EARLY HOLOCENE SEA LEVEL CURVE OF THE COAST OF ISRAEL, EAST MEDITERRANEAN

The sea-level curve deduced for the Israeli coast for the last 8,000 years is based on a comparison between archaeological observations and glacio-hydro isostatic models for sea level change across the same region. The observations are land and underwater archaeological data that brackets the upper and lower limits of any change. They include land and submerged water-front structures, living floors, well data and ship wreckage remains. The isostatic model predictions have been calibrated against sea level data from other locations in the Mediterranean, Europe, and elsewhere. The archaeological observations, and the model sea-level curve, along the Mediterranean coast of Israel were found to be generally consistent and any discrepancies lie within the uncertainties of both values. Thus the sites are believed to have been largely free from systematic vertical tectonic movement at rates greater than about 0.2 mm/year for at least the past 9000 year at rates.

The model predictions from the northern coast of Israel for about 8000 BP1 indicate sea level at about –13.5 ±1 m whereas the observation place it between –14.5 m and –16.5 m. By about 7000 BP the predicted level has risen to about –7 ±1 m consistent with the archaeological evidence (Sivan et al., 2001). Thus over this time interval the model gives a good representation of sea level change for the eastern Mediterranean and can be used to predict sea level at other locations, for example the timing of the first post glacial flow of Mediterranean water into the Black Sea.

1 All dates reported are uncalibrated and before reservoir corrections 14C dates (like those reported by Ryan et al., 1997).

Reference list

Ryan, W., Pitman, W., Shimkus, K., Moskalenko, V., Jones, G.A., Dimitrov, P. Gorür, N., Sakinç, M., and Seyir, H. Y. 1997. An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf. Marine Geology, 138:119-126.

Ryan, W., Major, C.O., Lericolais, G. and Goldstein, S.L. 2003. Catastrophic flooding of the Black Sea, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 31, 525-554.

Sivan, D., Wdowinski, S., Lambeck, K., Galili, E, and Raban, a. 2001. Holocene sea-level changes along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, based on archaeological observations and numerical model. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 167: 101-117.