Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) metres a.p.s.l. 4 5 6 +10 5a 5e1 5e2 +0 5c ? -10 ? 5d ? -20 5b 60 100 150 ka MON. SOC. HIST.HIST NAT. BALEARS, 18 (2012) Mallorca: a Mediterranean Benchmark for Quaternary Studies A. Ginés, J. Ginés, L. Gómez-Pujol B.P. Onac & J.J. Fornós (eds.) Mallorca: A Mediterranean Benchmark for Quaternary Studies Edited by A. Ginés, J. Ginés, L. Gómez-Pujol, B.P. Onac & J.J. Fornós Monografies de la Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears, 18 2012 Ginés, A., Ginés, J., Gómez-Pujol, L., Onac, B.P. & Fornós, J.J. (eds). 2012. Mallorca: A Mediterranean Benchmark for Quaternary Studies. Mon. Soc. Hist. Nat. Balears, 18, 220 pp. ISBN 978-84-615-7918-1. This edition first published March 2012 © Text: Authors © Edition: Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears ISBN 978-84-615-7918-1 DL: PM 279-2012 This book is an homage to Joan Cuerda, Gerd J. Hennig and Joan Pons-Moyà, for their significant contributions to the Quaternary studies in Mallorca Contents Contributors ...................................................................................................................... 7 Preface ................................................................................................................................ 9 An introduction to the Quaternary of Mallorca A. Ginés, J.J. Fornós, J. Ginés, P. Bover, L. Gómez-Pujol, F. Gràcia, A. Merino & D. Vicens ................................................................................................................... 13 Quaternary beach deposits in Mallorca: paleontological and geomorphological data D. Vicens, F. Gràcia & A. Ginés.................................................................................... 55 Pleistocene eolianites and low sea levels J.J. Fornós, L.B. Clemmensen, L. Gómez-Pujol, A. Ginés & J. Ginés ........................... 85 Phreatic Overgrowths on Speleothems (POS) from Mallorca, Spain: Updating forty years of research J. Ginés, A. Ginés, J.J. Fornós, P. Tuccimei, B.P. Onac & F. Gràcia ............................ 111 Late Quaternary Sea-level History: a Speleothem Perspective B.P. Onac, A. Ginés, J. Ginés, J.J. Fornós & J.A. Dorale .............................................. 147 Upper Pleistocene deposits and karst features in the littoral landscape of Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean): a field trip J.J. Fornós, A. Ginés, J. Ginés, L. Gómez-Pujol, F. Gràcia, A. Merino, B.P. Onac, P. Tuccimei & D. Vicens............................................................................................... 163 Contributors Pere BOVER Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB) 07190 Esporles (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Lars B. CLEMMENSEN Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark Email: [email protected] Jeffrey DORALE Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa Trowbridge Hall, Iowa, USA Email: [email protected] Joan J. FORNÓS Karst and Littoral Geomorphology Research Group Departament de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de les Illes Balears 07122 Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Àngel GINÉS Federació Balear d'Espeleologia Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Joaquín GINÉS Federació Balear d'Espeleologia Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Lluís GÓMEZ-PUJOL SOCIB, Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System ParcBit, 07122 Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Francesc GRÀCIA Federació Balear d'Espeleologia Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Antoni MERINO Federació Balear d'Espeleologia Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Bogdan P. ONAC Department of Geology, University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SCA 528, Tampa, 33620 USA Email: [email protected] Paola TUCCIMEI Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, “Roma Tre” University Largo San Leonardo Murialdo 1, 00146 Roma, Italy Email: [email protected] Damià VICENS Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears Palma (Mallorca, Illes Balears) Email: [email protected] Preface This book is an homage to Joan Cuerda, Gerd J. Hennig and Joan Pons-Moyà, for their significant contributions to the Quaternary studies in Mallorca. It compiles and updates a number of key topics (i.e., beaches, eolianites, paleontology, phreatic overgrowths on speleothems, etc.) and is designed to reflect the current state of knowledge of the Quaternary geology and sea-level changes in Mallorca, integrating classical descriptions with the new more detailed perspectives developed over the past decades. Therefore, this book is also a tribute to all researchers that have contributed over the years with new and more detailed information from