MIS 5a and MIS 3 relatively high sea-level stands on the Hatay–Samandağ Coast, Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey

Abstract

The coastal belt of Hatay–Samandağ in the East Mediterranean is marked by the intersection of the African–Arabian and Eurasian (Anatolian platelet) plates, where several Quaternary shorelines related to relative sea-level changes can be seen above the current sea level. In this study, the most common and best preserved high sea-level markers of the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 and MIS 3 shorelines were dated for the first time using the mollusc-based electron spin resonance (ESR) method. As a result of this research, the age of the late MIS 5 and MIS 3 sea-level highstands in the Eastern Mediterranean, the elevation of the corresponding shoreline at Samandağ coast, and the vertical component of the late Quaternary tectonic movements, which has an impact on shoreline, were determined. The shorelines at 48–43 m elevations between Çevlik and Samandağ, at 58.6 m in Tekebaşı and at 21 m at Keldağ have been dated to approximately 72 ka and, therefore, are correlated with MIS 5a. The shoreline at 40–39 m elevations between Çevlik and Samandağ has been dated to approximately 53 ka and, therefore, is correlated with MIS 3. According to the position of the MIS 5a shorelines, the uplift rate over the last 72 ka was 0.88 mm/y between Çevlik and Samandağ, 1.08 mm/y in Tekebaşı, and 0.56 mm/y in Keldağ, yielding a 0.84 mm/y average. This rather fast uplift appears to be related to the vertical component of the strike-slip active faults in the Samandağ–Antakya Fault Zone.