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To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12, 649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea ; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel ; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).

International audience; Akrotiri Salt Lake is located 5 km west of the city of Lemesos in the southernmost part of the island of Cyprus. The evolution of the Akrotiri Salt Lake is of great scientific interest, occurring during the Holocene when eustatic and isostatic movements combined with local active tectonics and climate change developed a unique geomorphological environment. The Salt Lake today is a closed lagoon, which is depicted in Venetian maps as being connected to the sea, provides evidence of the geological setting and landscape evolution of the area. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the development of the Akrotiri Salt Lake through a series of three cores which penetrated the Holocene sediment sequence. Sedimentological and micropaleontological analyses, as well as geochronological studies were performed on the deposited sediments, identifying the complexity of the evolution of the Salt Lake and the progressive change of the area from a maritime space to an open bay and finally to a closed salt lake.

Summary This study aims to investigate the presence of Cretaceous carbonate platform facies on the island of Kephalonia, which was previously thought to belong entirely to Pre-Apulian slope domains. Such presence may have a deep impact on the regional oil and gas exploration, since Mediterranean Cretaceous reefs have often proved to be excellent reservoir units (e.g., Zohr Field). Micropalaeontologic, sedimentologic, microfacies and geochemical indicators all show that, on the westernmost part of the island, Campanian-age inner platform to platform margin facies are present (Area 1 or “Argostoli platform”), with a shift to progressively more distal time-equivalent Pre-Apulian units eastwards (Areas 2–4). The Argostoli Platform, in western Kephalonia, is characterized by clear evidence of inner platform to platform margin facies, including possible peritidal cycles and redded palaeosol layers intercalated with thick-massive limestone beds, with above-background concentration of Fe2O3, Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2. In this area, microfacies are attributable to inner platform to platform edge, including wackestones/floatstones (FZ7, SMF9), grainstones- grapestones (FZ7, SMF 16, 17), oolitic rudstones/grainstones (FZ6, SMF15) and boundstones (FZ5, SMF7), with bryozoans, mollusks and miliolidae. The Argostoli Platform may represent the easternmost edge of the Apulian Platform and may belong to the Apulian Domain rather than to transitional Pre-Apulian units.

International audience; Thorough faunal (benthic foraminifera, ostracods, molluscs) and palynomorph analyses as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements performed on the Piraeus coastal plain sedimentary sequences have shed light on the paleoenvironmental evolution of the area since ca. 9000 cal BP. Benthic and palynomorph assemblages along with magnetic susceptibility suggest a typical lagoonal environment with significant freshwater inputs at the eastern part of the plain after 8700 cal BP. Between 7500 and 5400 cal BP, microfaunal assemblages, mollusc fauna and magnetic susceptibility suggest a shallow marine paleoenvironment, with Piraeus forming a tied island in the center of the bay. Since ca. 4800 cal BP a closed oligohaline lagoon is evidenced in the western part of the Piraeus plain further developed to a marsh after 2800 cal BP, while a coastal environment associated with the fluvio-deltaic system of Kifissos and Korydallos Rivers is continually developing to the west. Signs of cultivation and grazing activities in the area are evidenced since the Early Bronze Age, culminating during the Classical Period. A comparison with a well-dated marine record, recovered from the nearby shallow Elefsis Bay, provides a reasonable estimation of ~5 mm/yr for the absolute sea level rise rate in the inner Saronikos Gulf during the Mid-Holocene.

A 3 m thick carbonate sequence from northern Chios Island is assigned here to the latest Capitanian/earliest Wuchiapingian transitional interval. It is characterized by abundant gymnocodiacean algae, associated with some miliolate, nankinellin and nodosariate foraminifers. These strata display bioaccumulated perireefal microfacies with richthofeniid brachiopods and inozoa calcisponges. They are biostratigraphically characterized by a foraminifera assemblage composed of Reichelina cf. simplex, Dunbarula? sp., Altineria alpinotaurica together with the genera Labioglobivalvulina, Frondina and Robuloides. Other perireefal microfacies show abundant fragments of a new tubiphytid species, Tubiphytella guevenci Vachard nov. gen. nov. sp. Based on this study, the paleogeographical distribution of Altineria alpinotaurica now includes Chios, in addition to the Taurus and the NW and central Iran, whereas primitive forms of the genus are also known in Tunisia and Armenia. This paleobiogeographic distribution would suggest that all these regions still belonged to the Perigondwana margin in the early Wuchiapingian times. Consequently, it is likely that the opening of the Neotethys ocean did not begin prior to the late Wuchiapingian-early Changshingian transitional interval.

