A Holocene coral–algal reef at Mavra Litharia, Gulf of Corinth, …hera.ugr.es/doi/15772135.pdf · 2005-12-07 · Corinth, Greece: tectonics earthquake, archaeology. Guidebook for

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Marine Geology 215

A Holocene coral–algal reef at Mavra Litharia,

Gulf of Corinth, Greece: structure, history, and

applications in relative sea-level change

Steve Kershawa,*, Li Guob, Juan C. Bragac

aGeohazards and Environmental Catastrophes Research Group (GECRG), Department of Geography and Earth Sciences,

Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UKbCASP, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, West Building, 181a Huntington Road, Cambridge CB3 0DH, UK

cDepartemento de Estratigafia y Paleontologia, Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias,

Campus Fuentenueva s/n, Granada 18071, Spain

Received 26 January 2004; received in revised form 2 November 2004; accepted 20 December 2004

Abstract

A Holocene coral–algal reef at Mavra Litharia, south-central coast of Gulf of Corinth, Greece, is exposed from ca. 2

to 9.3 m above sea level on an uplifting footwall associated with the Eliki Fault. The reef lacks sea-level-critical species

but its coralline algal assemblage indicates a ca. 10 m water depth. Reef-frame components date from 9280–8730 years

BP to 6343–5993 years BP, so the reef frame grew between ca. 10,000 and 6000 years BP. The youngest dated shells

(1860–305 years BP) from the site are accessory organisms collected from the lowest 2 m of outcrop, one of which

(Dendropoma) grew at sea level [Stiros, S.C. and Pirazzoli, P., 1998. Late Quaternary coastal changes in the Gulf of

Corinth, Greece: tectonics earthquake, archaeology. Guidebook for the Gulf of Corinth Field Trip, Patras University,

Greece, Patras, September 14–16, 1998]. Reef history has four phases: a) growth and lithification of reef; b)

development of smooth-walled dissolution pipes and caves in the reef; c) colonisation of dissolution surfaces by Mn–Fe

crusts (that may be bacterially formed), barnacles, serpulid worms, and rock-boring bivalves; and d) uplift to present

position where much of the reef is eroded. Sea-level history after 11,500 years BP, when rising post-glacial sea level

overtopped the Rio sill and returned the Gulf of Corinth to a marine environment, is reconstructed. Calculations of

interplay between sea-level rise and tectonic uplift suggest that between 11,500 and 10,000 years BP sea level rose very

quickly, associated with deglaciation at the close of the Younger Dryas, MWP-1B, at a maximum of 25.6 mm/year

(broadly consistent with other studies), then slowed to ca. 4.4 mm/year until 6000 years BP when sea level was ca. 3 m

below modern, after which sea level rose at ca. 0.5 mm/year to modern day. Tectonic uplift rate of maximum 3 mm/

year, slower than sea-level rise, means that the reef could not catch up to sea level until recent times, explaining its

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(2005) 171–192

ee front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

argeo.2004.12.003

ding author. Fax: +44 1895 232806.

esses: [email protected] (S. Kershaw)8 [email protected] (L. Guo)8 [email protected] (J.C. Braga).

S. Kershaw et al. / Marine Geology 215 (2005) 171–192172

fossil assemblage. The pipe/cave system is interpreted as having formed when the reef top was emerged, but much

dissolution occurred beneath sea level because of insufficient time to allow uplift and resubmergence. Intense rainfall

during the mid-Holocene pluvial phase, ca. 6000 years BP for the eastern Mediterranean, which affected large areas of

the Mediterranean, is suggested as the mechanism and timing of submarine dissolution.

D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Mavra Litharia; Holocene; reef; Gulf of Corinth; karstic dissolution; footwall uplift

Fig. 1. Location of Mavra Litharia (ML) on the south side of Gulf of Corinth; note the high topography south of the site, and the fault trends.

Mavra Litharia sits on an uplifting footwall associated with the Eliki fault (EF; south of Egion), and the Xylokastro Fault (XF). Map derived

from Pavlides et al. (2003).

S. Kershaw et al. / Marine Geology 215 (2005) 171–192 173

1. Introduction

Organic reefs have traditionally been used as

tools to determine relative sea-level change, partic-

ularly in the Quaternary, for example, in Papua New

Guinea (Chappell, 1983) and the Caribbean (Bard et

al., 1990a; Fairbanks, 1989). Shallow-water sessile

sea-level-critical biota (fixed biological indicators—

FBIs, Baker and Haworth, 2000a,b), and the

presence of internal eroded fabrics and surfaces that

Fig. 2. General photographs of the Mavra Litharia site. (A) brown-coloured

Mavra Litharia is located next to the Roman harbour of Aegira. (C) Vertica

base of reef. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure l

may record SL fall, are applicable in sea-level

change study because a reef may contain a record

of the sequence of change as its structure devel-

oped. In the tectonically active Gulf of Corinth,

there is limited preservation of abundant FBIs in

most locations, and the reef at Mavra Litharia, in

the central part of the south side of the Gulf (Fig.

1), is the only good example that may be used to

apply reef development to the tectonic history of the

area (a remnant of a similar structure at nearby

remnants of Holocene reef (arrows) encrust Mesozoic bedrock. (B)

l section through the reef, ca. 25 m west of the harbour; arrows show

egend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)


Paralia Platanou has not been studied in this

project). This study aims to interpret reef growth

history within the Holocene at Mavra Litharia in

relation to:

1) post-glacial sea-level change in the Gulf, closely

dependent on the Mediterranean sea level

2) tectonic uplift of the uplifted footwall block,

which makes up the south side of the Gulf of

Corinth and the hinterland to the south.