a wide range of localities in Mallorca, improving our understanding of the Quaternary of the Western Mediterranean. At the same time, this publication is intended to be a useful "expanded" field trip guide addressed to the participants in the National Science Foundation-sponsored Workshop “Sea level changes into MIS 5: from observations to predictions”, held at the Universitat de les Illes Balears in Palma de Mallorca between April 10 to 14, 2012. The workshop aims to foster communication between an interdisciplinary group of experts in the fields of paleoceanography, Quaternary geology, glaciology, geophysics, paleoclimatology, and karst geology. The proposed workshop emphasizes interactions among researchers at various stages of their careers. Junior researchers and students will have an unique opportunity to meet leading experts on the topic of sea level change and develop potential future advisor and/or collaborator relationships. Given the present and projected future rates of global sea-level rise, it is important to identify the factors contributing to the observed sea level rise and the variability inherent in these factors. A deeper understanding of these factors will provide more accurate projections of long-term sea-level rise. Sea levels of MIS 5e, when eustatic sea levels were intermittently somewhere from 2 to 7 m higher the present, provide possible analogs for future scenarios of sea-level change. With about 200 million people living today within vulnerable coastal zones, an improved understanding of last interglacial sea level history may help in anticipating the future impacts of global sea level change. The coastal caves of Mallorca with their unique speleothem encrustations provide a source of additional sea level data (apart from marine terraces, eolianites, paleontology, etc.), and can precisely document and potentially test the elevation and timing of various sea level stands in the Western Mediterranean region. The Western Mediterranean region is appealing because it appears to be tectonically stable over the last glacial/interglacial cycle, and the encrustation mechanism is unique in that it captures past sea level positions with sub-meter resolution. The organizers of the “Sea level changes into MIS 5: from observations to predictions” workshop, acknowledge the owners, managers, and guides of Coves del Drac and Coves d’Artà for their willingness in making accessible these famous show-caves for scientific research and, last but not least, in offering the participants the opportunity to visit them during the workshop field trips. During the workshop presentations and especially in the two-day field trip, you will all realize the significance of Mallorca’s coastal caves in expanding and obtaining high-resolution Quaternary sea-level oscillation data. This is probably the most important contribution of this workshop to the future Quaternary studies on this topic. For this reason, we are indebted to the cavers of the Federació Balear d’Espeleologia who opened a promising field of research. Their dedication and continuous support is highly appreciated. We gratefully acknowledge the financial and logistic support received from NSF, PAGES, Universitat de les Illes Balears, University of South Florida, and the partnership with INQUA’s Commision on Coastal and Marine Processes. As editors of “Mallorca: A Mediterranean benchmark for Quaternary studies”, we acknowledge the kind collaboration of many colleagues, both in the publication of this book, but also in the organization tasks for the Workshop. We are especially grateful to Liana Boop, Jacqueline Diehl, and Jonathan G. Wynn who agreed to improve the English translation of our manuscripts and proof reading carefully the final texts. This publication is integrated within the research project CGL2010-18616 of the Spanish Government Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad/FEDER (previously MICINN) and National Science Foundation OISE #1032243 and AGS #1103108 projects. The Editors, Palma de Mallorca March 2012 Mallorca: A Mediterranean Benchmark for Quaternary Studies An Introduction to the Quaternary of Mallorca Angel Ginés1,2, Joaquín Ginés1,2, Joan J. Fornós2, Pere Bover3, Lluís Gómez-Pujol2,4, Francesc Gràcia1,2, Antoni Merino1 & Damià Vicens5 1Federació Balear d’Espeleologia, Palma, Spain. 2Karst and Littoral Geomorphology Research Group, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma, Spain. 3 IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, Esporles, Spain. 4 SOCIB, Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System, Palma, Spain. 5 Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears, Palma, Spain. 1. Mallorca, an island in the Western Mediterranean 1.1. Geographic settings Mallorca is the largest and the most central island of the Balearic