Sedimentation and subsidence rate in the Gulf of Corinth: what we learn from the Marion Dufresneʹs long-piston coring

Long-piston coring in the central Gulf of Corinth Basin was performed in 2001 on board the RSS Marion Dufresne, enabling the recovery of lacustrine sediments buried at 12–13.5 mbsf below Holocene marine sediments. The lacustrine sequence consists of varve-like muddy, organically rich, layers interbedded with silty and fine sand turbidites. AMS dating determined the age of the marine-lacustrine interface at 13 kyr BP. Vertical fault slip rates were measured by using fault offsets of correlated reflectors. The maximum subsidence rate of the depocentre (3.6 mm yr−1) exceeds the maximum sedimentation rate by 1.8 mm yr−1, which, consequently, corresponds to the rate of deepening of the basin floor. Data on the water level during the last glacial period indicate that the Corinth–Lake level was about 80 m lower than the present sea level. Inflow of seawater through the Rio–Antirio sill, as a consequence of the last eustatic sea level rise, may have caused catastrophic marine flooding phenomena in the Gulf of Corinth, similar to the one reported from the Black Sea. To cite this article: I. Moretti et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).