Academic literature on the topic 'Marine sediments Underwater archaeology'

A series of marine remote sensing and ground-truth surveys were carried out at NW Gulf of Patras (W. Greece). The same area was surveyed in 1971 by Throckmorton, Edgerton and Yalouris, who are among the pioneers in the application of remote sensing techniques to underwater archaeology. The researchers conducted a surface reconnaissance survey to locate the site where the Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571. Their remote sensing surveying resulted in a map of two “target” areas that showed promise as possible remnants of wrecks from that battle and proposed a ground truth survey for their identification and in the detection of two modern shipwrecks. The ground truth survey was never fulfilled. The objectives of our repeat surveys, which were completed 50 years later, were to relocate the findings of this pioneer survey with higher spatial and vertical resolution, to ground-truth the targets, fulfilling their investigation, and to interpret the newly collected data in the light of modern developments in marine geosciences. Our repeat surveys detected mound clusters and individual mounds referred to “target” areas. These mounds could be interpreted as the surface expression of mud and fluid expulsion from the underlying deformed soft sediments. The ground truth survey demonstrated that the tops of mounds represent biogenic mounds. The ROV survey did not show any indication of wreck remnants of the Battle of Lepanto within the two survey areas. The site formation processes of the two modern shipwrecks were also studied in detail. Two noticeable seafloor morphological features were detected around the wreck sites; field of small-sized pockmarks and seafloor depressions. We would like to dedicate this work to the memory of Peter Throckmorton and Harold E. Edgerton, who are among the pioneers in the formative years of underwater archaeology in Greece.

While the threat to the underwater cultural heritage from the treasure salvage industry is widely recognised, the approach to 'protection' ranges from absolute prohibition to the sale of state licences to the highest bidder. Even the former raises difficult problems of enforceability and the choice of mechanisms to determine whether in situ preservation is the preferred option for any particular wreck site. The common law jurisdictions have tended to prefer a regulated salvage regime, in which the courts themselves have a role in considering whether appropriate archaeological methodology is applied to the recovery of historic artefacts. This article examines the legal and economic basis of such an approach and evaluates whether the underwater cultural heritage has derived any discernible benefit from this judicial creativity. Inter alia, it concludes that the legal framework is itself flawed by uncertainty and that the deliberations of the court are hampered by procedural deficiencies.

Appropriate dating tools are essential for paleoenvironmental studies. Cosmogenic 32Si with a half-life of about 140 years is ideally suited to cover the dating range 30–1000 years. Here we have applied scintillation spectrometry for detection of natural 32Si to date marine shelf sediments. High detection efficiency, combined with stable background, allows for the detection of extremely low 32Si specific activities found in such sediments with counting rates below one count per hour. For a sediment core from the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta 32Si dating yields mean sedimentation rates of 0.7 ± 0.2 cm/yr for 50 to several hundred years BP and 3.1 ± 0.8 cm/yr for the past 50 years. The four-fold increase of the sedimentation rate over the past 50 years may reflect increased sediment loads in the rivers due to increasing human colonization within the rivers' drainage basins.

Cette thèse est une contribution à la caractérisation des fonds sous-marins par des techniques acoustiques. On s'intéresse aux fonds sédimentaires, principalement sédiments sableux. Les fonds de sables sont en effet fréquemment rencontrés par petits fonds sous nos latitudes. Les procédés existants de caractérisation acoustique des fonds visent le plus souvent à qualifier la géométrie du sol ou du sous-sol: morphologie du fond, typologie des faciès sédimentaires, identification du toit rocheux ... Toutefois, les détails du sous-sol marin (stratification et composition des sables) nous échappent le plus souvent et on a alors recours à des sondages in-situ ponctuels, coûteux et souvent difficiles à réaliser. Afin de résoudre ce problème, nous avons développé SCAMPI (Système de Caractérisation Acoustique Marine Propagation Interface). C'est un dispositif de caractérisation géoacoustique breveté qui vise justement à réduire notre myopie chronique dans les premiers mètres des sous-sols sableux immergés en calculant des profils verticaux des vitesses du son. Le système développé est typique d'un processus d'inversion basé sur des mesures distantes et indirectes (on ne touche pas le sol). Disposer de profils de vitesses pour caractériser le sous-sol est une étape nécessaire, mais insuffisante pour les applications visées. Pour ces dernières, il s’agit notamment de déterminer si le sable est fin ou grossier, s'il est homogène ou hétérogène, s'il contient des coquilles, s'il est compacté ou pas.Pour répondre à de telles questions, il est nécessaire d'utiliser des relations entre les vitesses du son et les propriétés des matériaux granulaires. Ces relations géoacoustiques sont quasi-inexistantes pour les sables marins, surtout pour les sables grossiers. Pour constituer de nouvelles relations géoacoustiques, il est proposé d’établir des bases de données à partir de mesures in-situ des vitesses acoustiques et des analyses des échantillons de sédiments prélevés au même endroit. Pour cela, un prototype de célérimètre a été développé, INSEA (INvestigation of SEdiment by means of Acoustic), qui permet de mesurer les vitesses et l'atténuation du son dans des sédiments, y compris dans des sables grossiers
This thesis is a contribution to the seabed exploration by means of acoustical methods. We focus on sediment seabeds, especially on sand sediments because there are often encountered off European coasts. Existing acoustic methods for seabed characterization generally aim to qualify the sub-seafloor: sediment thickness or bedrock cap detection.Nevertheless, accurate sediment stratification or details of the involved sediment are generally out of reach. This is why SCAMPI (Sub-seafloor Characterization by Acoustic Measurements & Parameters Inversion) have been have designed. This patented device is a geoacoustical inversion method based on an underwater acoustic instrumentation towed in water column. It aims to identify and characterize sediment layers over a thickness of 5-10 meters below the seabed, quantifying major physical parameters as compressional speed. But vertical sound speed profiles of the sub-seabed is a necessary step but is insufficient to predict refined information about the sediment: is it coarse, homogeneous, does it contain inclusions ..?To give answers to these questions, geoacoustical relations linking acoustic parameters to sedimentological parameters are required. But these relations are sparse, particular for coarse sands.A velocimeter prototype INSEA (INvestigation of SEdiment by means of Acoustic) have been designed, to measure in situ acoustical parameters of the first centimeters of the seafloor, even in coarse sands. This work is the preliminary work leading to a new project which consist in building specific data bases to elaborate these geoacoustical relations and theoretical modeling in granular wet media suited to marine geophysics applications

