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The continental shelf morphology offshore of western Sicily suggests that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 20 ka cal BP), two of the Egadi Islands, Favignana and Levanzo, were connected to Sicily by a wide emerged plain, while Marettimo was only separated from the other islands by a narrow channel. We studied the relative sea-level variation from the LGM until today, focussing on two important time slices: the Mesolithic (9.5–13 ka cal BP) and the Neolithic (6.5–7.5 ka cal BP). In this research, we discuss a sea-level rise model by means of geomorphological, archaeological and geophysical observations and new radiocarbon dating of marine and terrestrial fossil fauna. The results enabled us to provide a detailed palaeogeographical reconstruction of the focal area from the LGM until they became isolated. The evidence that has emerged from this research, in particular the radiometric data, supports the hypothesis that seafaring in the western Mediterranean area may have started between the early Mesolithic and late Epigravettian (between 8.4 and 13.5 ka cal BP), although it probably became a well-established practice only during the Neolithic.

Following the pioneering work of Schmiedt et al. (1972) on establishing the level of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Antiquity, a number of studies have examined this evidence from Roman Period fish tanks but with significantly different outcomes due primarily to different interpretations of the functional level of these pools at the time of their construction. As part of a longer term project to understand the causes of sea-level change around the Italian coast, we have reexamined and resurveyed 12 well-documented fish tanks, all based on the same construction principles, from the Tyrrhenian coast (between Formia and Orbetello) for which it can be established that they were in open contact with the sea at the time of operation. The structural features that tidally control the exchange of water used to define the ancient local sea level are identified as the channel thresholds, the sluice gate and sliding post positions, and the lowest level crepido. These are consistent for all the tanks examined, permitting the local sea-level change over the past 2000 years to be established at each location with a precision of ± 20 cm and against which other coastal archaeological features can be calibrated. We conclude that published local sea levels that are based on the present-day elevations of the foundations of protective walls constructed around the tanks and lie ~ 50 cm above our inferred levels are inconsistent with the successful functioning of the water exchange and have to be rejected. In one case, for Santa Liberata, we have been able to calibrate our interpretation against sedimentary evidence from the nearby Orbetello Lagoon that confirm our interpretation of the functional control level of the tanks and we conclude that the accuracy of our local sea levels is also ± 20 cm. The causes of sea-level change along this section of the coast are several, including land motion driven by tectonic and glacio-isostatic processes and any change in ocean volume. The individual estimates for the observed local sea levels range from − 0.9 to − 1.5 m with a mean value of − 1.22 ± 0.20 m. These values show that the spatial variability of the local levels is small and consistent with model-inferences of the glacio-isostatic process that indicate near-constant contributions for this section of coast and with tectonic inference from the elevations of the Last Interglacial shoreline.

We present new data collected at the Fronte composite section near Taranto, where the Upper Pleistocene marine sedimentary succession is continuously exposed. Above a fossiliferous calcarenite yielding the "Senegalese" fauna, and abundant Cladocora, the Th-230/U age of which is consistent with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, a 6.25 m thick pelitic unit is characterized by lithologically homogeneous marine sediments in which stable oxygen isotope, micropaleontological and palynological analyses suggest a long and undisturbed sedimentary interval across the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5 peak (plateau). High sedimentation rates and a successful paleomagnetic pilot study indicate the probability of locating brief chronostratigraphic events useful for correlation with both continental and marine successions elsewhere. These results show the composite section to be a very promising candidate in the search for the Upper Pleistocene global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Calabria is one of the most complex geological regions of the Mediterranean basin, which experienced large earthquakes and uplift and is still undergoing active tectonics. Along its coasts are located archaeological sites that can be used as powerful indicators of the relative vertical movements between land and sea since their construction. This paper presents and discusses data on the relative sea-level change as estimated from maritime archaeological indicators of the last ~2.0 ka BP existing along the Tyrrhenian coast of Briatico. These sites still show the remnants of a Roman age fish tank and a submerged breakwater about 320 m long.The palaeo sea level has been obtained measuring the functional elevation of the significant archaeological markers. Their elevation was compared against the latest predicted sea level curve for the Holocene along the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria. As this coastal area is affected by significant and continuous vertical tectonic uplift during Pleistocene, the data show the counterbalance between coastal uplift and relative sea level change caused by the glacio-hydro-isostasy, acting since the construction of these archaeological sites. The sum of these movements determined an about null relative sea level change for this location. These data are in contrast with other part of the tectonically stable areas of the Mediterranean and provide evidence that crustal uplift continued in the last 1806 ± 50 y at a rate of 0.65 mm/y. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