Coastal landscapes are sensitive to changes due to the interplay between surface and submarine geological processes, climate variability, and relative sea level fluctuations. The sedimentary archives of such marginal areas record in detail the complex evolution of the paleoenvironment and the diachronic biota response. The Elefsis Bay is nowadays a landlocked shallow marine basin with restricted communication to the open Saronikos Gulf. A multi-proxy investigation of a high-resolution sediment core recovered from the deepest part of the basin offered a unique opportunity to record the paleoenvironmental and aquatic ecosystem response to climate and glacioeustatic sea level changes since the Late Glacial marine transgression. The retrieved sedimentary deposits, subjected to thorough palynological (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, dinoflagellates), micropaleontological (benthic foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton, ostracods), and mollusc analyses, indicates isolation of the Elefsis Bay from the Saronikos Gulf and the occurrence of a shallow freshwater paleolake since at least 13,500 cal BP, while after 11,350 cal BP the transition towards lagoon conditions is evidenced. The marine transgression in the Elefsis Bay is dated at 7500 cal BP, marking the establishment of the modern marine realm.

Glacial activity affects landscape evolution in some parts of mountainous Greece. This paper deals with the southern part of Mount Olympus where the geomorphological impacts of Pleistocene glaciations are well presented. It is a preliminary study to demonstrate the landscape that has evolved as a result of glacial activity in these uplands. For this purpose, detailed field work and large-scale geomorphological mapping were performed. A 25-m sediment core was retrieved from the study area on which preliminary lithological and micropalaeontological–palaeobotanical analyses were performed. The intense glacial activity of the southern Mount Olympus area produced a number of landscape changes. Three cirques were identified in the uplands whose evolution has led to the formation of various types of moraines (ground, lateral, medial and terminal) down to an altitude of 1677 m. Intense glacio-fluvial activity caused a major reconfiguration of the drainage network in this area and also caused the formation of a lake. The occurrence of a water body in the area is documented by the presence of aquatic vegetation in parts of a 25-m core retrieved from this former lake basin. In recent times, the lake overtopped the fluvial deposits that bounded it, incising them and leading to the emptying of the lake.

The South Evoikos Basin is a marginal basin in the Aegean Sea which receives little terrigenous supply and its sedimentation is dominated by hemipelagic processes. Late Quaternary benthic and planktonic foraminifera from core PAG-155 are investigated in order to understand their response to the glacial-interglacial cycles in this region. The quantitative analysis of planktonic foraminifera, coupled with accelerator mass spectrometry (14C-AMS) radiocarbon date measurements, provide an integrated chrono-stratigraphic time framework over the last 90 ka (time interval between late Marine Isotopic Stages 5 and 1; MIS5-MIS1). The temporary appearance and disappearance as well as several abundance peaks in the quantitative distribution of selected climate-sensitive planktonic species allowed the identification of several eco-bioevents, useful to accurately mark the boundaries of the eco-biozones widely recognized in the Mediterranean records and used for large-scale correlations. The established bio-ecozonation scheme allows a detailed palaecological reconstruction for the late Pleistocene archive in the central Aegean, and furthermore provides a notable contribution for palaeoclimatic studies, facilitating intercorrelations between various oceanographic basins. The quantitative analyses of benthic foraminifera identify four distinct assemblages, namely Biofacies: Elphidium spp., Haynesina spp. Biofacies, characterized by neritic species, dominated during the transition from MIS 5 to MIS 4; Cassidulina laevigata/carinata Biofacies dominated till 42 ka (transgressive trend from MIS 4 to MIS 3); Bulimina gibba Biofacies dominated from 42 ka to 9.5 ka (extensive regression MIS 3,2 through lowstand and early transgression; beginning of MIS 1); Bulimina marginata, Uvigerina spp. Biofacies dominated from 9.5 ka to the present (late transgression through early highstand; MIS 1)., This study showed that the South Evoikos Basin which is characterized by its critical depths and connections to the open sea, and its small volume water masses that nourished foraminiferal assemblages, accurately records 5th−4th order sea level and climatic fluctuations. Especially, the basin's limited communication with the open ocean implies that any climatic signals will be recorded in an amplified fashion, and therefore this heightened sensitivity to the effects of climate variability further underlies the prominent role of such marginal basins in the understanding of the global climatic evolution.