Les amphores italiques de type Lamboglia 2 sont parmi les plus diffusées à l’époque tardorépublicaine, dans le bassin méditerranéen et parfois bien au-delà. Elles sont également présentes sur près de 150 épaves en Méditerranée. Cette thèse s’intéresse plus particulièrement à deux d’entre elles, les épaves de Qaitbay 1 et de Sa Nau Perduda. Elles apportent un éclairage nouveau sur deux thèmes : la typologie des amphores adriatiques, à une période charnière de leur évolution, et l’existence d’une production de Lamboglia 2 en Campanie. La première partie synthétise les données disponibles sur les questions de typo-chronologie, sur les ateliers et sur la diffusion des Lamboglia 2 par voie maritime, au travers d’un inventaire des épaves. La deuxième partie porte sur l’étude de la cargaison de l’épave dite Qaitbay 1, située au large d’Alexandrie. Elle se compose principalement de Lamboglia 2 du Picenum, accompagnées par un lot de Dressel 6A de la même région, d’amphores de Brindes et de Lamboglia 2 campaniennes. La troisième partie concerne ce dernier type d’amphore, encore mal connu. Elle repose notamment sur une approche comparative de plusieurs épaves, dont celle de Sa Nau Perduda, située dans la province de Gérone. Elle est le seul exemple connu à ce jour d’une cargaison principale de Lamboglia 2 campaniennes
Lamboglia 2 are among the most common Italic amphorae of the late Roman Republic in the Mediterranean basin and sometimes far beyond. They have also been found on nearly 150 shipwrecks in the Mediterranean. This thesis focuses on two such shipwrecks, known as Qaitbay 1 and Sa Nau Perduda. They shed new light on two themes: the typology of Adriatic amphorae during a transition period in their evolution, and the existence of a production of Lamboglia 2 in Campania. The first part of my thesis summarises the available data on typo-chronological issues, workshops and the spread of Lamboglia 2 by sea routes, through an inventory of shipwrecks. The second part deals with the study of the cargo of the Qaitbay 1 shipwreck lying off Alexandria. The cargo consists mainly of Lamboglia 2 produced in Picenum, accompanied by Dressel 6A from the same region, Brindisian amphorae and Campanian Lamboglia 2. The third part concerns this last type of amphora, which is still poorly known. It is based on a comparative approach of several shipwrecks, including that of Sa Nau Perduda located in the province of Girona. To this day, it is the only known example of a principal cargo of Campanian Lamboglia 2

