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Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf pp 39–51Cite as

Relative Sea Level Rise, Palaeotopography and Transgression Velocity on the Continental Shelf

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Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 20))

Abstract

After the Last Glacial Maximum, some 21,000 years BP, the sea level rose from −130 m to its present-day position. This process of marine transgression inundated or eroded palaeolandscapes to varying degrees, resulting in the landward movement of the shoreline. The transgression velocity (TV), i.e., the velocity at which the shoreline migrated landwards, depends on evaluating the balance between the rate of relative sea level rise and the slope of the transgressed palaeotopography. It has a key role in determining the possibilities for reconstructing palaeoenvironments, the potential preservation of archaeological sites and the socio-economic and psychological impact of sea-level rise on past human populations. In this chapter we present a simple conceptual and computational approach to reconstructing the transgression velocity on shelf areas, making use of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of seafloor topography coupled with relative sea level curves, and discuss the different outcomes and limitations at different spatial scales, ranging from the continental (European seas) to the ultra-local scale.

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Acknowledgments

The ideas expressed in this paper have benefited from discussion with Nic Flemming and other SPLASHCOS participants. We also thank Francesca Argiolas for developing the preliminary MATLAB routine, and Francesco Falese for providing material for the figures. For Figs. 3.5 and 3.6, the Digital Terrain Model data products have been derived from the EMODnet Bathymetry portal at http://www.emodnet-bathymetry.eu. We also gratefully acknowledge anonymous reviewers and Geoff Bailey for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, University of Rome La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Latino Chiocci, Daniele Casalbore & Francesca Marra

  2. Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering, National Research Council (CNR IGAG), Area della Ricerca Roma 1, Via Salaria km 29,300, 00015, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Latino Chiocci & Daniele Casalbore

  3. Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Via Anguillarese 301, 00060 S. Maria di Galeria, Rome, Italy

    Fabrizio Antonioli

  4. Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 1, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Claudia Romagnoli

Authors
  1. Francesco Latino Chiocci
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  2. Daniele Casalbore
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  3. Francesca Marra
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  4. Fabrizio Antonioli
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  5. Claudia Romagnoli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniele Casalbore .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom

    Geoffrey N. Bailey

  2. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

    Jan Harff

  3. Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Anavyssos, Greece

    Dimitris Sakellariou

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Chiocci, F.L., Casalbore, D., Marra, F., Antonioli, F., Romagnoli, C. (2017). Relative Sea Level Rise, Palaeotopography and Transgression Velocity on the Continental Shelf. In: Bailey, G., Harff, J., Sakellariou, D. (eds) Under the Sea: Archaeology and Palaeolandscapes of the Continental Shelf. Coastal Research Library, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53160-1_3

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