Rapid Caspian Sea-level change and its impact on Iranian coasts

The Late Pleistocene and Holocene evolution as well as recent developments of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea have been studied using remote sensing and core data. This thesis focuses firstly on recent shoreline shifts during the last rapid sea-level cycle between 1929 and 1995, with an amplitude of three meters. Secondly, it shows a reconstruction of past Caspian Sea-level change and palaeoenvironments in an area very sensitive to such changes. A new tentative Holocene Caspian Sea-level curve has been reconstructed, which might help to predict future Caspian Sea-level. Up to now there has been no consensus on the chronology and amplitudes of Holocene Caspian sea-level oscillations due to problems with sampling strategies, absolute dating, relative tectonics, deformation, different datum levels and absence of data on long-term development of Caspian Sea-level.Geoscience & EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Shoreline Response to Rapid 20th Century Sea-Level Change along the Iranian Caspian Coast

The Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world, is characterized by rapid sea-level changes. This provides a real physical model of coastal response to rapid sea-level change in a period of just a few years, which might take a millennium along oceanic coasts. Between 1929 and 1995, the Caspian sea level experienced the last cycle, with a range of 63 m. This caused disastrous effects along the coast and destroyed many buildings, roads, farms, and other human property. During the preceding 48 years of sea-level fall, a large area of the sea bottom emerged, which was then used for the development of residential zones. That area had to be abandoned when sea level rose by almost 3 m in a period of 18 years. With the use of LANDSAT data, we calculated total shoreline shifts in 22 littoral cells, each cell containing three transects over a 3-km distance. Both landward and seaward shifts occur during rapid sea-level rise between 1977 and 2001.Geoscience & EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience