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ARTICLE IN PRESS 31
L. Ferranti et al. / Quaternary International 145– 146 (2006) 30–54
Fig. 1. Generalized elevation distribution of the MIS 5.5 marker in the Mediterranean Sea. Only representative sites and site elevation (metres a.s.l.)
are shown. Slightly modified after Lambeck et al. (2004a).
geochronological subunit MIS 5.5 occurred between
Termination II (end of MIS 6) and the onset of MIS 5.4,
spanning between 132 and 116 ka (Shackleton et al.,
2003).
During this last interglacial period the global sea-level (Dumas, pers. comm.). In contrast, in the eastern
rose higher than the modern one (Shackleton, 2000;
Waelbroeck et al., 2002; Siddall et al., 2003). Sea-level
curves, however, vary according to the location as a
result of glacio-isostasy related to ice-sheet loading
cycles, which can result in several metres height
difference (Lambeck and Chappell, 2001; Potter and
Lambeck, 2004). At the Mediterranean coasts, the
average level attained by the sea during the MIS 5.5 is
inferred to be $673 m (Lambeck et al., 2004a).
In the Mediterranean, a large number of sites show
markers of interglacial sea-level high stands. Attributing
these markers to particular interglacial periods offers
valuable information on the vertical displacement and
displacement rate, which occurred along the coastlines
of the tectonically mobile plate interface between
Europe and Africa. Markers attributed to the last
interglacial are represented by notches, marine terraces,
beach deposits, speleothem concretions and boreholes of
molluscs living in the spray zone of rocky cliffs (Fig. 1).
In terms of timing, they have been identified with
variable degree of accuracy.
In the western and central Mediterranean area, in
Spain (Hearty, 1986; Zazo et al., 1999; Vesica et al.,
2000; Rodriguez-Vidal et al., 2004), Morocco (Gigout,
1960) and Algeria (Stearns and Thurber, 1967; Hearty,
1986), and further east in Tunisia (Paskoff and
Sanlaville, 1983; Hearty, 1986; Jedoui et al., 2003;
Bouaziz et al., 2003) and Libya (Hey, 1956), the high
stand is represented by marine terraces and raised
beaches, which, apart from the Gibraltar area, com-
monly lay close to the predicted eustatic elevation
(Fig. 1). Less is known about the French coast, where
limited unpublished evidence suggests tectonic stability
Mediterranean the high stand markers are tectonically
displaced, but the database is small as distribution and
elevation of the high stand markers are known from a
few sites only (Fig. 1; e.g. Greece: Keraudren and Sorel,
1987; Armijio et al., 1996; Pirazzoli et al., 1996;
Westaway, 2002; De Martini et al., 2004; Crete: Hearty,
1986; Lebanon: Fleish, 1956; Stearns and Thurber, 1965;
Fleish et al., 1981; Israel: Sivan et al., 1999; Porat et al.,
2003; Sivan et al., 2004).
In the central Mediterranean area, at the coasts of the
Italian peninsula and its islands the recognized altitude
variability of the markers was attributed to tectonic
processes, which resulted in differential displacements
relative to the predicted eustatic sea-level (Cosentino
and Gliozzi, 1988; Westaway, 1993; Bordoni and
Valensise, 1998). These pioneering studies on tectonic
displacements have dealt with part of the Italian
coastline only, namely with central-southern Italy,
where displacement rates are higher. In addition,
uncertainties provided in the mentioned papers are
poorly constrained.
The central Mediterranean area is characterized by
belts of active tectonic deformation, which surround the
northern, western and eastern margins of the Adriatic
block. Based on seismicity and Global Positioning
System (GPS) velocities, the southern part of Italy
appears to be affected by seismic deformation and