In order to assess the effects of possible future sea-level rise in the Sele plain, the lowlands prone to inundation and the rate of coastal erosion in the years 2050 and 2100 have been discussed and some conclusions are here proposed. The sea level at these two dates was calculated as the combination of three components: response of Italian coastal zones to the past deglaciation, variations in ocean volume due to the global warming and vertical land movements. The morpho-stratigraphical data, chronologically supported by C-14 and by archeo-tephro-stratigraphical dating, have allowed the identification of paleo-sea levels of the upper Pleistocene and Holocene (Amato et al. 2011). Such paleo-sea levels compared with those of the tectonically stable areas (Lambeck et al. 2011), permitted the detection of the different vertical land movements in the study area. In particular, in the SE sector of the coastal plain, the Holocene paleo-sea levels are slightly higher (ca. 1-2 m). These values could be considered due to a gentle uplift of the area during Holocene times (0.22 mm/year). In the central sector of the plain, near the Sele river mouth and in the NW sector, between the Sele and Tusciano river mouths, the altitude of the Late Quaternary coastal and lagoonal deposits are slightly lower (ca. 2-3 m). These values could be related to a gentle subsidence of the area during the Holocene (0.4 mm/year). The sea level rise of 5.9 mm/year (IPCC 2007) and 14 mm/year (Rahmstorf 2007) was considered to represent the maximum trends in the ocean volume variation at global scale. The third component, the glacio-hydro-isostasy, was represented by the value of 0.44 mm/year identified by Lambeck et al. (2011) at the Sele plain. The sum of these three components allowed to identify three sea-level scenarios slightly different for the northern and the southern sector of Sele plain, with values ranging from 357 to 1,526 mm and from 307 to 1,424 mm, respectively. For each scenario a simple approach was used, mainly based on the topographic elevation analysis of study area, applied to identify the extension of possible areas of inundation. It corresponds to a minimum value of about 0.42 km(2) for the 2050 AD and a maximum value of 7.6 km(2) for the 2100. Furthermore, according to the methodology proposed by Davidson-Arnott (2005), also the beach erosion was evaluated. The computations showed a potential mean landward retreat of the shoreline ranging from 19 to 93 m.

This paper provides new relative sea level data inferred from coastal archaeological sites located along the Turkish coasts of the Gulf of Fethye (8 sites), and Israel, between Akziv and Caesarea (5 sites). The structures selected are those that, for effective functioning, can be accurately related to sea level at the time of their construction. Thus their positions with respect to present sea level provide a measure of the relative sea level change since their time of construction. Useful information was obtained from the investigated sites spanning an age range of ˜2.3–˜1.6 ka BP. The inferred changes in relative sea level for the two areas are distinctly different, from a rise of 2.41 to 4.50 m in Turkey and from 0 to 0.18 m in Israel. Sea level change is the combination of several processes, including vertical tectonics, glacio–hydro-isostatic signals associated with the last glacial cycle, and changes in ocean volume. For the Israel section, the present elevations of the MIS-5.5 Tyrrhenian terraces occur at a few meters above present sea level and vertical tectonic displacements are small. Data from GPS and tide gauge measurements also indicate that any recent vertical movements are small. The MIS-5.5 shorelines are absent from the investigated section of the Turkish coast, consistent with crustal subsidence associated with the Hellenic Arc. The isostatic signals for the Israel section of the coast are also small (ranging from −0.11 mm/yr to 0.14 mm/yr, depending on site and earth model) and the observed (eustatic) average sea level change, corrected for this contribution, is a rise of 13.5 ± 2.6 cm during the past ˜2 ka. This is attributed to the time-integrated contribution to sea level from a combination of thermal expansion and other increases in ocean volume. The observed sea levels from the Turkish sites, in contrast, indicate a much greater rise of up to 2.2 mm/yr since 2.3 ka BP occurring in a wide area between Knidos and Kekova. The isostatic signal here is also one of a rising sea level (of up to ˜1 mm/yr and site and earth-model dependent) and the corrected tectonic rate of land subsidence is ˜1.48 mm/yr. This is the primary cause of dramatic relative sea level rise for this part of the coast.

