The Evolution of the Albufereta Lagoon (Western Mediterranean): Climate Cycles and Sea-Level Changes

Ferrer Garcia, C., and Blazquez Morilla, A.M., 2012. The evolution of the Albufereta Lagoon (Western Mediterranean): Climate cycles and sea-level changes. Journal of Coastal Research, 28(6), 1617-1626. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The results from analyses of cores and pits carried out during two research campaigns in the littoral lagoon of Albufereta d'Alacant (Western Mediterranean) shed light on the sedimentary dynamics of this area. The erosive sequence and stages recorded in periods prior to the Middle Holocene bear witness to the environmental changes that occurred in the littoral zone between isotope stages 2 and 1 in relation to the rise in sea level during the Holocene. As the rise in the sea level slowed, a freshwater lagoon environment formed around 4000 YBP. After that time, the changes in the littoral environment became less pronounced and were caused by atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. Around 3000 YBP, a lagoon open to the sea emerged as the result of a relative change in the sea level. This environment lasted approximately until 1500 YBP. The prolonged survival of the lagoon created by this event and the increase in the marine influence during the later stages of the lagoon's development may be connected with human management of the environment in the Roman era. It was followed by a restricted lagoon environment characterized by cyclical changes in the environment lasting hundreds of years.