Submerged Speleothems and Sea Level Reconstructions: A Global Overview and New Results from the Mediterranean Sea

Fabrizio Antonioli (1) , Stefano Furlani , Paolo Montagna , Paolo Stocchi , Lucio Calcagnile , Gianluca Quarta , Jonathan Cecchinel , Valeria Lo Presti , Maurizio Morticelli , Franco Foresta Martin , Edwige Pons-Branchu (2) , Valeria Vaccher

1 INGV - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Roma
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]

This study presents a global overview of the submerged speleothems used to reconstruct paleo sea levels and reports new results from two stalactites collected in the Mediterranean Sea. Coastal cave deposits significantly contributed to the understanding of global and regional sea-level variations during the Middle and Late Quaternary. The studied speleothems cover the last 1.4 Myr and focused mainly on Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1, 2, 3, 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.5. The results indicate that submerged speleothems represent extraordinary archives that can provide detailed information on former sea-level changes. The two stalactites collected in the central Mediterranean Sea, at Favignana and Ustica islands (Sicily, Italy), are both characterized by continental, phreatic or marine layers. The U-Th and 14C ages of the new speleothems provide results of great interest for relative sea-level changes over the last 1000 years

Mots clés: submerged speleothem; phreatic speleothem; sea-level change; sea caves; vertical tectonic movements; Ustica; Favignana

Domaines: Océanographie; Tectonique

Fabrizio Antonioli, Stefano Furlani, Paolo Montagna, Paolo Stocchi, Lucio Calcagnile, et al.. Submerged Speleothems and Sea Level Reconstructions: A Global Overview and New Results from the Mediterranean Sea. Water, 2021, 13 (12), pp.1663. ⟨10.3390/w13121663⟩. ⟨hal-03261856⟩