Reef structure and composition are described and

interpreted in relation to published models of relative

sea-level change in the area. Early work on the

Mavra Litharia reef initially dated it as Tyrrhenian

(Georgiades-Dikeeulia and Marcopoulou-Diakantoni,

1976), but the lack of diagnostic Senegalese fauna

(especially Strombus bubonius), coupled with radio-

metric dating, revealed it to be Holocene (Stiros and

Pirazzoli, 1998).

Table 1

Summarised radiocarbon ages from the compilation by Stiros and

Pirazzoli (1998), converted into years BP

Elevation (m) Material Calibrated age (years BP)

9.2 Spondylus 7930–7460

7.5 Lithophaga 9280–8730


6.0 Cladocora –


5.5 Cladocora 7880–7520

4.0 Marine crust on pool rim 6343–5993

3.0 Cladocora –


1.2 V. triqueter (displaced?) 510–305

1.0 Dendropoma 1180–910

Note that reservoir effect of 320 years was applied by Stiros and

Pirazzoli (1998) to most samples, except at heights of 7.5 m, 6.5 m

and Lithophaga at 6.0 m, where the dates were taken from previous

publications that already had incorporated the 320 years.

2. Location and geological setting

The Gulf of Corinth is one of the most tectoni-

cally active rift zones, with associated subsidence,

uplift, and sedimentation (Collier and Gawthorpe,

1995; Collier et al., 1992, 1995; Collier and Dart,

1991; Leeder et al., 1991), which may be climati-

cally governed (Westaway, 2002). On the south side

of the gulf, a well-characterised sequence of Gilbert-

type deltas (Dart et al., 1994), which continues

forming today (Soter, 1998), demonstrates the

persistent activity of uplift, erosion, and sedimenta-

tion. The gulf opened at approximately 1 Ma, due to

crustal extension associated with northward-directed

subduction in the Mediterranean Sea south of

Greece, and with westward migration of extensions

of the North Anatolian Fault (Armijo et al., 1996;

Keraudren and Sorel, 1987; Sorel, 2000). Although

long considered to be a half-graben with active faults

only on the south side, recent work indicates that

both north and south sides are actively faulted

(Moretti et al., 2003). The graben is subsiding

rapidly on its southern side, and is associated with

footwall uplift along several faults that intersect the

coast (Fig. 1). Of these faults, the Voutsimo

(Xylokastro; Sorel, 2000) and Eliki Faults are the

major structures (Stewart, 1996; Stewart and Vita-

Finzi, 1996), and Mavra Litharia lies between them.

Complexity of faults onshore and offshore in this

area (and the fact that different papers illustrate

different arrangements of the faults) makes precise

identification of the fault involved at Mavra Litharia

problematic. However, Mavra Litharia certainly lies

on the footwall of a fault segment, and may be in a

transfer zone between fault segments. The location

forms the coastal-bounding fault in that site; the

water deepens sharply a few metres offshore from

the reef site.

The reef at Mavra Litharia encrusted Mesozoic

limestone outcrops on a low rocky cliff, directly

west of the ancient Roman harbour of Aegeira (Fig.

2). The reef is preserved only above the present sea

level (between ca. +2 m and +9.3 m); the rock

below +2 m and beneath sea level has been

strongly weathered by dissolution, so any reef

structure there has been removed. Above +2 m,

the reef is heavily eroded; most was apparently

removed by subaerial erosion during the later

Holocene, so its original upper and lower extents

are unknown, but are likely to have been several

metres above and below the preserved outcrop. The

youngest date of submergence obtained from the

site was a minimum of 305 years BP, and the

oldest maximum date is 9280 years BP (Stiros and

Pirazzoli, 1998) (see Table 1). Evidence from

,


biological markers has been used to argue that the

ancient Aigeira harbour (and therefore the Mavra

Litharia reef, which is located directly east of the

harbour) has undergone considerable uplift, 2 m in

2000 years (Papageorgiou et al., 1993). This gives

an uplift rate of 1 mm/year, which is interpreted as

coseismic by Papageorgiou et al. (1993), because of

the good preservation of shelly remains that would

otherwise be removed by tidal and storm splash

(Laborel and Laborel-Deguen, 1994). In contrast, an

uplift rate of 1.7–2.5 mm/year was argued for the

Mavra Litharia reef (Stiros and Pirazzoli, 1998),

based on dated shell remains from the reef, and that

the uplift rate was probably not uniform. In contrast

to results obtained from biological markers, uplift

of 3.90F0.1 m since AD 150–250 (=1800–1700

years BP) has been identified for the Roman

harbour of Aigeira, based on known construction

Fig. 3. Field views of reef-frame constructors. (A) Coralline algal frame. (B

Stromatolitic heads and encrusting wormtubes.

methods of Roman harbours, giving an overall

relative uplift of ca. 3 mm/year (Stiros, 1998).

Because this uplift has occurred since Roman times,

with very little sea-level rise, then 3 mm/year is

effectively an absolute uplift rate for that period. In

comparison, an uplift rate of 1.5 mm/year is argued

for the Eliki Fault area to the west, and a slower

but comparable rate (0.75 mm/year) for the other

major actively uplifting area (the Perachora Pen-

insula) at the east end of the Gulf (Stewart and

Vita-Finzi, 1996). For Mavra Litharia, in summary,

the relative uplift rate is 1–3 mm/year.