International audience; In the eastern Mediterranean, the island of Crete offers excellent exposures of upper Miocene marine deposits. Three detailed sections of the Tortonian/Messinian sedimentary succession were measured and sampled in three different basins (from west to east: Chania, Heraklion, and Sitia). The biostratigraphic analysis based on planktonic foraminifera yielded ages ranging from about 7.58 to 6.72 Ma. Nine bioevents were also recognised and provided good correlations between the studied sections. Rich benthic faunas (commonly occurring together with fish otoliths) have furthermore been recovered and analysed: foraminifera, mollusc (mostly bivalves), bryozoans, and ostracods. The autochthonous assemblages suggest deposition at middle-upper bathyal depths at the base and outer-inner shelf in the upper parts of the sections. The shallowing upward trend observed in all three sections is accompanied by the occurrence in a few Messinian levels of allochthonous fossils transported downslope and deposited in deep-water environments. Dysoxic episodes were moreover recorded in some beds, mostly in the Messinian. A comparison with other coeval basins and faunas indicates that similar palaeoenvironmental conditions predominated throughout the Mediterranean Sea during the late Miocene. This is consistent with the postulate of open connections (through marine corridors) between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, presumably until late in the Messinian.

Summarization: In the present study, we investigate the Mediterranean–Paratethys connection during the late Miocene in Strymon Basin (North Aegean, northeastern Mediterranean) and compare this onshore sequence with the adjacent offshore Prinos-Nestos sequence, before, during, and after the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Strymon Basin was a peripheral shallow-water basin during the first MSC stage. The Akropotamos sections expose a clastic sequence with gypsum intercalations, which is dated in the Messinian based on the ostracod and calcareous nannofossil assemblages. This sequence records the Primary Lower Gypsum deposition in a shallow marine environment and its passage via the Messinian erosional surface to a brackish environment with changing salinity conditions similar to the Paratethyan depositional environments. The sequence is capped by a travertine marker horizon observed across the entire Strymon Basin indicating freshwater environment. The Miocene–Pliocene transition is characterized by salinity changes caused by the interaction between Atlantic-Mediterranean and Paratethyan waters, predating the marine reflooding at the end of the MSC, which is attested by the overlying Pliocene open marine deposits. The offshore Prinos-Nestos basin incorporates the Nestos intermediate basin and the Prinos intermediate-deep basin. Borehole and seismic profile data from the offshore Prinos-Nestos oil field reflect a thick clastic sequence, topped by turbidites, and followed by an evaporitic unit deposited during the Messinian. In the Nestos slope area, the evaporite unit consists of anhydrite-shale alternations. Toward the basin's depocenter (Prinos Basin), anhydrite is replaced by halite. The sequence is overlain by Pliocene–Holocene deltaic prograding deposits. Sedimentologic and biostratigraphic data show that the thick halite-shale couplets in the deepest part of the offshore Prinos-Nestos Basin were deposited under permanent marine conditions, suggesting no desiccation before, during, and after the MSC. Conclusively, the present results indicate that a connection between the Mediterranean and the Paratethys was occasionally established before the Pliocene reflooding and favor the non-desiccation MSC model for the deep marine evaporite deposition. Presented on: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Dispilio is a lakeside settlement by the Orestias Lake, Kastoria, northern Greece. The site was inhabited from the Middle Neolithic to the Chalcolithic, with some surface evidence of Bronze Age occupation. Microfacies analysis of the sediments, supported by a suite of environmental indices, has provided detailed paleoenvironmental data and elucidated the main processes involved in the formation of the site and its history of occupation. The settlement was established on the lakeshore, on a shallow sand ridge and a shore marsh. Initially, houses were built on raised platforms above the water. After a major conflagration, a range of depositional microenvironments were established that caused local changes in the sedimentation rate. Therefore, some areas quickly emerged and became dry land, while some others continued to be flooded as part of the transitional supra-littoral environment. On the dry land, houses were built directly on the ground, whereas in the transitional areas houses continued to be built on raised platforms. Thus, gradually, a mound was formed and further shaped by subsequent lake-level fluctuations. One of the lake-level rises is tentatively related to the abandonment of the mound in the Chalcolithic and the development of a hardpan on its surface. There is also evidence of later occupation during the Bronze Age in the form of a few, mostly surface, archaeological remains. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The coastal area of the Vravron Bay, in the vicinity of the homonym archaeological site, is a marshy plain located on the eastern part of the Attica Peninsula (eastern Greece). In order to provide evidence for palaeoenvironmental changes and landscape evolution of the area, detailed micropaleontological, palynological and sedimentological analyses have been conducted at the underlying Late Holocene coastal deposits. The recovered sediments (lithostratigraphic Units A–D) represent a continuous record of the environmental history of the area since the Early Bronze Age, covering all subsequent historical periods. The base of the recovered deposits is older than the 3rd millennium BC. Until late medieval times, the studied sequence contains plenty evidence for the existence of the natural port reported from the Mycenaean (lithostratigraphic Unit A), that infilled after repeated flooding events during the Classic period (lithostratigraphic Unit B) and gradually developed into a shallower marine environment (lithostratigraphic Unit C). In the uppermost part of the sequence (lithostratigraphic unit D), a transition towards brackish environment with intense fresh water input is featured around 1540 AD. Signs of human agricultural activities in Vravron appear since 3000 BC (Early Bronze Age) and are linked to the history of inhabitation in the area.

