Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
estimated between 20 and 110 m below the present sea level (Fig. 1; reviewed
by [35]). Air temperatures were 8-10
◦
C lower than today [25] and salinity was
in the range 5-7‰[11, 16, 65]. The inflow of glacial meltwaters from rivers and
the Caspian Sea contributed significantly to permanent seawater rise over the
entire Neoeuxinian epoch [87]. Accumulated paleontological, geological and
geomorphological data suggest that during most of this time a unidirectional
outflow from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean
Sea existed [1, 2, 40, 57]. There were probably short periods of 200-300
yrs when the Black Sea level dropped below 80 m compared to the current
sea level and the Black Sea outflow ceased. Terraces observed on the Black
Sea shelf are indicative for these low sea level stands (A. Aksenov, personal
communication).
Figure 1.
Changes of the Black Sea level during Late Pleistocene-Holocene. The arrow
indicates the timing of the Bosporus breakthrough [6].
Two layered flow across the Bosporus connected with melting of glaciers on
the northern Eurasian continent and the post-glacial rise of the global sea level.
However, the timing and the intensity of this process are disputed. Dating of this
event varies from 10 ka BP [72] to 7.15 ka B.P. [79]. Ryan and his colleagues
[79] suggested that the influx of Bosporus waters in the Black Sea occurred
on a catastrophic scale of some 100 meters in just a few years. The authors
hypothesized in a popular topic that the event was associated with a Noah's flood
described in the Bible [77]. The hypothesis was recently supported by computer
modelling [81]. In contrast, the sedimentary record for the post-glacial sea-level