3. Methodology

Mavra Litharia reef was analysed using a

combination of: a) field observation of facies to

) Branching coral (Cladocora caespitosa). (C) Serpulid worms. (D)


determine the broad sequence of arrangement of reef

frame, sediment fills, and solution pipes, thereby

identifying the history of reef development; b)

approximately 40 samples collected from all over

the reef, studied in sawn blocks and thin sections to

identify biotic components, sediments, and cements,

provided a database of information about the reef

growth conditions and subsequent change; and c)

SEM microprobe analysis in Brunel University to

determine the nature of critical components, espe-

cially the dark material occurring in certain parts of

the structure. All samples collected were located

relative to present biological mean sea level, as

defined by the poorly developed organic rim at sea

level; heights are reported in figure captions.

4. Reef structure and biota

4.1. Biota and sediments

Mavra Litharia reef contains a primary frame of

fasciculate coral Cladocora caespitosa and coralline

algae, plus accessory organisms (Figs. 3–7). Brown-

coloured laminated micritic crusts and stromatolitic

heads are present in several places between frame-

builders (Figs. 3D and 5B). Framebuilders and

Fig. 4. (A) sawn block showing micrite-filled frame, and cut sections throug

Spondylus shell, with sponge borings, ca. +6 m.

micritic crusts are set in a matrix consisting of two

facies (Figs. 5, 6, and 13) deposited at different times,

between which the reef was affected by a single phase

of karstification. Field inspection, hand specimen, and

thin section study indicates that the reef shows no

detectable zonation of biota.

Coralline algae, serpulids, bryozoans, some Hal-

imeda fragments, and corals were recognised in thin

section. The following species of the coralline algae

were found: Lithophyllum pustulatum (Lamouroux)

Foslie, Lithophyllum sp., Neogoniolithon sp., Spon-

gites fructiculosus Kqtzing, and Spongites sp., Mes-

ophyllum sp., and Lithothamnion sp., growing on

serpulids and intergrowing with micrite crusts and

bryozoans. The red alga Peyssonnelia sp. was also

recorded. In some samples, fragments of L. pustula-

tum, Spongites sp., Amphiroa sp., and Corallina sp.

were found together with echinoid spines in the

sediment fill.

The algal assemblage indicates normal marine

shallow water. Although none of the species is a

precise palaeodepth indicator, the presence of com-

mon Lithophyllum, Spongites, and Neogoniolithon

species, and rare Mesophyllum and Lithothamnion,

which only appear as a few small plants, suggests

that the reef grew at depths less than 10–15 m

(Adey, 1986). Recent work places the depth limit of

h reef constructors and associated shells; sample ML16, +5.5 m. (B)

Fig. 5. Internal fabrics of reef. (A) Micrite-filled frame with coralline algae and wormtubes; sample ML18, +7.8 m. (B) Stromatolitic head in

micrite; sample ML07, +5.0 m. (C) Detail of stromatolite showing peloidal fabric; sample ML03, +4.6 m. (D) Coralline algal frame with

acicular cement (assumed aragonite); sample ML01, +4.7 m.


L. pustulatum (as Titanoderma pustulatum) in the

Mediterranean at about 10 m (Bressan and Babbini,

2003). L. pustulatum was found in samples at

several heights between 4.5 and 6.3 m above sea

level, and therefore occurs throughout at least the

central portion of the reef, and may occur in the

lower and upper portions. Abundance of Cladocora

also indicates shallow depth; this genus grows down

as deep as �50 m (although is rare below �30 m)

(Peirano et al., 1994)—this adds to the dataset of its

shallow marine setting.

Opaque Mn–Fe crusts encrusting corroded surfaces

within reef sediment and biota (Fig. 8) are morpho-

logically identical to those present in other Medi-

terranean reefs, for example in Sicily (Kershaw,

2000), and to modern Mn–Fe crusts in the Great

Barrier Reef, deposited as a component of microbial

action of electrochemical corrosion of the limestone

surfaces (Reitner, 1993). Preliminary work in progress

(with the Technological Institutes of Athens and

Crete) shows considerable similarity of dielectric

properties of Mn–Fe crusts between Mavra Litharia

and the Aci Trezza reef in Sicily, despite their large

distance apart, suggesting a similarity of formation

process.

Sediment in the reef comprises two temporally

separate facies: earlier fine-grained fill (with some

coarse grains) in the reef frame, and later fine to

coarse fill in dissolution cavities and unfilled

spaces. Earlier fill is micrite, with some commin-

uted shell debris and angular siliclastic fragments

washed in, and thus is wackestone; it fills most

space in the primary frame (Figs. 4A and 5A). Fig.

7A shows a serpulid bored by sponges, with slight

variations of early fill in the bored chambers.

Some of the coarse siliciclastic grains were used

by the agglutinated tube of a sabellariid worm

(Fig. 6D).

Fig. 6. Illustration of differences between early (fine) and later (coarser) reef-fill sediment. (A) Coralline algal thallus (Lithophyllum pustulatum)

in early fill, with coarser fill in empty shell and other spaces; sample ML03, +4.6 m. (B) Serpulid partly filled with early sediment (left) and with

later sediment (right); note the sharp contact between the two fill phases; sample ML04, +5.0 m. (C) Coralline thallus (L. pustulatum) coated

with microbial micrite, and then covered by later fill; sample ML04, +5.0 m. (D) View of early fill with shell debris; in centre is a cross section

through a sabellariid worm tube composed of angular clasts that were agglutinated into a tube; sample ML06, +5.4 m.


4.2. Karst

Mavra Litharia reef shows evidence of substantial

dissolution of reef structure, following lithification of

reef biota and sediment. Dissolution created vertical

to subhorizontal smooth-surfaced solution pipes,

wide enough at the top of the reef to form small

caves (Figs. 9 and 10). The pipe/cave system occurs

only within the reef, and not in the older limestone

bedrock substratum.