In 2005, the National Geological Survey of Italy released the new sheet, 557 Cagliari (1:50.000 scale). A coastal barrier marine formation at Is Arenas (Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy), containing Strombus bubonius, was reassigned a Holocene age, in contradiction with extensive literature published over the past century indicating an MIS 5.5 age. In 2007, spurred by this controversy, a short note was published in Il Quaternario demonstrating the stratigraphic difficulties in attributing the age of this formation to the Holocene. Later, another paper signed by numerous Italian geologists was published in Il Quaternario criticizing the Holocene attribution. The tectonic consequences of assigning a Holocene age to these deposits are of great significance, as their elevation could only be explained by strong uplift over the past few thousand years. Such a tectonic setting would imply a radical change in the recent geodynamic history of Sardinia, which is considered to be among the most stable areas of the Mediterranean basin. This paper provides further geochronological data for a MIS 5 age for the deposits at Is Arenas. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) analyses were performed on 4 fossil shells sampled along the fossil baymouth bar. The results established an MIS 5 age. The amino acid racemization (AAR) and U-series data that first determined a correlation with the last interglacial, Tyrrhenian age of this ancient shoreline is reviewed, with additional documentation provided by the fossil marker S. bubonius.

Published and new sea level data are used to provide projections of sea level change in Italy for the year 2100 by adding new isostatic and tectonic component to the IPCC and Rahmstorf projections. Comparison of the observations from more than 130 sites (with different geomorphological and archaeological sea level markers) with the predicted sea level curves provides estimates of the vertical tectonic contribution to the relative sea level change. The results are based on the most recent ANU model for the ice sheets of both hemispheres, including an alpine deglaciation model. On the basis of the eustatic, tectonic and isostatic components to the sea level change, projections are provided for marine inundation scenarios for the Italian coastal plains for the year 2100, that today are at elevations close to current sea level.

Olbia Gulf, located in northeastern Sardinia, is bordered by granite, metamorphic rock, and limestones (Capo Figari and Tavolara Island). It has been an important merchant harbour for three thousand years. Tidal notches in limestone, considered one of the best sea level markers, are present between 5.1 and 8.6 m a.s.l. A fossil beach deposit on Tavolara Island is of Tyrrhenian age (MIS 5.5, 125 ka). Between 1999 and 2001, during the building of a new Olbia harbour tunnel, many shipwrecks hidden under recent fine sediments have been discovered. The archaeological excavation (380 x 20 m, to the surface of the carbonate bedrock at 4 m depth) was done by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici per le provincie di Sassari e Nuoro (Olbia branch). During the archaeological excavation campaign, thousands of ceramics, other materials which were not in situ , and 24 shipwrecks of different age and size were recovered. Eleven of these wrecks were sunk while they were still in the harbour during an attack by the Vandals in the middle of the fifth century. This attack determined the beginning of a sharp decline of Olbia, and gives a clear picture of one of the turning points of the Mediterranean cultural evolution: the end of the Roman Empire. Considering −1.4 m as the average altitude of the shipwrecks on the silty bottom of the Olbia Harbour and comparing this value with the predicted sea level curve from the Lambeck model calculated for northern Sardinia (−1 m ca. 1500 cal BP), it appears clear that the ships were at the margin of the harbour in water depth of less than 0.5 m. This confirms: a) the previous archaeological interpretation; and b) that the northern Sardinian coast was stable during the last millennia. Due to the tectonic stability of the coastal area, the evolution of the shoreline from the Bronze age (4 ka cal BP) up to 21.5 ka cal BP (LGM, last glacial maximum) is reconstructed.

