EGU21-13236
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13236
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Palaeogeographic evolution and sea level changes of a tectonically active area: the case of Psatha, Alkyonides Gulf, Greece

Anna Karkani1, Giannis Saitis1, Konstantinos Tsanakas2, Niki Evelpidou1, Efthimios Karymbalis2, Emmanuel Vassilakis1, Hara Drinia1, and Dimitrios-Vasileios Batzakis2
Anna Karkani et al.
  • 1National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geoenvironment, Athens, Greece
  • 2Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, Greece

The study of environmental changes in coastal areas provide useful information for past conditions and constitute a powerful tool for accurate palaeogeographic reconstructions. Several coastal landforms are present on the coastal zone, with different response to environmental change. Coastal wetlands and lagoons are particularly sensitive to local paleoenvironmental changes and provide an excellent opportunity to reconstruct the evolution of the coastal zone evolution and the sea level changes. In this context, the aim of this work is to elucidate the coastal evolution of Psatha bay, Alkyonides Gulf, Greece, through coastal drillings and geomorphological sea level markers.

The study area is located at the eastern end of Corinth Gulf, in the Gulf of Alkyonides. Psatha is bounded by active neotectonic structures, which have been a determining factor in its development. In this work we adopt a multiproxy approach through the study of coastal drillings and beachrocks, and micro-topography constructed after photogrammetric processing of very high resolution and accuracy images acquired by several Unmanned Aerial System flights. We coupled detailed beachrock mapping, microstratigraphic analysis and luminescence dating to study beachrock outcrops found up to 1 m above the present sea-level. For the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, multiproxy analyses were undertaken, which included sedimentological analysis of the core, paleontological analysis of macrofauna and microfauna and radiocarbon dating. The results of this work will contribute to the better understanding of a coastal site in a tectonically active area and the relative sea level changes.

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning» in the context of the project “Reinforcement of Postdoctoral Researchers - 2nd Cycle” (MIS-5033021).

How to cite: Karkani, A., Saitis, G., Tsanakas, K., Evelpidou, N., Karymbalis, E., Vassilakis, E., Drinia, H., and Batzakis, D.-V.: Palaeogeographic evolution and sea level changes of a tectonically active area: the case of Psatha, Alkyonides Gulf, Greece, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-13236, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-13236, 2021.

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