4.3. Post-karst colonisations and deposits

Dissolution surfaces were colonized by marine

biota, including serpulids, barnacles, and Lithophaga

(Figs. 9C, 10A and C, and 11D) and possible

microbial micrite and Mn–Fe (microbial) crusts

(Figs. 11C,D and 12). A Dendropoma sample (a

sea-level-critical gastropod) at +1.0 m dated to 1180–

910 years BP by Papageorgiou et al. (1993) (Table

1) is much younger than dates from the reef frame

(see below), and we interpret this to be part of this

later colonization episode. Speleothem deposits

comprise a 1–2 mm-thick rind of crystalline carbo-

nate, in places on the walls of the pipe/cave system

(Fig. 10A), overgrowing encrusters on the walls but

was nowhere observed to be overgrown or bored by

the marine organisms.

In contrast to the fine-grained nature of the early

fill, later fill (in the dissolution cavities) is dominated

Fig. 7. Details of reef development, prior to dissolution phase.

(A) Sponge-bored serpulid with fills that show at least two

events of boring and filling; sample ML14, +4.5 m. (B) Fine

sediment with early cavity filled with peloids; sample ML01,

+4.7 m.


by very abundant well-sorted angular to well-

rounded siliciclastic debris (Fig. 6), and in places

overlies fossils that colonized the solution surfaces.

In open spaces of the reef frame, the later fill com-

prises a micrite matrix, with very abundant angular

siliciclastic debris (Fig. 6C), and is superficially

similar to earlier fill; however, its later time of

formation is shown in Fig. 6B where a serpulid shell

was first infilled by fine sediment (left side quarter

of photo), then by coarse sediment (right side three-

quarters of photo), with a sharp boundary between

the two infills. The later fill is particularly noticeable

where it forms a coarse-grained deposit in a network

of dissolution pipes (see Section 4.2) that are now

exposed on the eroded reef surface (Fig. 10B), and

shows vadose cements in grain-supported portions

(Fig. 13).

4.4. Age of Mavra Litharia reef

Several authors have dated fossils from Mavra

Litharia reef, and a compilation of dates (Stiros and

Pirazzoli, 1998) is presented in Table 1, converted to

years BP. The growth period of the reef frame can be

estimated from data in Table 1. Dated samples

between 4.0 and 9.3 m consist of reef-frame compo-

nents and some accessory organisms, whereas the

lowest three samples are much younger and are

accessory organisms only. Also, field observations

show that the reef frame is not preserved below ca. 2

m because of modern erosion, so we presume that the

lowest three samples in Table 1 were collected from

the surface of the Mesozoic bedrock. Only one of

these samples is a sea-level-critical sample (Dendro-

poma at +1.0 m), and so apart from this one, the biota

cannot provide precise interpretations of uplift rates.

We therefore deduce that the reef grew between ca.

10,000 and ca. 6000 years BP; reasons why the reef

stopped growing at ca. 6000 years BP are discussed

later.

5. Discussion

5.1. Major trends

The history of Mavra Litharia reef is constrained

by Holocene sea-level change in the Gulf of Corinth.

During the last glacial phase, gulf level fell to the

depth of the Rio Strait; thus the gulf became a lake

(Lake Corinth). Currently at ca. �60 m (Collier et

al., 2000; Perissoratis et al., 2000; Perissoratis and

Conispoliatis, 2003), the sill was likely to be ca. 1 m

shallower in the early Holocene because it has been

steadily subsiding through the Quaternary (Perissor-

atis et al., 2000; see Fig. 14); 59 m is used in

calculations below. Following deglaciation, Mediter-

ranean sea level breached the Rio Strait at ca. 11,500

years BP (Perissoratis and Conispoliatis, 2003; see

Fig. 14), and returned the gulf to marine conditions.

The reef’s oldest dated fossils have a maximum

possible age of 9280–8730 years BP (see Table 1

derived from (Stiros and Pirazzoli, 1998); it is

reasonable to presume that the reef would not have

grown immediately after 11,500 years BP, because

several tens of metres of sea-level rise would be

Fig. 8. Mn–Fe crusts on reef sediment. (A) Sawn block showing the abundant distribution of Mn–Fe crusts (dark lines); sample ML06, +5.4 m.

(B and D) Details of Mn–Fe crusts on corroded surfaces; sample ML01, +4.7 m, and ML04, +5.0 m, respectively. (C) Multiple crusts; sample

ML07, + 5.0 m.


required to bring the water level up to the appropriate

level for growth of Mavra Litharia reef, discussed in

Section 5.5. Also some time may be expected for the

waters of Lake Corinth to become normal marine to

support a marine community, so beginning of reef

growth is likely to have been ca. 10,000 years BP,

close to the oldest date (Table 1). Although Mavra

Litharia lies on an uplifting footwall, it also appears to

sit in a transfer zone between the footwall of the

Akrata Fault and the hanging wall of the Voutismo

Fault (Sorel, 2000); the latter seems to be equivalent

to the Xylokastro Fault according Fig. 1 of Sorel

(2000).

At Mavra Litharia, recent uplift at the site is

arguably coseismic, based on well-preserved shell

remains (Papageorgiou et al., 1993) and the

archaeological record (Stiros, 1998). West of Mavra

Litharia, active vertical movement along the Eliki

Fault is an established feature of the geology and

landscape (Soter, 1998; Stewart, 1996; Stewart and

Vita-Finzi, 1996). Nevertheless, aseismic uplift is

likely to be the major process. West of Mavra

Litharia, recent work suggests vertical fault move-

ment rates of ca. 1.5 mm/year that changed drainage

patterns of the Kerynites River, which also involves

complex movements of the transfer zones between

east and west Eliki Faults (Pavlides et al., 2003).

The loss of the town of Helike may or may not be

related to fault movement (Mouyaris et al., 1992).