A continuously cored borehole was used to analyse Holocene relative sea-level changes in the Pescara coastal plain, located along the central Adriatic coast (Abruzzo, central Italy). The core was retrieved from the uppermost 19 m deposits, 600 m from the present-day shoreline. Sedimentological and palaeontological analyses identified a transition from fluvial strata to brackish-water, lagoon and foreshore deposits. Five biological sea-level markers were sampled and their ages, constrained by AMS 14 C dating, span between 2.39 and 7.68 ka cal BP. Heights (m above mean sea level) of the collected samples have been corrected, taking into consideration uncertainties of the vertical positioning with respect to palaeo-sea level. Vertical tectonic displacements have been evaluated through the comparison of relative sea-level data with the site-specific predicted Holocene sea-level curve. Correlations with available morphotectonic and stratigraphic data also were used. The results suggest negligible rates of vertical tectonic displacement during the Holocene, at least along a coastal strip of 40 km located between Pescara and Sangro river mouths (Abruzzo).

New data of sea level changes for the Mediterranean region along the coasts of northern Africa are presented. Data are inferred from archaeological sites of Punic-Roman age located along the coast of Tunisia, between Tunis and Jerba island and along the western coast of Libya, between Sabratha and Leptis Magna. Data are based on precise measures of presently submerged archaeological markers that are good indicators of past sea-level elevation. Nineteen selected archaeological sites were studied in Tunisia and four in Libya, all aged between ∼2.0 and ∼1.5 ka BP. The functional elevations of significant archaeological markers were measured with respect to the sea level at the time of measurements, applying corrections for tide and atmospheric pressure values. The functional elevations of specific architectural parts of the sites were interpreted, related to sea level at the time of their construction providing data on the relative changes between land and sea. Observations were compared against sea level change predictions derived from the glacio-hydro-isostatic model associated with the Last Glacial cycle. The results indicate that local relative sea level change along the coast of Tunisia and Libya, has increased 0.2 ÷ 0.5 m since the last ∼2 ka. Besides minor vertical tectonic movements of the land, the observed changes are produced by eustatic and glacio-hydro-isostatic variations acting in the Mediterranean basin since the end of the last glacial maximum.