Palamari Bay is located on the northeastern coast of Skyros Island (Sporades Islands, Aegean Sea). At the northern edge of the bay a fortified prehistoric settlement is found, dated between 2800 and 1700 BC (Early Bronze Age II–Middle Bronze Age I). Detailed geomorphological mapping of the coastal alluvial plain and paleontological, micropaleontological, palynological, sedimentological and micromorphological studies of the Holocene coastal deposits have been conducted in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and the landscape evolution of the broader area of Palamari Bay. Three main sedimentary units were recognized (A, B and C, from oldest to youngest). The lowermost sedimentary unit A, deposited between before 7500 and 3500 cal BP, consists of sediment deposited from high to moderate energy fresh water flows with some suspended load fallout in established water bodies. The microfauna indicates a shallow fresh water environment. However, a tendency to oligohaline conditions was established gradually. During the same period, the Palamari area was characterized by open mixed deciduous forests that gradually retreated as a possible consequence of the intensification of anthropic activity, associated with the settlement of Palamari. Indications of cultivating and grazing activities in the vicinity of the lagoon were identified, pointing to a strong human presence since the Neolithic. Between about 6000 and 3500 cal BP, the embayment was a lagoon southeasterly connected to the sea, therefore sheltered and protected from northeastern winds. The overlying unit B (ca. 3500–800 cal BP) is characterized by the dominance of brackish water microfauna, indicating a brackish stagnant shallow water depositional environment, which was periodically supplied with fresh water from the surrounding springs. As the result of the continuous sea-level rise during the Late Holocene, part of the northern headland was submerged. The decline of the Palamari settlement at the time of the establishment of Unit B might be related to the observed changes that rendered the embayment a restricted body of water. The uppermost sedimentary unit C corresponds to a backshore environment dominated by aeolian activity modified by fluvial processes.

The identification of Middle-Late Holocene palaeoenvironmental conditions of the Marathon coastal plain gained great interest in the last decades due to its high environmental and archaeological importance. Palynological analysis of samples from two boreholes and two trenches along a transect in the marshy area of the Marathon coastal plain, enabled the tracing of the vegetation and the main environmental changes for the last ∼6000 cal BP. Pollen data suggest a human disturbed environment with Pinus, Quercus, Juniperus and Ericaceae, while a general trend towards Mediterranean vegetation patterns is observed during the last ∼3000 cal BP. Pollen grains from aquatic and hydrophilous plants, dinoflagellate cysts, algal remains and other palynomorphs were used in order to determine the local depositional environment and its evolution through time.

The Istron area is located in northeastern Crete, Gulf of Mirabello, on an alluvial fan of Holocene age. The archaeological importance of this area is suggested not only by its archaeological remains, but also by its significant location. Many important Minoan sites, like Gournia, Kavousi, Pseira, have been discovered near Istro. There are indications of human installations from the Neolithic to the Roman period, proving the continuous human activity in this area. The significant geological location- it represents an area with intense tectonic activity-, geomorphological regime and climatic changes, have influenced regional settlement and the overall cultural development of the area. The study of sea-land interactions during the last seven millennia in relation to the eustatic sea level oscillations and the regional neotectonic regime, as well as the geomorphologic observations and analyses on deposited sediments, aims to reveal the paleogeographic evolution of the landscape and its impact on prehistoric,...

