Caspian Sea-Level Changes During the Last Millennium
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EGU Journal Logos (RGB) Open Access Open Access Open Access Advances in Annales Nonlinear Processes Geosciences Geophysicae in Geophysics Open Access Open Access Natural Hazards Natural Hazards and Earth System and Earth System Sciences Sciences Discussions Open Access Open Access Atmospheric Atmospheric Chemistry Chemistry and Physics and Physics Discussions Open Access Open Access Atmospheric Atmospheric Measurement Measurement Techniques Techniques Discussions Open Access Open Access Biogeosciences Biogeosciences Discussions Open Access Open Access Clim. Past, 9, 1645–1665, 2013 Climate www.clim-past.net/9/1645/2013/ Climate doi:10.5194/cp-9-1645-2013 of the Past of the Past © Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Discussions Open Access Open Access Earth System Earth System Dynamics Dynamics Discussions Caspian sea-level changes during the last millennium: Open Access Open Access historical and geological evidence from the south CaspianGeoscientific Sea Geoscientific Instrumentation Instrumentation A. Naderi Beni1, H. Lahijani2, R. Mousavi Harami1, K. Arpe3,4, S. A. G. Leroy4, N. MarrinerMethods5, M. Berberianand 6, Methods and V. Andrieu-Ponel7, M. Djamali7, A. Mahboubi1, and P. J. Reimer8 Data Systems Data Systems 1Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Discussions Open Access 2Marine Geology Department, Iranian National Institute for Oceanography (INIO), Tehran, Iran Open Access 3 Geoscientific Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany Geoscientific 4Institute for the Environment, Brunel University, UB8 3PH Uxbridge, London, UK Model Development 5 Model Development Aix-Marseille Universite,´ CNRS, CEREGE, UMR6635 – IRD, CEREGE, UMR161 – College` de France, CEREGE, Discussions 13545 Aix en Provence cedex 4, France 6School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ 08754-2001, USA Open Access Open Access 7Institut Mediterran´ een´ de Biodiversite´ et d’Ecologie UMR7263 CNRS/Aix-Marseille UniversitHydrologye´ – Europ oleandˆ Mediterran ´ een´ Hydrology and de l’Arbois – Pavillon Villemin – BP 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France 8School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast,Earth BT7 1NN, System Northern Ireland, UK Earth System Sciences Sciences Correspondence to: A. Naderi Beni ([email protected]) Discussions Open Access Received: 13 February 2013 – Published in Clim. Past Discuss.: 12 March 2013 Open Access Revised: 31 May 2013 – Accepted: 3 June 2013 – Published: 29 July 2013 Ocean Science Ocean Science Discussions Abstract. Historical literature may constitute a valuable 1 Introduction source of information to reconstruct sea-level changes. Here, Open Access historical documents and geological records have been com- The Caspian Sea (CS) has been characterized byOpen Access substantial bined to reconstruct Caspian sea-level (CSL) changes during fluctuations during its geological lifetime (Varushchenko et Solid Earth the last millennium. In addition to a comprehensive litera- al., 1987; Rychagov, 1997; DolukhanovSolid Earth et al., 2010). It is be- ture review, new data from two short sediment cores were lieved that climate-induced changes are the main reason for Discussions obtained from the south-eastern Caspian coast to identify the Caspian sea-level (CSL) fluctuations by influencing the coastal change driven by water-level changes and to com- hydrological budget of the sea (Arpe et al., 2000, 2012; Arpe pare the results with other geological and historical findings. and Leroy, 2007). According to the latitudinalOpen Access extension of Open Access The overall results indicate a high-stand during the Little Ice the CS and its watershed from dry low-latitude to temperate The Cryosphere Age, up to −21 m (and extra rises due to manmade river high-latitude climatesThe (Fig. Cryosphere 1), and in view of the ongoing Discussions avulsion), with a −28 m low-stand during the Medieval Cli- global warming, it provides a good opportunity to investigate mate Anomaly, while presently the CSL stands at −26.5 m. the impacts of global climate variations on sea level and their A comparison of the CSL curve with other lake systems and socio-economic consequences (Gumilev,¨ 1980; Dolukhanov proxy records suggests that the main sea-level oscillations et al., 2010). Historical and archaeological documents show are essentially paced by solar irradiance. Although the ma- that the CS has experienced frequent sea-level oscillations jor controller of the long-term CSL changes is driven by cli- during the historical period. The CSL changes generated matological factors, the seismicity of the basin creates local marked socio-economic impacts on the surrounding soci- changes in base level. These local base-level changes should eties such as coastal property destruction, major tribal migra- be considered in any CSL reconstruction. tions and the rise/fall of civilizations (Gumilev,¨ 1964, 1980; Letolle,´ 2000; Rekavandi et al., 2007). Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 1646 A. Naderi Beni et al.: Caspian sea-level changes during the last millennium Historical documents may provide valuable informa- N 45 50 55 60 60 50 50 tion on Late Holocene geological events such as tsunamis N N Oka 45 (Dotsenko et al., 2002; Shah-hosseini et al., 2011), earth- 0 400 km V Ural 50 olga quakes (Ambraseys and Melville, 1982; Berberian, 1994; Ural River 40 Terek V olga River Berberian and Yeats, 1999), climatic variability (Brown, Sulak Caspian 40 SamurKura Sea 35 Gorgan 45 50 55 60 2001; Okhravi and Djamali, 2003), and sea-level changes Sefidrud 40 50 Syr-Darya (Bruckner,¨ 1890; Varushchenko et al., 1987; Karpychev, 45 North Caspian basin 45 2001). The cultural evolution of human societies has mainly Aral Terek River Kazakhstan Sea occurred during the Holocene that has, in turn, undergone 20 significant environmental changes (Mayewski et al., 2004). Russia Amu-dary basin Caucasus Mountains Middle Caspian Uzbekistan Black Kh ā Historical and archaeological evidence is therefore particu- 200 ā Sea Georgia Derbent 600 razm z Sarykamish Gol larly pertinent in understanding human–environment inter- Caspian ā ā-Bog Armenia ār actions (Berberian et al., 2012). 40 Azerbaijan Sea K Bay KuraRiver Apsheron Sill 40 Baku Holocene Caspian sea-level (CSL) changes have been Uzboy passTurkmenistan Turkey 200 600 Turkmenb Cheleken āshi a key focus of geological research (Mamedov, 1997; Aras River Bay 800 South Caspian Lankarān Rychagov, 1997; Kroonenberg et al., 2000; Karpychev, 2001; Ardébil 1000 Kopeh D Tā Astārā 800 basin lelsh 20 āgh Kazancı et al., 2004; Hoogendoorn et al., 2005; Lahijani Urumiyeh Atrak River Z ā Lake ān River gros Mountains Chālus Gorg et al., 2009; Dolukhanov et al., 2010; Leroy et al., 2011; Alamut 35 Sefidrud Khazar Fault Iraq Ruyān Kakroodi et al., 2012; Naderi Beni et al., 2013), mostly based 35 Alborz Mountains on the indirect interpretation of a variety of proxy data. 40 45 50 55 Iran 60 Direct instrumental measurements of the CSL fluctua- E tions only began in the mid-nineteenth century (Leroy et al., Mountain Water City Thrust Strike Slip International River Caspian Fault Border Watershed 2006). Leroy et al. (2006) showed a good correlation be- Body Fault tween proxy-based interpretations and instrumental observa- Fig. 1. Modern map of the Caspian Sea and its seaboard countries. tions starting from 1871 in the Kar¯ a-Bog¯ az¯ Gol on the eastern The positions of the Aral Sea, the main rivers as well as the re- coast of the Caspian Sea (CS) (Fig. 1). Due to the relatively gion’s main faults are highlighted. The inset on the top left shows short time frame of instrumental observations, palaeoenvi- the whole watershed area of the Caspian Sea. The inset on the top ronmental data contribute to extend the length of the sea- right shows the recent earthquake epicentres of the region based on level records, which, in turn, may be accompanied by some Jackson et al. (2002). uncertainties. One of the ways to decrease the uncertainties relating to the pre-instrumental geological data is to corre- 2 Geographical setting late the results with historical evidence recorded in ancient literature. 2.1 General view Although the history of civilization in the Caspian region dates back to more than 6000 yr ago (Gilbert, 1978), little The CS has a surface area of 360 000 km2 and 3.5 mil- literature pre-dating the last millennium is available to com- lion km2 of catchment area and is surrounded by five coun- pare and contrast with geological interpretations. In light of tries: Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan this, we here focus on the last millennium (the tenth to twen- (Fig. 1). Due to its vast area, the lake is referred to as a “sea” tieth centuries AD) to compare the historical events with re- in the literature. The land-locked nature of the sea has been lated geological findings and to independently test the accu- known since ancient times. Ibn Hawqal (1988, p. 129) stated racy of palaeo-environmental data using new data from the that: “the Sea is not linked to any other sea and the Atil River south-east CS. Due to insufficient calibration datasets for the [the Volga] discharges into the sea and only this river is con- chronological data of the CS shells, we try to link the geo- nected to the Constantine Sea [Black Sea] through one of its logical findings with historical observations and estimate the branches and if someone goes round the sea, one will return exact date of major CSL changes. Moreover, local irregulari- to the starting point”. ties such as vertical movements of the coasts, seiche and river The sea is saline and tide free (Ibn Hawqal, 1988, p. 129). avulsions might be partly underpinned by climatically driven The salinity of the sea is one third of that of the oceans and sea-level changes. Therefore, historical evidence of the local reaches up to 13 psu in the south-east. The CS separated from irregularities has been investigated to show the impacts of the the open sea during the Pliocene (Varushchenko et al., 1987).