ΜULTIPROXY PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION: THE PIRAEUS COASTAL PLAIN CASE STUDY


Published: Jul 27, 2016
Keywords:
benthic foraminifera pollen NPPs molluscs magnetic susceptibility Holocene
M.V. Triantaphyllou
K.P. Pavlopoulos
K. Kouli
O. Koukousioura
M.D. Dimiza
E. Aidona
G. Syrides
A. Pallikarakis
J.P. Goiran
E. Fouache
Abstract

The joint application of benthic foraminifera, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), molluscs and magnetic susceptibility analyses in Piraeus coastal plain deposits resulted in the detailed study of palaeoenvironmental evolution of the area during almost the last 9000 years and the distinction of five lithostratigraphicalpaleoenvironmental units and subunits. Combined results of our analyses features the occurrence of an inner lagoon (unit Aa) followed by  open lagoon (Unit Ab) depositional environment that was transformed to a shallow marine paleoenvironment with lagoonal features (Unit B) after 7800 BP. Since about 4800 BP a closed oligohaline lagoon (Unit C) used for grazing, occurred in the area, while after 2800 BP a marshy oligohaline depositional environment (Unit D) and signs of intensive agricultural activities are evidenced. The very good correlation of benthic foraminiferal, palynological, molluscan and magnetic susceptibility data and resulted indices is indicative of the potential of the applied methodologies as a paleoenvironmental tool box.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Geomorphology
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Almogi-Labin, A., Perelis-Grossovicz, L. and Raab, M., 1992. Living Ammonia from a hypersaline
inland pool, Dead Sea area, Israel, Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 22, 257-266.
Alve, E. and Murray, J.W., 1994. Ecology and taphonomy of benthic foraminifera in a temperate
mesotidal inlet, Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 24(1), 18-27.
Bellini, C., Mariotti-Lippi, M. and Montanari, C., 2009. The Holocene landscape history of the NW
Italian coasts, Holocene, 19, 1161-1172.
Beug, H.-J., 2004. Leitfaden der Pollenbestimmung für Mitteleuropa und angrenzende Gebiete, 17
Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.
Carboni, G.M., Bergamin, L., Di Bella, L., Esu, D., Pisegna Cerone, E., Antonioli, F. and Verrubbi, V.,
Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of late Quaternary foraminifera and mollusks from the
ENEA borehole (Versilian plain, Tuscany, Italy), Quaternary Research, 74, 265-276.
Dearing, J.A., 2000. Magnetic susceptibility. In: Walden, J., Oldfield, F. and Smith, J., eds, Environmental
Magnetism: A Practical Guide, Technical Guide No.6. Quaternary Research Association, London.
Debenay, J.-P. and Guillou, J.-J., 2002. Ecological transitions indicated by foraminiferal assemblages
in paralic environments, Estuaries, 25(6A), 1107-1120.
Dimiza, M.D., Koukousioura, O., Triantaphyllou, M.V. and Dermitzakis, M.D., 2015. Live and dead
benthic foraminiferal assemblages from coastal environments of the Aegean Sea (Greece):
Distribution and diversity, Revue de Micropaléontologie, doi: org/10.1016/j.revmic.2015.10.002.
Evelpidou, N., Pavlopoulos, K., Vassilopoulos, A., Triantaphyllou, M., Vouvalidis, K. and Syrides,
G., 2010. Sea level changes in Upper Holocene and palaeogeographical reconstruction,
Geodinamica Acta, 23(5-6), 233-240.
Frontalini, F. and Coccioni, R., 2008. Benthic foraminifera for heavy metal pollution monitoring: a
case study from the central Adriatic Sea coast of Italy, Estuarine Costal and Shelf Science,
(2), 404-417.
Frontalini, F., Buosi, C., Da Pelo, S., Coccioni, R., Cherchi, A. and Bucci, C., 2009. Benthic
foraminifera as bio-indicators of trace element pollution in the heavily contaminated Santa Gilla
lagoon (Cagliari, Italy), Marine Pollution Bulletin, 58, 858-877.
Ghilardi, M., Kunesch, S., Styllas, M. and Fouache, E., 2008. Reconstruction of Mid-Holocene
sedimentary environments in the central part of the Thessaloniki Plain (Greece), based on
microfaunal identification, magnetic susceptibility and grain-size analyses, Geomorphology, 97,
-630.
Goiran, J.-P., Pavlopoulos, K.P., Fouache, E., Triantaphyllou, M. and Etienne, R., 2011. Piraeus, the
ancient island of Athens: Evidence from Holocene sediments and historical archives, Geology,
(6), 531-534.
Hammer, O., Harper, D.A.T. and Ryan, P.D., 2001. Past Paleontological statistics software. Package
for education and data analysis. Paleontologia Electronica.
Jorissen, F.J., 1988. Benthic foraminifera from the Adriatic Sea: principles of phenotypic variation,
Utrecht Micropaleontological Bulletin, 37, 1-174.
Kevrekidis, T., Gouvis, N. and Koukouras, A., 1996.Bionomy of Macrobenthic Molluscs in Evros
Delta (North Aegean Sea), Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol., 81(3), 455-468.
Koukousioura, O., Dimiza, M.D., Triantaphyllou, M.V. and Hallock P., 2011. Living benthic
foraminifera as an environmental proxy in coastal ecosystems: A case study from the Aegean
Sea (Greece, NE. Mediterranean), Journal of Marine Systems, 88(4), 489-501.