Although the Calabria region in southern Italy experienced Quaternary uplift, intense Holocene subsidence is documented at ancient Sybaris, one of the most powerful among the Greek colonies collectively known as Magna Greacia . Sybaris flourished along the Ionian Sea coast of north-eastern Calabria since 2.7 ka BP and until the end of the Roman empire, when it went progressively concealed below the ground. Study of the Latest Pleistocene–Holocene evolution of this area involved analysis of the relative sea-level history for individual borehole logs, based on re-calibration of published ages and stipulation of nominal sea-level positions related to each marker. For investigation of the short-term evolution, a novel compilation of geological and archaeological sea-level markers was supported by new radiometric ages. Appraisal of the position of dated markers, when compared to a sea-level curve built on purpose for this coast using an updated glacio-hydro-isostatic model, indicates a locally intense difference in vertical motion between boreholes located away from, or close to, the ancient town. Specifically, whereas data from the basement of the archaeological layers document large subsidence, more distant sites behaved differently. A site ∼2 km to the NW of the settlement was apparently stable throughout the Holocene, and a site ∼6 km to the SE experienced uplift at ∼1.5 mm/y since 0.6 ka BP. In addition, analysis reveals temporal changes in subsidence pattern in the archaeological area. Large (5–6 mm/y) Early Holocene subsidence at Sybaris slowed to ∼1.5 mm/y during the middle part of the Holocene. The slowing-down trend continued during and after historical occupation at ∼0.8 mm/y, a value similar to the long-term (35–40 ka BP) rate established from the deepest borehole samples. These data are interpreted as suggesting that sediment compaction affected the basement of Sybaris during the Early Holocene, and progressively ceased during historical times, when a tectonic signal prevailed. During historical time, the spatial difference in vertical motion is chiefly attributed to differential growth of nearby folds documented by morpho-tectonic studies on-land and seismic profiles analysis in the offshore of Sybaris. Whereas location above a syncline caused tectonic subsidence at Sybaris, the regions to the north and south record stability or uplift that reflects transition to growing anticlines. In the short term (1–10 ka scale), these local tectonic processes prevail over the regional uplift pattern, which is expressed at the 100 ka scale or over.

Precise measurements of submerged archaeological markers in the Siracusa coast (Southeastern Sicily, Italy) provide new data on relative sea-level change during the late Holocene. Four submerged archaeological sites have been studied and investigated through direct observations. Two of them are Greek archaic in age (2.5–2.7 ka) and are now 0.98–1.48 m below sea level; the other two developed during the Bronze age (3.2–3.8 ka) and are now 1.03–1.97 m below sea level. These archaeological data have been integrated with information derived from a submerged speleothem collected in a cave located along the Siracusa coast at − 20 m depth. The positions of the archaeological markers have been measured with respect to present sea level, corrected for tide and pressure at the time of surveys. These data were compared with predicted sea-level rise curves for the Holocene using a glacio-hydro-isostatic model. The comparison with the curve for the southeastern Sicily coast yields a tectonic component of relative sea-level change related to regional uplift. Uplift rates between 0.3 and 0.8 mm/yr have been estimated.

Instrumental records indicate that ocean volumes during the 20th century have increased so as to raise eustatic sea level by f1–2 mm/year and the few available records suggest that this is higher than for the previous century. Geological data indicate that ocean volumes have increased since the main phase of deglaciation about 7000 years ago but whether this continued into the recent past remains unclear. Yet, this is important for establishing whether the recent rise is associated with global warming or is part of a longer duration non-anthropogenic signal. Here, we present results for sea-level change in the central Mediterranean basin for the Roman Period using new archaeological evidence. These data provide a precise measure of local sea level of 1.35F0.07 m at 2000 years ago. Part of this change is the result of ongoing glacio-hydro isostatic adjustment of the crust subsequent to the last deglaciation. When corrected for this, using geologically constrained model predictions, the change in eustatic sea level since the Roman Period is 0.13F0.09 m. A comparison with tide-gauge records from nearby locations and with geologically constrained model predictions of the glacio-isostatic contributions establishes that the onset of modern sea-level rise occurred in recent time at f100F53 years before present. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Several Quaternary sea-level changes are recorded by speleothems in the Argentarola Cave (Italy), which is currently flooded by the Mediterranean Sea. Speleothems with a sequence of continental layers and marine biogenic overgrowths (serpulid colonies), all presently covered by living serpulids, were sampled at water depths between −3.5 and −21.7 m. The composite sequence contains five marine and four continental layers, formed over the last 215 ka. The Mediterranean Sea flooded the cave during two short periods of MIS 7 (7.3 and 7.1), as well as during an episode at the end of MIS 6 and during MIS 5, when a thick biogenic overgrowth grew during MIS 5.2 and 5.4. Thin continental layers also formed during the LGM. This final speleothem layer was interrupted during the Holocene sea-level rise, but at different times in each speleothem. A Holocene sea-level curve has been constructed from this same layer. A thin marine layer, found only in the deeper stalagmites at −21.5 and −21.7 m, is tentatively related to the short marine transgression of Termination II, after 145 ka BP and before MIS 5.5. The island of Argentarola lies in a tectonically stable area and our data generally agree with the results obtained by other authors on speleothems from the Bahamas. The data presented here are compared with the SPECMAP curve and other recently published sea-level curves.