À côté de la jeune histoire de l’archéologie sous-marine égyptienne qui est retracée dans ce travail, les expériences similaires dans le monde méditerranéen sont beaucoup plus anciennes. Elles remontent au XVe siècle avec la découverte d’une épave du Ier siècle ap. J.-C. dans le lac Nemi, puis à la récupération d'une partie de la cargaison de l'épave antique d'Anticythère en 1901 grâce aux pêcheurs d'éponges grecs, ainsi qu’à la découverte en 1907 de l'épave romaine de Mahdia en Tunisie. Elles constituent des événements marquants dans le domaine de l'archéologie sous-marine. Mais l’archéologie sous-marine s’est développée de manière spectaculaire avec l’invention du scaphandre autonome par les français Jacques-Yves Cousteau et l’ingénieur Émile Gagnan. Cette invention provoqua une véritable révolution dans le domaine des activités sous-marines en 1942-1943. Ensuite les découvertes se succédèrent dans le bassin méditerranéen pendant plus d’un demi-siècle et de nombreux pays à travers le monde décidèrent de la mise en place de service archéologique spécialement dédié aux activités subaquatiques et sous-marines.Cette thèse porte sur une politique de gestion des vestiges immergés en Egypte, à la lumière des autres expériences en Méditerranée, afin d’attirer l'attention sur la richesse du patrimoine subaquatique égyptien à travers une étude dans le détail et dans son ensemble de l’action du Conseil suprême des Antiquités de l’Égypte et des diverses missions étrangères travaillant en Egypte. Elle propose une politique de protection efficace du patrimoine culturel subaquatique en Egypte, et des suggestions de développement du tourisme archéologique sous-marin et subaquatique, pour transformer ces richesses englouties en vecteur économique, tout en assurant leur protection adéquate par une législation spécifique qui n’existe pas encore en Egypte
Beside this short history of underwater archeology in Egypt which is described in this work, similar experiences in the Mediterranean are much older, they go back to the fifteenth century with the discovery of a wreck from the first century AD, in Lake Nemi, later, the recovery of some objects from the ancient wreck of Anticythère in 1901 by the Greek fishermen of sponge, and the discovery in 1907 of the Roman wreck of Mahdia in Tunisia, are remarkable in the field of underwater archeology. But the underwater archeology has developed with the invention of the aqualung by the French Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the engineer Emile Gagnan. This invention caused a revolution in the field of underwater activities in 1942-1943. Then the underwater discoveries in the Mediterranean were succeeded and increased for more than a half century, and many countries around the world decided the establishment of an archaeological service specifically dedicated to underwater activities. This study focusses on management policy of underwater archaeology in Egypt, in the light of other experiences in the Mediterranean, in order to draw attention to the importance of the Egyptian underwater archaeology through a study in details of the activities of the Supreme council of Antiquities in Egypt and of the different foreign missions working in Egypt and to propose an effective protection policy of underwater cultural heritage in Egypt, also to develop the tourism of underwater archaeology, and to transform these vestiges in an economic vector, while ensuring an adequate protection by specific legislation that does not exist yet in Egypt

Thesis (Ph. D. in Applied Ocean Sciences)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), February 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-170).
Sound propagation in shallow water is highly dependent on the interaction of the sound field with the bottom. In order to fully understand this problem, it is necessary to obtain reliable estimates of bottom geoacoustic properties that can be used in acoustic propagation codes. In this thesis, perturbative inversion methods and exact inverse methods are discussed as a means for inferring geoacoustic properties of the bottom. For each of these methods, the input data to the inversion is the horizontal wavenumber spectrum of a point-source acoustic field. The main thrust of the thesis work concerns extracting horizontal wavenumber content for fully three-dimensionally varying waveguide environments. In this context, a high-resolution autoregressive (AR) spectral estimator was applied to determine wavenumber content for short aperture data. As part of this work, the AR estimator was examined for its ability to detect discrete wavenumbers in the presence of noise and also to resolve closely spaced wavenumbers for short aperture data. As part of a geoacoustic inversion workshop, the estimator was applied to extract horizontal wavenumber content for synthetic pressure field data with range-varying geoacoustic properties in the sediment. The resulting wavenumber content was used as input data to a perturbative inverse algorithm to determine the sound speed profile in the sediment. It was shown using the high-resolution wavenumber estimator that both the shape and location of the range-variability in the sediment could be determined.
(cont.) The estimator was also applied to determine wavenumbers for synthetic data where the water column sound speed contained temporal variations due to the presence of internal waves. It was shown that reliable estimates of horizontal wavenumbers could be obtained that are consistent with the boundary conditions of the waveguide. The Modal Mapping Experiment (MOMAX), an experimental method for measuring the full spatial variability of a propagating sound field and its corresponding modal content in two-dimensions, is also discussed. The AR estimator is applied to extract modal content from the real data and interpreted with respect to source/receiver motion and geometry. For a moving source, it is shown that the wavenumber content is Doppler shifted. A method is then described that allows the direct measure of modal group velocities from Doppler shifted wavenumber spectra. Finally, numerical studies are presented addressing the practical issues associated with using MOMAX type data in the exact inversion method of Gelfand-Levitan.
by Kyle M. Becker.
Ph.D.