Koukousioura, O., Triantaphyllou, M.V., Dimiza, M.D., Pavlopoulos, K., Syrides, G. and Vouvalidis,
K., 2012. Benthic foraminiferal evidence and paleoenvironmental evolution of Holocene
coastal plains in the Aegean Sea (Greece), Quaternary International, 261, 105-117.
Kouli, K., 2012. Vegetation development and human activities in Attiki (SE Greece) during the last
years, Veget. Hist. Archaeobot., 21, 267-278.
Kouli, K., Triantaphyllou, M., Pavlopoulos, K., Tsourou, T., Karkanas, P. and Dermitzakis, M.D.,
Palynological investigation of the Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes in the coastal
plain of Marathon (Attica, Greece), Geobios, 42, 43-51.
Liu, Q.S., Roberts, A.P., Larrasoaña, J.C., Banerjee, S.K., Guyodo, Y., Tauxe, L. and Old-field, F., 2012.
Environmental magnetism: principles and applications, Reviews of Geophysics, 50, RG4002.
Melis, R. and Violanti, D., 2006. Foraminiferal biodiversity and Holocene evolution of the Phetchaburi
coastal area (Thailand Gulf), Marine Micropaleontology, 61, 94-115.
Murray, J.W., 2007. Ecology and Applications of Benthic Foraminifera, Cambridge University Press, 426 pp.
Nicolaidou, A., Bourgoutzani, F., Zenetos, A., Guelorget, O. and Perthuisot, J.P., 1988. Distribution of
Molluscs and Polychaetes in coastal lagoons in Greece, Estuar. Coast. Shelf S., 26, 337-350.
Oldfield, F. and Yu, L., 1994.The influence of particle size variations on the magnetic properties of
sediments from the north-eastern Irish Sea, Sedimentology, 41, 1093-1108.
Pavlopoulos, K., Theodorakopoulou, K., Bassiakos, Y., Hayden, B., Tsourou, T., Triantaphyllou, M.,
Kouli, K. and Vandarakis, D., 2007.Paleoenvironmental evolution of Istron (N.E. Crete), during
the last 6000 years: depositional environment, climate and sea level changes, Geodinamica
Acta, 20(4), 219-229.
Pavlopoulos, K., Triantaphyllou, M., Karkanas, P., Kouli, K., Syrides, G., Vouvalidis, K., Palyvos, N.
and Tsourou, T., 2010. Paleoenvironmental evolution and prehistoric human environment, in
the embayment of Palamari (Skyros Island, Greece) during Middle-Late Holocene, Quaternary
International, 216, 41-53.
Reille, M., 1992-1998. Pollen et spores d' Europe et d' Afrique du Nord. Laboratoire de Botanique
Historique et Palynologie, Marseille.
Sadori, L., Giardini, M., Giraudi, C. and Mazzini, I., 2010.The plant landscape of the imperial harbour
of Rome, J. Archaeol. Sci. 37, 3294-3305.
Scott, D.S. and Medioli, F.S., 1980. Quantitative studies of marsh foraminiferal distributions in Nova
Scotia and comparison with those in other parts of the world: implications for sea level studies, A
Special Publication of the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research, 17, 58.
Sgarrella, F. and Moncharmont Zei, M., 1993. Benthic foraminifera of the Gulf of Naples (Italy):
systematics and autoecology, Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 32, 145-264.
Syrides, G., 2008. Marine mollusk fauna and Holocene stratigraphy of the marsh of Agia Paraskevi,
(Lamia, Fthiotida) Greece, Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, XLII/I, 1-14.
Triantaphyllou, M.V., Pavlopoulos, K., Tsourou, Th. and Dermitzakis, M.D., 2003. Brackish marsh
benthic microfauna and paleoenvironmental changes during the last 6.000 years on the coastal
plain of Marathon (SE Greece), Rivista Italiana Paleontologia et Stratigrafia, 109(3), 539-547.
Triantaphyllou, M.V., Kouli, K., Tsourou, T., Koukousioura, O., Pavlopoulos, K. and Dermitzakis,
M.D., 2010. Paleoenvironmental changes since 3000 BC in the coastal marsh of Vravron
(Attica, SE Greece), Quaternary International, 216, 14-22.
van Geel, B., Buurman, J., Brinkkemper, O., Schelvis, J., Aptroot, A., van Reenen, G. and Hakbijl, T.,
Environmental reconstruction of a Roman period settlement site in Uitgeest (The
Netherlands), with a special reference to coprophilous fungi, J. Archeol. Sci., 30, 833-873.
van Geel, B., Coope, G.R. and van der Hammen, T., 1989. Paleoecology and stratigraphy of the Late
Glacial type section at Usselo (The Netherlands), Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 60, 25-129.
Verosub, K.L. and Roberts, A.P., 1995. Environmental magnetism: past, present, and future, Journal
of Geophysysical Research, 100, 2175-2192.
Wang, Y.H., Yu, Z.G., Li, G.X., Oguchi, T., He, H.J. and Shen, H.T., 2009. Discrimination in magnetic
properties of different-sized sediments from the Changjiang and Huanghe estuaries of China and
its implication for provenance of sediment on the shelf, Mar. Geol., 260, 121-129.
Yang, X.Q., Rodney, G., Zhou, H.Y. and Yang, J., 2008. Magnetic properties of sediments from the
Pearl River Delta, South China: paleoenvironmental implications, Science China Earth
Sciences, doi: CNKI: SUN:JDXG.0.2008-01-007.
Most read articles by the same author(s)