Sclerochronology was applied to recent, Holocene and Pleistocene samples of Cladocora caespitosa. Late Pliocene samples were recrystallised and thus unsuitable for sclerochronology. Quaternary samples showed a clear, alternating banding pattern as in the living coral, confirming a marked seasonality of past climate. The computed mean annual growth rates ranged from 2.1 to 6.9 mm year 1 , with highest growth rates during the warmer phase (isotope stage 5e) of the first climate cycle. It is hypothesised that the largest fossil banks of C. caespitosa grew in a coastal environment with considerable alluvial inputs and warmer temperatures than today. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The presence of Vermetid reefs in temperate waters, their diffusion in the Mediterranean Sea, and the possibility of performing 14 C ages allowed the use of Vermetids as an indicator of sea level changes. We present new data on sea climate trend fluctuations that could be interpreted as Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variations, recorded on Vermetid (Dendropoma petraeum) reefs, by means of isotopic analysis. The isotopic records show positive values of the d 18 O relative to present-day values in the period between 1600 and 1850 AD; this deviation occurs in association with the climatic cooling event known as Little Ice Age (LIA). Subsequently, we can observe the warming trend that characterized the last century. These preliminary results indicate that Vermetids could be considered a new SST proxy-data for the Mediterranean Sea and, more generally, for temperate areas. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The northeast coast of Sicily shows emergent marine features that have been uplifting during the Holocene along the footwalls of two major regional fault systems, the Malta Escarpment and Messina fault system. Previously, uplift rates were interpreted as up to about 1.8 mm/mm a−1. New dates on shelly remains, collected close to sea-level, from the Taormina area north of Mount Etna, and amended sea-level curves, are used to show that uplift over the past 6000 years has been proceeding at a slower rate of about 1.4 mm a−1. However, over a longer time period, from the Tyrrhenian Oxygen Isotope Stage 5.5 (about 125 ka) to the present day, the uplift rate has been yet slower, at about 1 mm a−1. Northeast Sicily lies in a complex plate boundary region whereas, in contrast, the rest of Sicily appears to have been stable throughout the later Quaternary. Further comparisons show that the French Mediterranean coast [Lambeck, Bard (2000) Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 175, 202–222] is a region of crustal stability, where movement is dominated by subsidence of the outer portion of the proglacial forebulge of the last glaciation. There the coastline has been progressively submerged during the Holocene, and sea level has never been higher than at present. Northeastern Sicily uplift is therefore more likely controlled by plate processes that mask most of the effects of glacio-hydro-isostatic adjustment.

