Stratigraphic architecture, sedimentology and structure of the Middle Pleistocene Corinth Canal (Greece)

Abstract

Abstract The artificial Corinth Canal connects the Aegean Sea with the Corinth Gulf, and displays high steep walls that enable the study of the sedimentological structure of this area. A former strait naturally connecting the gulf with the Aegean Sea is assumed to have existed in this area. Therefore, this exceptionally well-exposed site could be used as an analogue to study tidal straits after its stratigraphic architecture, sedimentology and structure have been defined. To do so, we used field observations associated with a 3D model built using drone imaging. We document a strait divided into a central zone and two adjacent dune-bedded strait zones. The centre is an active horst where sediment bypass occurred. On both sides of this, opposite-dipping conglomeratic dunes are represented by simple- and compound-dune foreset architectures with multiscale asymmetrical herringbone cross-stratifications. These observations document a tidal strait with conglomeratic dune-bedded strait zones in a micro-tidal context. These c. 300 ka strait deposits are the only ones preserved in the canal area. After deposition ended, this connection disappeared due to regional uplift and the offset of the Kalamaki–Isthmia Fault. This palaeostrait helps to improve our understanding of Middle–Late Pleistocene palaeogeography and the structural controls on sea connections.