Cette thèse explore les relations entre histoire et archéologie sous-marine pour étudier le risque de perte en mer aux Petites Antilles à travers l' exemple de la Guadeloupe. Le phénomène du naufrage est envisagé comme un prisme pour aborder les aspects maritimes de l'histoire de la Guadeloupe à l' époque de la marine à voile, entre la fin du XVIIe siècle et la première moitié du XIXe siècle. L' étude repose sur un dépouillement exhaustif de la correspondance administrative et des sondages ciblés dans les archives de la Marine et de quelques-uns des principaux ports du royaume de France liés aux Antilles (Nantes, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Marseille). Le naufrage est défini à travers une étude quantitative des pertes en mer : nombre, fréquence, localisation, répartition chronologique. Cette perspective conduit à qualifier le phénomène de sériel mais marginal en comparaison avec la fréquentation maritime, ce qui n' ôte pas de son intérêt en tant que clé de lecture d'une colonie française d' Amérique et de son économie et de sa société si part iculières , entre cultures d'exportation et esclavage. Environ 550 naufrages son répertoriés en archives entre la fin du XVIIe siècle et le début du XIXe siècle, ce qui représente moins de 1 % de la fréquentation maritime de la colonie. Il s' agit d'un phénomène essentiellement côtier et portuaire lié à la survenue d'événements climatiques exceptionnels (coups de vent et ouragans). Mais, ponctuellement, d'autres causes sont mises en évidence. L'objectif est de dresser une typologie des pertes en mer s'intéressant aussi bien aux différents types de navires perdus qu'à leur fonction , leur cargaison et leur équipage. La question de la perception des risques de pertes (conditions de navigation, dangers d'échouage, aléas climatiques) est envisagée pour analyser les relations entre risques et les moyens mis en oeuvre pour en réduire l'impact. Les différentes pistes allant des premières missions à caractère hydrographique au XVIIIe siècle, aux premiers aménagements portuaires au XIXe siècle, sont étudiées pour voir si elles répondent aux risques de pertes en mer. L'étude des documents d'archives trouve une application dans l'évaluation du potentiel archéologique sous-marin de la Guadeloupe. Celui-ci est évalué à une fourchette entre 50 et 120 sites d'épaves. La lecture critique des sources propose par ailleurs des hypothèses d'identification de 5 sites sur les 15 sites d' épaves anciennes connus, permettant ainsi une vision différente de la question des risques maritimes
This Ph D explores relationships between history and underwater archaeology in order to study the martime risks in West Indies through the example of Guadeloupe. Shipwreck phenomenon is presented as a prism to analyze maritime aspect of Guadeloupe history during the time of sailing, from the end of 17th to first half of 19th century. The study is based on a archivaI analysis of administrative correspondence and surveys in marine archives and French kingdom main ports linked with West Indies. Shipwreck is defined through an quantitative study of losses : quantity, frequency, localization, chronological spread. This point of view permits to qualify the this phenomenon as serial but low regarding to the maritime activity, This fact is not a lack in order to use this event as a reading key of an American French colony, its economy and society. About 550 shipwrecks have been recorded from the end of 17th to first half of 19th century, thi represents less than 1% of maritime activity of the colony .. This phenomenon is mainly a coastal and a port event, linked with climatic hazard as hurricanes, but the study focused also on others causes . The objective is to set up a losses' typology dealing with ships types, functions, cargos, and crews. The perception of losses risks (seafaring conditions, wrecks dangers and climatic hazards) is presented in order to analyze relationships between risks and means in order to prevent them or reduce their consequences. Different projects from first hydrographical missions during 18th century to first ports building projects at the beginning of 19th century have been studied in order to establish if they answer the losses risks

La thèse propose une étude de l’architecture navale égyptienne de la Basse Époque (722-332 avant J.C.). Les vestiges iconographiques, épigraphiques et archéologiques existant sur ce sujet sont très maigres. Ainsi les recherches proposées se fondent principalement sur des nouvelles données archéologiques. Les fouilles menées par l’Institut d’Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) en Égypte ont permis de découvrir plus de soixante bateaux datés du XIe au Ier s. av. J.-C dans les ports et les canaux de la ville engloutie de Thônis-Héracléion. En excellent état de conservation, il s’agit de la plus grande accumulation des bateaux antiques jamais retrouvés et au moins dix-huit d’entre eux sont datables de la Basse Epoque. La construction du bateau 17, qui constitue le sujet principal de la thèse, a été étudiée pendant trois saisons des fouilles (2009-2011). Le volume des nouvelles informations acquises est considérable et permet non seulement d’analyser en détail la construction du bateau en question mais aussi de tirer les conclusions plus générales concernant les principes et les méthodes de l’architecture navale en Egypte caractéristiques de cette époque. Plusieurs décisions techniques restent uniques à la tradition d’architecture navale égyptienne ainsi que l’est le choix d’essences locales pour la construction. Les traits de construction analysés dans la thèse sont systématiquement comparés aux documents iconographiques, épigraphiques et archéologiques disponibles. Il faut souligner l’importance de la description du bateau égyptien « baris » par Hérodote (« Histoires » II.96, env. 450 av. J.-C.) qui correspond bien à la construction du bateau 17 d’Héracleion. La première version du modèle 3D de ce bateau permet d’évaluer ses capacités techniques principales. La thèse proposera une comparaison entre le génie maritime égyptien de la Basse Epoque et ceux de la Méditerranée contemporaine
The thesis is devoted to the study of Ancient Egyptian boatbuilding during the Late Period (722-332 BC). Iconographic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence on the subject being so scarce, the thesis is based mainly on a recently acquired archaeological data. Underwater excavations by the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in Egypt allowed locating more than sixty ships dating from the 11th to 1st century BC in the harbour area and channels of the submerged city of Thonis-Heracleion. At least eighteen of these well-preserved ships are dated to the Late Period. The construction of ship 17 that has been studied during three excavation seasons (2009-2011) constitutes the main subject of current thesis. The considerable volume of new data allows not only to consider in detail the construction of the ship in question but also to propose several general conclusions on the constructional principles and methods characteristic to the Late Period. Many of these are unique to the Ancient Egyptian boatbuilding tradition as is the choice of local wood species for the construction. New archaeological data is compared throughout the research to existing iconographic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence. It is necessary to underline the importance of the description by Herodotus (“Histories” II.96, c.450 BC) of the local Egyptian ship “baris” as it corresponds well to the construction of ship 17. First version of the three-dimensional model of this ship allows estimating its major technical characteristics. The thesis proposes a comparison between the Late Egyptian and contemporary shipbuilding traditions of the Mediterranean

Introducció La Tesi és obra de l’esforç i dedicació compartit amb molts companys i col·laboradors al llarg de gairebé 22 anys ininterromputs i més de 1.000 dies d’immersions. L’objectiu general és realitzar l’estudi de les cavitats subaquàtiques costaneres del Llevant i Migjorn de Mallorca, és a dir, d’una part important del carst eogenètic litoral, concretament de l’endocarst inundat, al menys parcialment, per les aigües freàtiques litorals. La zona freàtica de l’endocarst, afectada per les variacions del nivell degudes a causes glacio-eustàtiques, és també la responsable de l’espeleogènesi de les mateixes cavitats. La franja costanera posseeix una amplària d’ordre quilomètric, ja que la influència de la mar a les poroses calcarenites amb permeabilitat primària i secundària determinen la penetració de les aigües marines terra endins i la disposició d’una zona de mescla, agressiva químicament. Contingut de la investigació S’ha estructurat la Tesi en 4 parts i 23 capítols: Part I: Introducció i marc metodològic; Part II: Antecedents; Part III: Cavitats litorals del Llevant i Migjorn de Mallorca amb continuacions subaquàtiques; Part IV: Discussió del carst costaner i Part V: Conclusions i bibliografia. S’han situat les cavitats investigades en relació amb les que es troben al litoral espanyol i al carst eogenètic mundial, amb l’evolució històrica de les exploracions. Per a les principals cavitats s’ha realitzat l’exploració, la topografia, la descripció, les característiques hidrològiques, l’estudi de les morfologies primàries o de dissolució, les morfologies secundàries o espeleotemes, la distribució de les sales d’esfondrament, l’espeleogènesi proposada, els sediments, les restes arqueològiques sota les aigües, la fauna anquihalina, els fòssils, la relació de la cavitat amb la superfície, la relació de les coves amb les cales i surgències submarines i els impactes que afecten a la cova, a més a més de la dificultosa documentació fotogràfica d’aquests ambients extrems. En darrer lloc, s’ha discutit de forma global per al conjunt de cavitats tots els aspectes mencionats abans i les seves interferències. Conclusions S’ha incrementat l’interès espeleomètric d’importants cavitats ja conegudes o fins i tot de cavitats inèdites i s’ha descobert la connexió entre coves abans considerades independents. La suma del recorregut explorat supera els 50 km de galeries subaquàtiques. S’ha contribuït a determinar el perfil hídric vertical de salinitat i temperatura i les característiques diferencials en els casos de la presència d’una connexió directa amb la mar. La troballa de cavitats dins materials del Pliocè i especialment del Pleistocè, a més a més del Miocè superior, suposa incrementar la distribució de les formacions endocàrstiques i representa que els mecanismes espeleogenètics que les han generat han actuat també dins el Pleistocè, un període d’activitat espeleogenètica fins ara no documentat per Mallorca. S’ha intentat establir un intent de classificació i sistematització de les morfologies de corrosió lligades a la zona de mescla d’aigües i de les morfologies hipogèniques trobades a les galeries sotaiguades. S’ha descrit i documentat els espeleotemes més freqüents i interessants que es troben a les galeries i sales sotaiguades. La presència de sediments a l’interior de les cavitats és prou important, amb gruix i tipologia extraordinàriament divers. L’anàlisi de les topografies, fotografies a més dels estudis de camp in situ, han permès delimitar les sales d'esfondrament. Les cavitats constitueixen en un sentit ecològic ambients anquihalins, amb algunes galeries amb corrents intensos per la proximitat a la mar, amb presència de comunitats d’organismes sèssils filtradors. S’han trobat nous gèneres i espècies i s’ha estudiat la distribució de la fauna. Algunes de les coves constitueixen importants jaciments paleontològics i arqueològics. Una part de les cavitats estudiades han estat declarades ZEC.
Introducción La Tesis es obra del esfuerzo y dedicación compartido con muchos compañeros y colaboradores a lo largo de casi 22 años ininterrumpidos y más de 1.000 días de inmersiones. El objetivo general es realizar el estudio de las cavidades subacuáticas costeras del Llevant y Migjorn de Mallorca, es decir, de una parte importante del karst eogenético litoral, concretamente del endokarst inundado, al menos parcialmente, por las aguas freáticas litorales. La zona freática del endokarst, afectada por las variaciones del nivel debidas a causas glacioeustáticas, es también la responsable de la espeleogénesis de las propias cavidades. La franja costera posee una anchura de orden quilométrico, ya que la influencia del mar en las porosas calcarenitas con permeabilidad primaria y secundaria determina la penetración de las aguas marinas tierra adentro y la disposición de la zona de mezcla, químicamente agresiva. Contenido de la investigación Se ha estructurado la Tesis en 4 partes y 23 capítulos: Parte I: Introducción y marco metodológico; Parte II: Antecedentes; Parte III: Cavidades litorales del Llevant y Migjorn de Mallorca con continuaciones subacuáticas; Parte IV: Discusión del karst costero y Parte V: Conclusiones y bibliografía. Se han ubicado las cavidades investigadas en relación con las que se encuentran en el litoral español y en el karst eogenético mundial, así como la evolución histórica de las exploraciones. Para las principales cavidades se ha realizado la exploración, la topografía, la descripción, las características hidrológicas, el estudio de las morfologías primarias o de disolución, las morfologías secundarias o espeleotemas, la distribución de las salas de hundimiento, la espeleogénesis propuesta, los sedimentos, los restos arqueológicos bajo las aguas, la fauna anquihalina, los fósiles, la relación de la cavidad con la superficie, la relación de las cuevas con las calas y surgencias submarinas y los impactos que afectan a la cueva, además de la documentación fotográfica de estos ambientes extremos. En último lugar, se ha discutido de forma global para el conjunto de cavidades todos los aspectos mencionados anteriormente y las interferencias entre diferentes apartados. Conclusiones Se ha incrementado el interés espeleométrico de importantes cavidades ya conocidas o incluso de cavidades inéditas y se ha descubierto la conexión entre cuevas antes consideradas independientes. La suma del recorrido explorado supera los 50 km de galerías subacuáticas. Se ha contribuido a determinar el perfil hídrico vertical de salinidad y temperatura y las características diferenciales en los casos de la presencia de una conexión directa con la mar. El hallazgo de cuevas en materiales del Plioceno y especialmente del Pleistoceno, además del Mioceno superior, supone incrementar la distribución de las formaciones endokársticas y representa que los mecanismos espeleogenéticos que las han generado han actuado también dentro del Pleistoceno, un periodo de actividad espeleogenética hasta ahora no documentado en Mallorca. Se ha intentado establecer una clasificación y sistematización de las morfologías de corrosión ligadas a la zona de mezcla de aguas y de las morfologías hipogénicas localizadas en las galerías subacuáticas. Se han descrito y documentado los espeleotemas más frecuentes e interesantes que se encuentran las galerías y salas bajo el agua. La presencia de sedimentos en el interior de las cavidades es bastante importante, con grosores y tipología extraordinariamente diversos. El análisis de las topografías, fotografías además de los estudios de campo in situ, han permitido delimitar las salas de hundimiento. Las cavidades constituyen en un sentido ecológico ambientes anquihalinos, con algunas galerías con corrientes intensas por la proximidad al mar, con presencia de comunidades de organismos sésiles filtradores. Se han descubierto nuevos géneros y especies y se ha estudiado la distribución de la fauna. Algunas de las cuevas constituyen importantes yacimientos paleontológicos y arqueológicos. Una parte de las cavidades estudiadas han sido declaradas ZEC.
Introduction This Ph.D. thesis is the result of the effort and dedication shared with many colleagues and caving companions for nearly 22 uninterrupted years of underwater explorations, totalizing more than 1,000 days of diving activities. The overall target is the study of the subaqueous coastal caves in the East and South of Mallorca, that is, an important part of the littoral eogenetic karst in the Island, specifically the endokarst drowned at least partially for coastal groundwater. The phreatic zone within the endokarst, which is affected by the sea-level variations due to glacial-eustatic causes, is also responsible for the speleogenesis of the littoral caves themselves. The coastal fringe has a width in the order of a few kilometres because the influence of the sea on the porous calcarenites ‒with high primary and secondary permeability‒ determines the penetration of sea water inland together with the establishment of a chemically aggressive mixing zone. Content of the research The Ph.D. dissertation is structured in 4 sections and 23 chapters: Section I: Introduction and methodological frame; Section II: Previous background; Section III: Coastal caves with underwater extensions in Eastern and Southern Mallorca; Section IV: Discussion on the coastal karst; and Section V: Conclusions and bibliography. The investigated caves have been placed in relation to those found along the Spanish coast and the eogenetic karst areas worldwide, taking into account the historical evolution of the explorations. In each of the investigated caves the following aspects have been dealt with in detail: the exploration, the topographical surveying, the description of the cavity, the hydrological characteristics, the study of the primary dissolution morphologies, the secondary morphologies or speleothems, the distribution of the breakdown chambers, the proposed speleogenetic processes, the sediments, the archaeological remains recovered underwater, the anchialine fauna, the paleontological remains, the relationship of the cave with the surface landscape, the relationship of the cavity with the coast-line morphology and the submarine springs, the anthropic impacts affecting the cave, and additionally the very difficult photographic documentation of these extreme environments. Finally, a comprehensive discussion of the whole caves is provided in which all aspects mentioned above and their interferences are addressed thoroughly. Conclusions The planimetric development of important already known caves ‒or even of some unknown cavities‒ has reached very relevant figures, being discovered at the same time the connection between caves before considered as independent phenomena. The accumulated length of the explored galleries and chambers totalizes over 50 km of underwater passages. Contributions have been made in order to determine the hydric vertical profile of temperature and salinity, and the distinctive features in the cases of the presence of a direct connection to the sea. The discovery of caves in Pliocene and especially Pleistocene rocks, in addition to Upper Miocene materials, results in an increase in the distribution of endokarstic formations and supports the fact that speleogenetic mechanisms having generated them have also acted in the Pleistocene, a period of speleogenetic activity not documented so far in Mallorca. An attempt has been made trying to establish a classification and systematization of solutional morphologies related to the phreatic waters in the coastal mixing zone, and the features of hypogenic origin observed in the subaqueous passages. The most frequent and interesting speleothems found in the underwater galleries and chambers have been extensively described and documented. Detrital sediments are present inside some caves as relatively important accumulations, showing very diverse thicknesses and typologies. The interpretation of topographical surveys, aerial photographs, as well as in situ field observations, have allowed a careful delimitation of the collapse chambers. In an ecological sense the caves are anchialine environments, that show some passages with strong water flows due to the proximity to the sea, with the presence of communities of sessile filtering organisms. The distribution of the aquatic fauna has been studied, with the discovery of new genus and species of stygobiontic organisms. A few caves are important paleontological and archaeological sites. Some of the investigated caves have been declared ZEC (Special Conservation Zone) by the regional environmental authorities.

The northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) and its watershed have attracted humans for the last 12,500 years (cal BP), and evidence of Palaeoindian marine economies is well established in adjacent regions by ca. 8000 cal BP. Sea level rise (SLR) has obscured understandings of early coastal adaptations, although underwater research and some near-shore sites are providing important insights. The earliest evidence from surviving shell middens dates to ca. 5000 cal BP, and reveals that shellfish collecting and the seasonal exploitation of benthopelagic fish were important throughout the Late Maritime Archaic and Maritime Woodland periods. However, significant economic shifts have occurred. In particular, a Late Archaic focus on marine swordfish hunting was replaced by a dramatic increase in inshore seal hunting in the Maritime Woodland period. After ca. 3100 cal BP, inshore fishing for cod, flounder, sculpin, sturgeon and other species intensified. During the Late Maritime Woodland period, shellfish exploitation declined somewhat and the hunting of small seals, and, in some areas, white-tailed deer, increased sharply. The extent and nature of coastal economies in the NGOM was controlled, in part, by SLR, increasing tidal amplitude, and concomitant changes in surface-water temperatures, in tandem with broad regional cultural shifts.

The North Sea is not renowned for its islands, and much of the modern land–sea interface is sharp, especially along the coasts of Jutland, North and South Holland and much of England. Nevertheless, the North Sea does contain a surprisingly large number of islands and archipelagos, which can be presented with reference to a clear north–south divide. In the northern half of the North Sea, most islands are of hard rock with shallow soils, and their islandness is the result of ongoing glacio-isostatic uplift of previously drowned lands and sea-level rise. With the exception of the Shetland and Orkney archipelagos, few of these islands are found at a great distance from the mainland, and the majority of the countless islands, islets, and rock outcrops off the North Sea coasts of Norway, Sweden, Scotland, and north-east England can be found within a few miles of the mainland. In the southern half of the North Sea, the islands are mainly made up of sand and clay and, in their history if not today, were frequently sandbanks formed by the sea utilizing both marine and riverine sediments. Most of the islands of the Wadden Sea in Denmark, Germany, and Holland are sandbanks elevated by aeolian-formed sand dunes. Further south, the core of the large islands of Zeeland is principally formed of riverine sands and marine clays intercalated with peat, reflecting coastal wetland conditions at various times in the Post-glacial and Holocene (Vos and Van Heeringen 1997). As with Zeeland, the islands on the English side of the North Sea, such as Mersey Island in the Blackwater estuary and Foulness Island in Essex, have now been incorporated into the mainland. Only a few islands cannot be so simply classified:Helgoland in the German Bight, a Sherwood Sandstone stack of Triassic date, is the best known example. Island archaeology, as we have seen (chapter 2), has for many decades approached islands as environments that were relatively isolated from the wider world.

Linking river behaviour and drainage basin evolution to Quaternary environmental change, most notably the effects of climatic variability, tectonics, and human activity on runoff and sediment delivery, has a long history of research in the Mediterranean areas of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. This field of research was initially stimulated by the (re)discovery at the beginning of the twentieth century of many Classical Period remains buried by river alluvium; perhaps the best known of which is the site of Olympia in western Greece (Huntington 1910). The widespread evidence for large-scale shifts in river channel positions and the rapid growth of deltas and coastal alluvial plains in historical times (Judson 1963; Raphael 1973; Kraft et al. 1980; and Chapter 13) also provided much impetus for this research. In addition, archaeological investigations carried out soon after the Second World War in Algeria (Gaucher 1947), Italy (Selli 1962), Libya (McBurney and Hey 1955) and Spain (Gigout 1959) resulted in the recovery of large numbers of Palaeolithic stone tools from Pleistocene fluvial deposits. These early examples of what has now become more widely known as ‘geoarchaeology’ (Davidson and Shackley 1976; Butzer 1977) or ‘alluvial archaeology’ (Macklin and Needham 1992) were, with their strong interdisciplinary focus, highly innovative and ahead of their time in the way they integrated archaeology, geomorphology, and geochronology. Building on this theme, the principal aim of this chapter is to consider how river systems in the Mediterranean region have responded to the environmental changes that took place during the Late Quaternary–a time interval corresponding approximately to the last 130,000 years. There are a number of reasons for choosing this period for reviewing river-environment interactions in the Mediterranean: 1. It encompasses the last glacial–interglacial cycle (c.130 to 10 ka) for which there is now abundant global evidence from polar ice cores, speleothem records, and lake and marine sediments, for both longand short-term changes in climate. These changes included massive reorganizations of the atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere systems—often over timescales of less than 100 years (Lowe and Walker 1997)—and they are clearly recorded in the Mediterranean region (see Allen et al. 1999 and Chapter 4).

Abstract Over the past decade, photogrammetry has grown considerably thanks to technical advances in digital cameras and computing performance. Popular in terrestrial applications with the development of UAV acquisition, photogrammetry provides access to accurate scene reconstruction, high-resolution measurements, and temporal comparisons with a wide range of geolocated and scaled 2D and 3D supports. Nowadays, photogrammetry represents a particular challenge in the underwater field such as environmental monitoring, marine construction, technical inspection, and archaeology. Our study aims to develop underwater acquisition protocols and new tools for marine resources surveys and management to understand the role of 3D characteristics in both coral reefs and artificial structures. Two specific protocols were designed and optimized to reconstruct from coral colonies to coral reefs and artificial structures (up to 500m²) with a mean resolution of 0.05cm/pixel. Here several quantitative descriptors based on 2D and 3D metrics (such as slope, length, surface, volume, rugosity) were calculated for morphological studies and temporal comparisons. The photogrammetric technique now offers higher quality and accuracy tools compared to traditional survey methods. These advantages make possible to access to new scientific surveys of underwater ecosystems and as environmental management tools may prove to be valuable for future.

Nowadays different types of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), are widely used for sub-sea inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) operations in the oil and gas industry, archaeology, oceanography and marine biology. Also, lately, the development of underwater snake robots (USRs) shows promising results towards extending the capabilities of conventional UUVs. The slender and multi-articulated body of USRs allows for operation in tight spaces where other traditional UUVs are incapable of operating. However, the mathematical model of USRs is more challenging compared to models of ROVs and AUVs, because of its multi-articulated body. It is important to develop accurate models for control design and analysis, to ensure the desired behaviour and to precisely investigate the locomotion efficiency. Modelling the hydrodynamics poses the major challenge since it includes complex and non-linear hydrodynamic effects. The existing analytical models for USRs consider theoretical values for the fluid coefficients and thus they only provide a rough prediction of the effects of hydrodynamics on swimming robots. In order to obtain an accurate prediction of the hydrodynamic forces acting on the links of the USRs, it is necessary to obtain the fluid coefficients experimentally. This paper determines the drag and added mass co-efficients of a general planar model of USRs. In particular, this paper presents methods for identifying fluid parameters based on both computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations and several experimental approaches. Additionally, in this paper, we investigate variations of the drag force modelling, providing more accurate representations of the hydrodynamic drag forces. The obtained fluid coefficients are compared to the existing estimates of fluid coefficients for a general model of USRs.

The processes in the river mouth areas play a special role in the formation and dynamics of coastal accumulative forms. The experience of Russian and foreign specialists on investigations of river mouths shows a modern intensification of sea impact on the river deltas in the world and enhance the abrasion of their delta coastlines. These processes show a trend of transformation of different mouths from the fluvial-dominated objects to the marine-dominated objects. A striking example of this process is the variability of the mouth fan, which has a complicated structure, and the mouth bars. In most cases, the structure of the mouth fan presents several successive layers. There are the following 1) abovewater and submarine sand layers; 2) layer of silty sediments of the sea slope of the mouth fan; 3) gently sloping layers of clay, component the foot of the mouth fan; 4) layer of shelf sand, not related to the formation of mouth fan. Each of these layers is characterized by a specific size and composition of sediments. Under intensification of abrasion of the mouth accumulative forms (accordance with the stage of this abrasion), the sediments significantly differed by composition, can be penetrate in the lithodynamic coastal system. A rather complex topography of the underwater slope rugged canyons is typical for the Russian coast of the Black Sea. Through these canyons, sediments, entering the river mouth area and playing an important role in the dynamics of coastal accumulative forms, can be delivered to the depths. These depths exclude of their return.