NEW SHALLOW SEISMIC DATA FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN BLACK SEA SHELF; IMPLICATIONS FOR RECENT SEA-LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS
01/11/2019New shallow seismic data from the southwestern Black Sea shelf; implications for recent sea-level fluctuations
Bedri Alpar, Valeri Gainanov
Istanbul University, Institute of Marine Sciences and Management Vefa, 34116 Istanbul, T URKEY
Moscow State University, Moscow, RUSSIA
Abstract
Shallow seismic profiles are used to image the stratigraphic setting in the southwestern Black Sea. Two unconformable main seismic units were detected in the sediments, which carry the effects of a major sea-level fall. The upper unit shows transgressive systems track deposits on an erosional unconfonnity. This marked surface extends ubiquitously all over the shelf, -100 to -110 ill below the present sea level,. and indicating the lowstand of sea level before the latest rise in the Black Sea (1O-9 ka BP). The lower unit consists of two different formations; locally folded-faulted acoustically reflective strata and stacked prograded delta successions The latter is divided into at least 4 distinct sub-units in a form of stacked delta successions deposited on the transgressed shelves of the Black Sea, which carry the effects of many minor short-lived sea-level variations.
Keywords: Black Sea, seismic stratigraphy, sea-level changes