RECONSTRUCTING SEA-LEVEL CHANGES ON THE EASTERN ADRIATIC SEA (CROATIA) - AN OVERVIEW

• Published in: Geoadria Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 181 - 199
• Main Author: Suric, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Croatian
• Published: 01.01.2009
• Subjects: Marine; MED, Croatia; MED, Adriatic Sea
• ISSN: 1331-2294

Rocky karstified coast, low tidal range, indented shoreline with numerous islands, diverse coastal biocenoses, abundant palaeontological, archaeological and historical evidence, relatively dense tide-gauge stations and developing GPS network - all these facts offer optimal prerequisite for the sea-level changes studies on the Croatian coast. Through various methodological approaches (geomorphological, biostratigraphical, archaeological/historical, mareographic, geodetic, radiometric), most of these issues have been used in order to reconstruct relative sea and land motions, yielding scattered and sometimes erroneous results. Unfortunately, some of them have been often uncritically used as the basis for the subsequent research. Only recently, with multidisciplinary approach, sequences of relative sea-level variations have been successfully revealed, but opportunities that eastern Adriatic coast offers will, undoubtedly, ensure relatively rapid research progress.Original Abstract: Stjenovita okrsena obala, male amplitude morskih mijena, razvedena obala s brojnim otocima, razlicite priobalne biocenoze, mnostvo paleontoloskih, arheoloskih i historijskih ostataka, dovoljan broj mareografskih postaja te razvoj GPS mreze - sve to nudi optimalne preduvjete za istrazivanja promjena morske razine na hrvatskoj obali. Razlicitim metodoloskim pristupima (geomorfoloskim, biostratigrafskim, arheoloskim, historijskim, mareografskim, geodetskim, radiometrijskim), vecina ovih pogodnosti bila je koristena s ciljem rekonstruiranja relativnih pomaka morske razine i kopna. Medutim, proizasli rezultati bili su tockasti i nerijetko pogresni, i takvi su cesto bili nekriticki koristeni kao temelj novih istrazivanja. Multidisdplinarnim pristupom tek su posljednjih godina djelomicno rekonstruirane promjene relativne morske razine, a brojne pogodnosti istocne obale Jadrana nesumnjivo ce omoguciti razmjerno brz napredak istrazivanja.