The well-known pattern of reverse drainage due to

footwall block rotation south of the Gulf may also

influence Mavra Litharia because a dry valley

(dwind gapT) lies upslope from the site (Zelilidis,

2000; Fig. 9); thus the site may have previously

Fig. 9. Outcrop views of small caves in reef, in cross section, 25 m west of the Roman harbour. (A) Larger open caves, ca. +8 m, near upper part

of reef pass downwards to more horizontal irregular cavities (arrows), shown in detail in (B) and (C), where the cave walls are smooth and

curved. At the top of (C) is a row of Lithophaga borings (arrow) which drilled upwards into the cave roof.


received alluvium, providing a source for some of

the clastic material in the reef sediment. Studies of

sediment cores in the marginal Aliki Lagoon, near

Egion (Kontopoulos and Avramadis, 2003), show

interpreted tsunamis related to frequent movement

of the Egion Fault; it is possible that some

siliciclastics in the Mavra Litharia reef were carried

onshore by tsunamis.

5.2. Control and timing of karst formation

Field and thin section observations show that

Mavra Litharia reef was fully formed and lithified

before being subjected to dissolution. Dissolution that

formed the pipe/cave system required undersaturation

with respect to calcium carbonate, but whether

dissolution was due to phreatic or vadose processes

needs to be determined before the history of the site

can be fully established.

Although the dissolution kinetics of carbonates is

complex (Morse and Arvidson, 2002), karst forms

due to dissolution of limestones by undersaturated or

acid waters, and this is commonly associated with

subaerial environments involving rainwater,

enhanced by soil-derived humic acids, forming caves

(LaFleur, 1984). Phreatic dissolution involving acids

formed from sulphur is also well known (Mylroie

and Carew, 1995; Palmer, 1995). The Capitan Reef

Fig. 10. (A) Side-view detail of upper cave wall at top of Fig. 9A, showing smooth surface and small serpulid encrusters; white patch on right is

a modern crystalline calcite deposit on the cave wall; +7.8 m. (B) Oblique plan view of a partly exposed sinuous solution pipe (arrowed),

containing late fill, ca. +5 m. (C) Detail of floor of another solution pipe showing encrusting barnacles, +5 m.


caves in New Mexico formed due to sulphuric acid

release from buried hydrocarbons (Hill, 1999);

however, there is no indication of such a control in

Mavra Litharia. Furthermore, dissolution pervades

the vertical exposure of Mavra Litharia reef, and so

cannot be applied to identify previous sea levels; this

requires dissolution along a single level (Mylroie and

Carew, 1995).

Caves form easily in limestones in the mixing

zone between salt and fresh water (Forti, 1993; Forti

and Francavilla, 1993), often with complex and

jagged surface form (Mylroie and Carew, 1995)

with much porosity, often therefore called bSwissCheeseQ morphology. In Mavra Litharia, however,

only smooth-margined pipes and caves occur, except

where Mn–Fe crusts formed (see Fig. 8). This

evidence indicates that dissolution by fresh water

created the pipe/cave system, not mixing zone

processes. In solution pipes, flow is commonly

concentrated downwards into fewer and thinner

pipes, below the water table (Palmer, 1995), which

is also observed in Mavra Litharia reef.

Base level in sedimentary systems is normally

regarded as the topographic level that distinguishes

erosion from deposition, and often coincides with sea

level. However, that distinction does not apply to

karst because dissolution can take place below as

well as above sea level (Jennings, 1985). Climate

change can influence the formation of limestone

dissolution in coastal areas; in humid conditions,

excess rainfall forces down the boundary between

fresh and salt water within a saturated rock mass, so

that in the mixing zone, dissolution of limestone is

not related to sea level (Mylroie and Carew, 1995).

Fig. 11. (A and B) Outcrop view details of microbial encrustation on walls of small solution pipe, +4.5 m; filled square in (B) represents

locations of (C) and (D). (C and D) Photomicrographs of sections of contact between reef (to right of irregular dark line) and microbial fill to

left; here the reef frame is corroded and coated with Mn–Fe crusts, then covered by microbial micrite containing small encrusters; sample

ML13, +4.5 m.


Al

Fe(KA)

Cavityfill

Reef

Ca

Fe(UD)Mg Mn

Si

A

B

Fig. 12. (A) SEM microprobe spectrum from Mn–Fe crust in sample ML13. (B) Backscatter SEM (top left) and elemental maps showing distribution of selected elements in reef wall

(to left), Mn–Fe crusts (prominent line), demonstrating the Mn–Fe domination of the crusts, and micrite fill (to right).

S.Kersh

awet

al./Marin

eGeology215(2005)171–192

184

Fig. 13. Photomicrographs of the late sedimentary fill, coarse debris within the solution pipes, showing vadose cementation at grain contacts;

sample ML19, +6 m.


Extent of dissolution is also related to time available

and nature of dissolving waters; thus in locations

where freshwater dissolution occurred in a single

phase, there was either: a) a short period of uplift

above sea level to enable dissolution to create a

0

-50

-100

depthbeneathmodernsealevel (m)

debemoselev (m

debemoselev (m

D

12 ka0 108642

A

C

B

Rio Straitsill, c.-60 m

Fig. 14. (A) Location of Rio sill at west end of Gulf of Corinth. (B and C) T

alternative interpretations by Collier et al. (2000) and Perissoratis et al. (20

consistent with the 11,500 years BP interpreted by Perissoratis and Conisp

eustatic rise and an unknown component of hydro-isostatic subsidence, di

cavity system (Mylroie and Carew, 1995); or b) a

temporary large input of fresh water to cause

dissolution below sea level. Both alternatives are

considered for Mavra Litharia reef, in Sections 5.3

and 5.4, and are summarized in Fig. 15B.

