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Italian Peninsula and across its adjacent seas because of
glacio-hydro-isostatic effects and sea level cannot be
represented by a single time-dependent curve for the
region. The latitudinal dependence is mostly a conse-
quence of the Earth’s delayed response to the past
deglaciation of the northern ice sheets but this is
modulated by the response to the concomitant change
in water load to produce the variability illustrated in
Fig. 12. The spatial differences are significant through-
out and greater than many of the observational
uncertainties. At all sites eustatic–isostatic sea levels
have not exceeded their present level at any time in the
Holocene and where observations indicate highstands
then the location has been subject to tectonic uplift.
For many of the coastal locations considered in this
study it has been possible to make first-order corrections
for the tectonic contributions to relative sea-level change
with the assumption that average uplift or subsidence
rates have remained the same for the Holocene as for the
entire last glacial cycle. Predictions of the total relative References
sea-level change based on this assumption and on the
eustatic–isostatic model predictions are broadly consis-
tent with the observational data from most of the 31
sites considered. This agreement holds for the entire
range of biological and archaeological sea-level markers
considered. In particular, the model predictions are
consistent with the observations from the most complete
record, the Plain of Versilia. Where major discrepancies
do occur, such as at Fondi or Marettimo, they cannot be
attributed to any aspect of the eustatic–isostatic model
because other data from nearby localities and for similar
epochs do lead to agreement with the model predictions.
At these sites the model predictions can be used to test
hypotheses about the environmental conditions at time
of deposition or formation. At least at two sites,
Taormina and Scilla, and possibly at Capo Rizzuto,
the comparisons indicate that the assumption of
uniformity of the tectonic uplift may not be valid, that
the average rate for the Holocene has been about twice
the average rate for the past 125,000 years. For the
remaining sites subject to uplift, as established from the
elevation of the MIS 5.5 shorelines, this assumption
appears to be valid within the resolution of the data. For
sites where the MIS 5.5 evidence is ambiguous, such as
Volturno and Marettimo, the comparisons can be used
to identify which observations are most likely to be the
correct ones.
Some systematic discrepancies between observed and
model-predicted sea levels from stable sites have been
identified, and the observational data for the region,
particularly that from tectonically stable sites, provide
constraints on the eustatic sea-level function that are
consistent with the evidence from other localities. Rapid
global melting continued until about 7000 years ago but
ocean volumes continued to increase until at least 3000
years ago (Fig. 6).
Acknowledgements
We thank A. Amorosi, M. Anzidei, R. Auriemma, G.
Belluomini, A. Camerlenghi, B. Carulli, R. Chemello, A.
Correggiari, G. Dai Pra, G. Leoni, L. Ferranti, R.
Marocco, G. Mastronuzzi, P. Orru" , R. Pagliarulo, A.
Pappalardo, P.A. Pirazzoli, P. Romano, and F. Trin-
cardi for discussion and assistance in abstracting the
Holocene and MIS 5.5 data.
Note added in proof
In a more recent rebound solution mountain glacia-
tions have been included using the limits and ice
volumes defined by G.H. Denton and T.J. Hughes
(The Last Great Ice Sheets, Wiley, NY, 1981). The
contribution to sea level change is significant only in the
Northern Adriatic and the Gulf of Genova with
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