The opening of the north-central Tyrrhenian Sea is the result of the Cretaceous- Paleogene alpine collision, which triggered a series of regional uplift, subsidence and transcurrent tectonic mechanisms along the coastal Tyrrhenian sectors of peninsular Italy. These tectonic pro- cesses, in conjunction with the effects of glacio- and hydro-isostasy during the Quaternary, produced substantial crustal responses that, in some cases, reached metres in extent. In the study of coastal neotectonics, geomorphological markers of the last interglacial maximum, corresponding to marine isotope stage 5.5, are generally used to quantify the magnitude of the vertical crustal displacements that have occurred since 125 kyr. Through altimetrical, palaeoenvironmental and chronological reinterpretation of the most significant works published since 1913, combined with an additional set of data reported here, a detailed reconstruction of the shoreline displacements evident along 500 km of coast between northern Tuscany and southern Latium is presented. The reconstruction was carried out by quantifying the vertical movement since the last interglacial period and by identifying the tectonic behaviour of different coastal sectors. This has been done by carefully choosing the eustatic marker, among those available at each study site, in order to minimize the margin of error associated with the measurements. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The emerged and submerged coastal tracts of selected areas in NW Sicily (San Vito Lo Capo Promontory and Marettimo Island in the Egadi Archipelago) have been studied by means of an interdisciplinary approach (geomorphological and neotectonic surveys, palaeontological, depositional and petrographical observations) with the aim to characterize the coastal evolution of the sector over a wide time frame (Late Pleistocene and Holocene) and to recognize the geological indicators of relative sea-level fluctuations. Neotectonic studies performed all along the coastal sector through the check of the present-day height of marine notches and of the inner margin of marine terraces of Eutyrrhenian age allowed to assess the entity of post-Tyrrhenian differential crustal movements in the area. The calculated rates of uplift confirm the relative stability of the area in the last 125 ka and that the relative corrections introduced can be considered negligible in the reconstruction of sea-level rise in the last thousand years. On the base of these considerations, the sea-level rise curve which has been drawn for the Holocene through the radiometric dating (14C and U/Th) of submerged speleothems and Vermetid reefs is assumed to gain a regional significance and to represent a good reference datum for the Central–Southern Mediterranean Sea. In addition, the sea-level rise data are in good agreement with the predicted sea-level curves based on geophysical models previously applied to the same study areas.

A new oxygen isotope record is reported from a stalagmite collected in the Argentarola Cave located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. As shown from observations and numerical modeling of N 18 O in modern precipitation, the recorded N 18 O variability for this zone is dominated by the amount of precipitation (so-called ‘amount effect’). The N 18 O profile measured in the stalagmite is characterized by a prominent negative excursion (ca. 2^3x) between 180 and 170 kyr BP. This paleoclimatic feature is interpreted as being due to a relatively wet period which occurred during the penultimate glacial period, more precisely, during Marine Isotope Stage 6.5. This pluvial phase is shown to correspond chronologically to the deposition of the sapropel event 6 (S6). Although this particular sapropel event occurred during a cold phase, the N 18 O excursion is similar to those corresponding to other sapropels (S4, S3 and S2). The evidence for humid conditions during S6 in the western Mediterranean basin agrees with previous studies based on deep-sea sediment cores. Taken collectively, the data suggest that during sapropel events dilution of ocean surface waters was not restricted to the output of the river Nile but was rather widespread over the entire Mediterranean Sea due to increased rainfall. < 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Accurate constraints are presented for the absolute age, duration and sea-level for the highstand corresponding to marine isotope stage (MIS) 7.1. Our work is based on a stalagmite collected in a currently submerged cave from Italy (Argentarola Cave). Flooding of this coastal cave is clearly marked within the stalagmite by a thick marine overgrowth of serpulid worms. Precise uranium^thorium (U^Th) ages measured by thermal ionization mass spectrometry suggest that the stalagmite growth varied in phase with climate during MIS 7.2 and MIS 6, the penultimate glacial period. In addition, the period of marine transgression is bracketed between 202 and 190 kyr BP, defining a MIS 7.1 duration of 11 ˛ 2 kyr. Comparison with previous studies provides a new constraint on the sea-level during MIS 7.1 that has approximately remained between 318 and 39 m relative to present sea-level. The timing of the MIS 7.1 highstand is in full agreement with the SPECMAP chronology which contrasts with the growing body of evidence showing a significant phase difference for MIS 5.5. A tempting conclusion is that second order sea-level highstands such as MIS 7.1 may be purely driven by astronomical changes, in contrast with major terminations such as Termination II. Atmospheric CO2 levels may partly explain this contrast since the two sea-level transitions, (MIS 7.2^7.1 and MIS 6^5.5) are characterized by very different CO2 rises (20 vs 100 ppm). fl 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.