0 20 40 60 ka

mostlylacustrine

4.2

2.2 lacustrine

50 ka

marine

mar

ine

interpreted thresholdbetween marine andnon-marine gulf water(Perissoratis et al.2000)

interpreted thresholdbetween marine andnon-marine gulf water (Collier et al.2000)

0

-50

-100

pthneathdern

ael)

0

-50

-100

-150

pthneathdern

ael)

he effect of the Rio Strait on Gulf of Corinth water, according to two

00). Note that the Gulf became marine ca. 11,000 years BP, which is

oliatis (2003). (D) Sea-level curve for Mavra Litharia, incorporating

scussed in the text.

Fig. 15. (A) Summary interpreted history of the Mavra Litharia reef, showing sea-level positions and tectonic uplift changes; not to scale. (B) Alternative pathways depending upon

the interpretation of the setting of the dissolution caves and pipes. The interpretation involving pluvial activity without sea-level change is considered more likely; see text for

explanation.

S.Kersh

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al./Marin

eGeology215(2005)171–192

186


5.3. Were pipes and caves formed below sea level?

There are several possible causes to focus fresh

water into any location, and three are applicable to

Mavra Litharia site. First, dissolution in the reef

may have occurred due to river drainage switching

following fault movement associated with an

earthquake, focusing water input to the area

(Pavlides et al., 2003). Second, seismic shock has

potential to increase groundwater discharge, which

could promote dissolution at Mavra Litharia (Muir-

Wood, 1993; Muir-Wood and King, 1993). Recent

results from the Corinth Rift Laboratory project

show that the faults provide conduits for fluid

flow, especially along-strike (Micarelli et al., 2003),

and there is no doubt of the modern fault activity

in the area, indicated by the 1995 earthquake at

Egion (Koukouvelas, 1998). Increased groundwater

flow could force down the water table and lead to

dissolution of the reef below sea level entirely in

fresh water (not the mixing zone), so that this

mechanism could apply equally above and below

sea level. However, the key problem with accept-

ing fault-related groundwater flow as the principal

control on the dissolution at Mavra Litharia is that

the sedimentary and biotic evidence we presented

above shows a single phase of karstification, which

affects only the reef and not its bedrock substrate;

this is inconsistent with the known long time of

activity on faults in the area; long-term karstification

would be expected to have affected the bedrock, and

resulted in more than one phase of dissolution.

Third, dissolution may instead be due to increased

rainfall, building a sufficient meteoric head to flood

fresh waters down from the hills that lie to the south

of the locality, coupled with rainfall, and this could

operate below sea level as water penetrates down-

wards into the rock. This situation could be

explained in the context of a sustained period of

climatic humidity known to be a feature of the

Mediterranean region (including north Africa)

throughout the early to mid Holocene (Roberts,

1998, pp. 114–123). In North Africa, between ca.

8000–7000 years BP, lacustrine facies coincide with

widespread settlement, which declined from ca. 6500

years BP onwards as the climate dried up (Petit-

Maire, 1991). This result is corroborated from

studies on the salt caves of Mount Sedom, Israel

(Frumkin and Elitzur, 2002; Frumkin et al., 1991),

which show a moist stage before 7000 years BP;

subsequent aridification was accompanied by drop in

the Dead Sea level from �300 m to �400 m.

Carbon and oxygen isotope data from Sudan show a

cold and wet phase from 8500 to 7000 years BP

(Williams et al., 2000). Nevertheless, Holocene

records of the western and eastern Mediterranean

differ (Magny et al., 2002); in the west, the second

half of the Holocene was warmer and drier than the

first half; in the east, which must include the Gulf of

Corinth, the history is more complex, but shows a

wet phase 6000–5830 years BP, in contrast to drier

conditions preceding and following that time. If

pluvial activity in the Mediterranean influenced the

Gulf of Corinth, then such processes could be the

reason why the Mavra Litharia site underwent an

apparently short-lived phase of cave and pipe

formation. Lack of karstification in the bedrock

below the reef is likely due to its more strongly

cemented structure; thus there was enough time for

the porous and softer reef fabric to be invaded, but

not the bedrock below it. Dates of the reef

components are consistent with the interpretation of

a short-lived dissolution phase because Cladocora

and Spondylus samples, and two Lithophaga shells,

pre-date the pluvial phase (Table 1), showing that the

reef was substantially, if not completely, formed

prior to pluvial activity in the east Mediterranean.

Finally, in order for dissolution to affect Mavra

Litharia reef below sea level, without influencing the

neighbouring bedrock, the top of the reef is likely to

have been emerged. Thus we interpret that the reef’s

upper surface received rainwater directly, so that

dissolution could develop within the reef structure,

and not involving surrounding cemented bedrock.

5.4. Were pipes and caves formed above sea level?

In order to form the pipe/cave system entirely by

vadose dissolution, above sea level, then the reef

must have been uplifted, but then resubmerged soon

after dissolution to allow marine recolonisation of

cave walls, followed by uplift to present position.