The Palamari bay is located on the northeastern coast of Skyros island (Sporades islands, Aegean Sea). At the northern part of the bay a prehistoric archaeological site is dated between 2800 and 1700 Before Common Era (Early Bronze Age II–Middle Bronze Age I). Our paleoenvironmental reconstruction has combined coastal and submarine geomorphological observations with the stratigraphy of late Holocene sediments, as well as micropaleontological and palynological data of the coastal deposits and radiocarbon dating. Two beachrock formations and aeolian dunes are the main coastal landforms. Three main sedimentary units were recognized and termed A, B and C, respectively. The ostracod fauna of the lowermost sedimentary A unit indicates a shallow freshwater environment. The pollen spectrum reflects an open dry vegetation of Mediterranean type. The overlying unit B is characterized by the dominance of brackish water ostracod species. A strong human presence indicating cultivated land and grazing activities is inferred from the pollen spectra. This sequence implies a lagoon connected to, but protected from the sea, which was periodically supplied with fresh water from the surrounding springs. The uppermost sedimentary C unit represents a coastal marine environment dominated by aeolian activity and modified by fluvial processes. The presence of high percentages of the coprophilous fungi of Sordaria and Sporomiella types suggests the presence of domesticated animals, possibly herds, in the area.

The Middle-Late Holocene infill of the coastal plain of Marathon, Greece, consists of lagoonal deposits related to the decrease of the sea level rise rate. Between a little earlier than 5800 and 3500 Cal BP, mesohaline-oligohaline lagoonal carbonate muds were uninterruptedly accumulating in the central and more seaward areas of the embayment. At the same time in the nearshore environment, oligohaline pelloidal charophytic muds were deposited during periods of a relatively increased rate of sea level rise, whereas during periods with lower rates of sea level rise, extensive marshes were forming in supratidal settings. The formation of framboidal pyrite and evaporitic minerals point to a periodic anoxic, sulfidic, and schizohaline environment. In addition, a warm, strongly seasonal climate under the influence of resurgent continental groundwater is suggested. After 3500 Cal BP, the lagoon witnessed a relatively abrupt change to palustrine mud deposition. The embayment was frequently exposed, and co...

A comparative study of recent epiphytal ostracod and benthic foraminiferal populations was conducted in August 2001, at two gulfs (Korthi and Kastro) located at the southeastern part of Andros Island (middle Aegean Sea, Greece). Thirty samples (representing living macro-benthic algae and seagrasses) from both gulfs were studied and a total of 34 ostracod species and 60 benthic foraminiferal species were identified. In the gulf of Korthi both benthic foraminiferal and epiphytal ostracod assemblages were characterized by high abundances of Amphistegina lessonii and Xestoleberis spp., respectively, therefore the performed Q-mode cluster analysis verified the presence of a Normal Environment Biofacies (NE). Declined Environment (DE) and Stressed (SE) Environment Biofacies were recognized in the gulf of Kastro, an area more affected by anthropogenic activities. Several deformed foraminiferal specimens have been documented in the assemblages from both gulfs, but malformed tests are significantly increased in SE Biofacies of Kastro gulf. This study suggests that great accumulations of A. lessonii (35–60%) associated with high frequencies of Xestoleberis communis and/or Xestoleberis decipiens and high species diversities can be used as bioindicators of coastal health.

The present study provides a thorough analysis of the composition of recent marine ostracod populations from the bottom sediments of the central Aegean Sea, as well as their distribution patterns. In particular, a detailed qualitative and quantitative study of living ostracod assemblages was carried out in the marine environments of SE Andros Island. Sampling took place at Kastro and Korthi Gulf, both located at the southeastern coast of the Andros Island and from depth of 1.5 to 18 m, while additional samples were collected outside the gulfs at a depth of 120-180 m. Only ostracods considered to have been living at the time of collection were picked from the samples. A total of 51 species belonging to 34 genera were identified and four main ostracod assemblages, representing different biotopes, were distinguished. The results produced from the application of Q-mode cluster analysis in the data set, the calculated assemblage structure indices for each sample, as well as the bathymetric and granulometric data are as follows: Hiltermannicythere rubra assemblage (occurs in substrates of sandy mud and at a water depth ranging from 40-60 m to the depth of 100 m or even more), Loxoconcha affinis, Xestoleberis sexmaculata assemblage (occurs in substrates of muddy very fine to fine sands and shallower environments), Semicytherura incogruens assemblage (occurs in very fine sands at a water depth from 10 to 28 m), Loculicytheretta pavonia and Neocytherideis fasciata, Pontocythere turbita assemblages (occurs mainly in fine sands and at a water depth between 3.5 and 15 m) and Urocythereis neapolitana assemblage (occurs in substrates of medium to coarse sand and at a water depth of less than 20 m). © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.