Model of palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Black Sea region during the last glacial maximum-Holocene

A model for the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Black Sea and its adjacent basins during the past 20.000 years, in which variations in sedimentation, erosion, and hydrologic processes as a result of climatic change are taken into consideration, is developed. The data used include those from five cruises in the Black Sea with the participation of the author, seismo-acoustic data in the possession of the Institute of Oceanology in Varna, and data from the published literature. The most important result is that the water level of the Black Sea is controlled largely by that of the Marmara Sea via the Bosporus sill. The water circulation in the south part of the Bosporus channel as natural regulative mechanism of the Black Sea level during 11800-9000 yr C-14 BP is produced. A succession of climatic and water conditions for the Black Sea by pollen analysis is presented. The linear ridges on the Black Sea shelf as result of the lower Holocene regression are proved by means of a stratigraphic interpretation of the seismo-acoustic profiles. The levels of the Black Sea, Marmara Sea, and Mediterranean at regarded intervals of time are presented. An attempt at explanation of maximum number of facts from the study region with this model is made.