The key problem with this interpretation is the

limited time available for uplift, resubmergence, and

re-uplift; note the following two points: a) reef

growth was probably completed by the mid-Hol-


ocene (dates from Table 1); and b) mid-Holocene

sea level (ca. 5000–6000 years BP) was possibly at

ca. �1.5 m (Antonioli et al., 2003) or as much as

�3 m (Stiros and Pirazzoli, 1998); �3 m is

predicted by modelling for the French Mediterra-

nean coast (Lambeck and Bard, 2000), but marine

encrusters on the cave/pipe walls occur up to 8 m

above modern sea level. Thus, vadose dissolution to

create the pipe/cave system would require up to at

least 8 m rapid uplift (coseismic?) followed by at

least 8 m rapid subsidence because the 1.5–3 m sea-

level rise since 6000–5000 years BP is insufficient

to flood the cavities up to the maximum 8 m height

of preserved recolonising marine biota. The tectonic

setting, of persistent uplift of the south side of Gulf

of Corinth, makes such large, rapid, up-and-down

movements very unlikely; nevertheless, coseismic

uplift alone (applied by other authors to operate in

the region, as described above) could have been

responsible for emerging the reef top to initiate

dissolution.

5.5. Reef growth, sea-level change, and tectonic uplift

We interpret that the reef frame grew between

ca. 10,000 and ca. 6000 years BP, and that

dissolution to form the pipe/cave system occurred

soon after 5993 years BP (the youngest date of the

reef frame, see Table 1, rounded here to 6000 years

BP) because this coincides with the wet phase

recognized by Magny et al. (2002). Holocene sea-

level rise became very slow after ca. 6000 years

BP, and the reef would then have continued to be

uplifted, taking it into very shallow water and

ultimately emerged. Because the preserved part of

the reef shows no zonation of biota, it never grew

into shallow water. The relative uplift rate of 3

mm/year (derived from Stiros, 1998) since Roman

times may be an absolute uplift rate because sea

level has not risen much in that time, and sea level

has risen by only 1.5–3.0 m since 5000–6000 years

BP (see earlier). Applying the 3 mm/year rate in

reverse, the height of the top of the reef (its oldest

parts; see Table 1) at 10,000 years BP below its

present position is 30 m, equaling 20.7 m below

modern sea level, and is broadly consistent with its

growth in ca. 10 m water depth. The height of the

reef top above the Rio sill, which was at �59 m in

early Holocene (see Fig. 14), was therefore 38.3 m

(=59–20.7).

However, a discrepancy arises in the location of

the reef when sea-level rise rates are used instead

to determine the reef’s vertical position during its

growth. The Rio sill was overtopped by rising post-

glacial sea level at 11,500 years BP, so sea level

rose a total of 60 m in 11,500 years. Sea level has

changed by no more than 3 m in the last 6000

years, so the sea-level rise between 11,500 years

BP and 6000 years BP is ca. 57 m in 5500 years, a

rate of 10.36 mm/year. This places beginning of

reef growth (at ca. 10,000 years BP) at 5.5 m

above the Rio sill (15.5 m of sea-level rise less 10

m of water depth), which requires an uplift rate of

6.8 mm/year to raise the reef from 5.5 m to its

present height of 68.3 m (=59+9.3) above the Rio

sill. This rate is more than double the maximum

rate calculated by Stiros (1998) and Stiros and

Pirazzoli (1998), and cannot be correct. Large

coseismic uplift jumps, which have been applied

to coastlines in Rhodes and Crete (Pirazzoli et al.,

1989), cannot contribute to such a high uplift rate

because of ecological depth constraint in Mavra

Litharia reef; large movements would have inter-

rupted reef growth, but coseismic uplift at the end

of reef growth may have been responsible for

partial emergence and dissolution. Nevertheless,

overall, a fast uplift rate cannot be accommodated

in this system.

However, the discrepancy between uplift rates

and sea-level rise rates can be solved if the sea-level

rate was very fast, beginning just before the early

Holocene, and slowed down to permit reef growth.

A sea-level rise rate of ca. 25.6 mm/year between

11,500 and 10,000 years BP produces 38.4 m of

rise, sufficient to take up the difference, raising sea

level to �20.6 (59–38.4) m, close to the �20.7 m

calculated by reversing uplift rates. Evidence from a

variety of sources indicate pulses of rapid sea-level

rise in the period relating to climate change

associated with glacial Lake Agassiz and collapse

of the Younger Dryas cool phase (Hu et al., 1997),

with one pulse (Meltwater Pulse 1B; see Webster,

2004) coinciding with the 11,500 years BP over-

topping of the Rio sill, and associated with the

youngest Heinrich layer H-0, and a transient

maximum sea-level rise of maximum 70 mm/year


(Blanchon and Shaw, 1995). The deglaciation sea-

level change shows a plateau between 12,500 and

11,500 years BP for the Younger Dryas, followed

by rise at average 15.2 mm/year between 11,500

and 8500 years BP (Lambeck et al., 2002), although

note that this is an average. Rates of ca. 25 mm/

year sea level rise at that time are also reported (see

Fig. 2 of Perissoratis and Conispoliatis, 2003, after

Bard et al., 1990b), consistent with calculations

presented in this paper. No data that give shoreline

positions during this time are published (Perissoratis

and Conispoliatis, 2003, pp. 146–147), so the Mavra

Litharia reef could be giving the first proxy

evidence of rapid sea-level rise in the Gulf of

Corinth from 11,500 to 10,000 years BP.

Between ca. 10,000–6000 years BP, reef grew

while sea level rose from ca. �20.5 to �3 m, a rate

of 4.4 mm/year. Comparing this with a maximum

uplift rate of 3 mm/year means that sea level rose by

17.5 m compared to 12 m of uplift during those

4000 years. This difference can explain why the reef

does not contain any sea-level-critical species

because it could not catch up the sea-level rise. It

is also possible that the reef could have been steadily

drowned, and that could explain why the latest date

for the reef frame is ca. 6000 years BP. In contrast,

however, emergence of the reef top seems necessary

to permit downward penetration of fresh water for

dissolution in the reef alone. The present reef

outcrop extends from ca. 2 to 9.3 m above sea

level; it is clearly an eroded remnant of what was

presumably a much larger, more vertically extensive

structure, and its top could have emerged while most

of it lay below sea level. The preserved remnant may

well represent the deeper-water portion of a structure

which had sea-level-critical biota in its upper parts

that are not preserved. Stiros and Pirazzoli (1998, p.

