basin Res 2:49–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morhange C, Pirazzoli PA, Marriner N, Montaggioni LF, Nammour T (2006) Late Holocene relative sea-level changes in Lebanon, Eastern Mediterranean. Mar Geol 230:99–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okal E, Synolakis C, Uslu B, Kalligeris N, Voukouvalas E (2009) The 1956 earthquake and tsunami in Amorgos, Greece. Geophys J Int 178:1533–1554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papanikolaou D (1987) Tectonic evolution of the Cycladic blueschist belt (Aegean Sea, Greece). In: Helgeson HC (ed) Chemical transport in metasomatic processes. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 429–450

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Papanikolaou DJ, Sabot V, Papadopoulos T (1981) Morphotectonics and seismicity in the Cyclades, Aegean Sea. Z Geomorph NF 40:165–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Papazachos BC (1990) Seismicity of the Aegean and surrounding area. Tectonophysics 178:287–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papazachos V, Papazachou K (2003) Greek earthquakes, 3rd edn. Ziti, Thessaloniki

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlidis S, Caputo R (2004) Magnitude versus faults’ surface parameters: quantitative relationships from the Aegean Region. Tectonophysics 380:159–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterek A, Schwarze J (2004) Architecture and Late Pliocene to recent evolution of outer-arc basins of the Hellenic subduction zone (south-central Crete, Greece). J Geodyn 38:19–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli PA (1980) Formes de corrosion marine et vestiges archéologiques submerges: interpretations néotectonique de quelques exemples en Grèce et en Yougoslavie. Ann Inst Océanogr 56(S):101–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli PA (1986) Marine notches. In: van de Plassche O (ed) Sea-level research: a manual for the collection and evaluation of data. Geo Books, Norwich, pp 361–400

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli PA (2005) Marine erosion features and bioconstructions as indicators of tectonic movements, with special attention to the eastern Mediterranean area. Z Geomorphol Suppl 137:71–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli P, Evelpidou N (2013) Tidal notches: a sea-level indicator of uncertain archival trustworthiness. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 369:377–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli PA, Laborel J, Saliège JF, Erol O, Kayan I, Person A (1991) Holocene raised shorelines on the Hatay coasts (Turkey): palaeoecological and tectonic implications. Mar Geol 96:295–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiros SC, Marangou L, Arnold M (1994) Quaternary uplift and tilting of Amorgos Island (southern Aegean) and the 1956 earthquake. Earth Planet Sci Lett 128:65–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiros SC, Laborel J, Laborel-Deguen F, Papageorgiou S, Evin J, Pirazzoli PA (2000) Seismic coastal uplift in a region of subsidence: Holocene raised shorelines os Samos Island, Aegean Sea, Greece. Mar Geol 170:41–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiros SC, Pirazzoli PA, Fontugne M (2009) New evidence of Holocene coastal uplift in the Strophades Islets (W Hellenic Arc, Greece). Mar Geol 267(3–4):207–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tirel C, Gueydan F, Tiberi C, Brun JP (2004) Aegean crustal thickness inferred from gravity inversion. Geodynamical implications. Earth Planet Sci Lett 228:267–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torunski H (1979) Biological erosion and its significance for the morphogenesis of limestone coasts and for nearshore sedimentation (Northern Adriatic). Senckenbergiana Maritima 11:193–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidale JE, Houston H (2012) Slow slip: a new kind of earthquake. Phys Today 65(1):38–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vlachopoulos A (2006) The LH IIIC period in Naxos. Vol. A, Archaiognosia, 4, Athens (in Greek)

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Municipalities of Paros, Naxos and Koufonissia for the facilities granted to our underwater survey and Dr. Stathis Stiros (University of Patras) Dr. Giorgio Spada (University of Urbino) and Dr. Stephano Furlani (University of Trieste) for useful suggestions. Field work has been supported in part by COST Action ES 0701 “Improved constraints on models of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment”. Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers whose comments helped authors to upgrade the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15784, Athens, Greece

    N. Evelpidou

  2. INGV, Sezione di Sismologia e Tettonofisica (Roma I), Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143, Rome, Italy

    D. Melini

  3. CNRS-Laboratoire de Géographie Physique, 1 Place Aristide Briand, 92195, Meudon Cedex, France

    P. A. Pirazzoli

  4. GeoEnvironmental Institute, Naxou 2-4, Doukissis Plakentias, Chalandri, 15238, Athens, Greece

    A. Vassilopoulos

Authors
  1. N. Evelpidou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Melini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. P. A. Pirazzoli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Vassilopoulos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. Evelpidou.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Evelpidou, N., Melini, D., Pirazzoli, P.A. et al. Evidence of repeated late Holocene rapid subsidence in the SE Cyclades (Greece) deduced from submerged notches. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 103, 381–395 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-013-0942-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-013-0942-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation