Session Details

This session is focused on the Corridor from the Western Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea, with a special attention to the link between the basins today and in geological past. The Corridor covers the Mediterranean Sea, the Marmara Gateway, the Black Sea, the Manych-Kerch Gateway, and the Caspian Sea. The main goal of the session is to bring together researchers from the exact and historical sciences in order to evaluate the influence of environmental changes on human adaptive strategies (e.g. migration, settlements. land use) in the Corridor. The session will be organized along four dimensions. The geological dimension will concentrate on sedimentary fingerprints of vertical sea-level fluctuations and lateral coastline change based on external (e.g. climate, tectonics) and internal (mainly the coastal sedimentary budget) forces. The paleoenvironmental dimension will integrate the newest data from paleontology, palynology, sedimentology, geomorphology and other disciplines in order to add new features to the portrait of past landscapes changes within the Corridor. The archaeological dimension will focus on cultural remains (e.g., archaeological artifacts and faunal remains from cultural layers). The mathematical dimension will concentrate on the GIS-based mathematical modelling of human dynamics underlying past/future environmental and sea-level changes in the area that can be compared with global climatic shifts and sea-level fluctuations. The session provides an excellent opportunity to bridge the perceived and actual communication barriers between multidisciplinary researchers on the topic in spirit of INQUA 0501 and IGCP 521 projects that go hand-on-hand.