31) calculated that before 7140F95 years BP, sea-

level rise exceeded uplift, after which time the

reverse occurred. If the interplay of sea-level change

and uplift proceeded as interpreted in this paper, then

the switch to uplift dominance would have taken

place a little later, at ca. 6000 years BP; nevertheless,

much depends on the timing of Holocene sea-level

rise deceleration, which could be earlier than 6000

years BP. It is also possible that the pluvial phase

around that time could have contributed to lowering

salinity around the reef, arresting organic growth, but

this cannot be determined on present evidence. Two

further points are relevant: 1) because Mavra Litharia

reef is an eroded remnant, calculation of its growth

rate has not been possible; 2) there is no present reef

structure at Mavra Litharia, or elsewhere in the Gulf

of Corinth, and so the controls on development of

reefs in the area presumably include factors we have

not identified in this study.

The rate of uplift applied in this paper is the

maximum possible at 3 mm/year. If, however, the

rate of uplift was the 1.7 mm/year lowest rate quoted

by Stiros and Pirazzoli (1998), then the reef’s

position would have been only 7.7 m below modern

sea level at 10,000 years BP, and this would require

a sea-level rise rate of 34.2 mm/year for sea level to

have risen sufficiently to form the reef at that level.

Because 34.2 mm/year rise seems too high even for

catastrophic glacial collapse, our results suggest that

the interplay of uplift and sea-level rise is best

accommodated by a combination of uplift at ca. 3

mm/year and a sea-level rise sequence of: 25.6 mm/

year between 11,500 and 10,000 years BP, 4.4 mm/

year between 10,000 and 6000 years BP, and ca. 0.5

mm/year from 6000 to 0 years BP. The sequence is

summarized in Figs. 14 and 15. We accept that a 3

mm/year rate of uplift is higher than that quoted by

some authors (e.g., Armijo et al., 1996), and may be

considered unsatisfactory by some workers, but

emphasise that the Mavra Litharia reef is a remnant

of a presumably larger structure, and that results

presented here appear to be the best compromise

using present evidence from that site.

Included within calculations of rates of sea-level

and tectonic movements on the vertical position of

Mavra Litharia reef is an unknown hydro-isostatic

component. Although nominally 100 m of sea-level

rise induces ca. 30 m of hydro-isostatic subsidence

(van Andel, 1994), and therefore 60 m rise in the

Gulf of Corinth would lead to a total hydro-isostatic

depression of ca. 20 m, the actual response is

complicated by the uneven shape of the Gulf of

Corinth and its surrounding land, and the unknown

response of a coastal-bounding fault to increased

water loading on its hangingwalls. Whether faults on

the south side of the Gulf of Corinth may have been

activated to produce coseismic footwall jumps by

increased weight on hangingwalls cannot be deter-

mined in this study. The problems of response of the


Earth’s crust and asthenosphere in response to the

extra loading are exacerbated by difficulties of

predicting the rheological process (Lambeck and

Bard, 2000, p. 205), and in the case of the Gulf of

Corinth, by the uncertainties in interpretation of the

nature of plate boundary configuration beneath

southern Greece (Leeder et al., 2003). However,

we presume that the position of the Rio sill at 11,500

years BP was higher than its current �60 m due to

the lower hydro-isostatic depression operating then;

thus the rates of eustatic sea-level rise would be

lower than those quoted here.

6. Conclusions

1. The coral–algal reef at Mavra Litharia grew

between ca. 10,000 and ca. 6000 years BP, during

the post-glacial sea-level rise that overtopped the

sill at Rio (western end of Gulf of Corinth) from

11,500 years BP onwards. Prior to that date, the

gulf was lacustrine. Between 11,500 and 10,000

years BP, sea level is interpreted to have risen a

maximum of 38.4 m, at 25.6 mm/year maximum,

relating to deglaciation.

2. Mavra Litharia reef frame grew in ca. 10 m of

water depth, based on the assemblage of coralline

algal species in its frame.

3. During reef growth, the rate of sea-level rise was

4.4 mm/year, a little faster than the tectonic uplift

rate of maximum 3 mm/year, so the reef grew in

water that was steadily deepening, preventing it

from developing sea-level-critical biota, at least in

the portion that is preserved in outcrop.

4. ca. 6000 years BP, the reef was subjected to a

single phase of dissolution (see Magny et al.,

2002), producing a pipe/cave system only in the

reef and not in the massive bedrock beneath it.

We interpret the pipe/cave system to be best

explained by dissolution beneath sea level caused

by large-scale pluvial activity as part of the mid-

Holocene pluvial phase. Nevertheless, the reef

top is presumed to have been emerged when

dissolution occurred.

5. After the pluvial phase ended, pipes/caves were

recolonised by marine organisms but the reef

continued to be uplifted to its present position.

The lower three samples in Table 1 grew during

this latest phase of the site’s history. It seems that

most of the reef was removed by erosion in the last

few thousand years, and only a remnant remains.

Thus, if the reef frame grew again after the

dissolution phase, the evidence has been removed.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to staff at IGME, Athens, for their

continuing support for our work in Greece, by

providing permission to study the Mavra Litharia

site. S.K. thanks Brunel University for facilities in

the preparation of this paper, and in particular Prof.

Alan Reynolds for help with SEM analysis. Philip

Collins (Brunel) provided much insight in discus-

sion. We are grateful to Stathis Stiros (Patras) and an

anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier

version of this paper.

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