Dimitris Sakellariou

• Dr, Geologist
• Research Director at Hellenic Centre for Marine Research

The Aegean hosts some of the earliest cultural centers in European antiquity. To reconstruct the evolution of early anthropogenic impact in this region, we have examined lead (Pb) contents and vegetation dynamics on well-dated environmental archives extending to the early Holocene. We show that the impact of agropastoral societies on terrestrial ec...

Aegean extension began during Eocene-Oligocene times and led to the thinning of the upper plate into a retreating slab system. The style of extension during the Miocene remains controversial, with a majority of studies arguing for extension accommodated by low-angle extensional brittle-ductile faults, called detachments. In other hands, the present...

The value of deep‐water sedimentary successions as reliable records of environmental change has been questioned due to their long response times and sediment pathways leading to complex responses to climatic change and tectonic signals over differing timescales. We studied the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, to test the value of deep‐water stratigraphic s...

Sets of marine terraces, sediments, and paleoshorelines are commonly found in forearc regions worldwide. A common assumption holds that crustal uplift prevents these features from littoral erosion. Here, we study the vertical deformation of Karpathos, a forearc island in the eastern Mediterranean, whose long axis extends at a high angle to the stri...

The analysis of satellite-based Synthetic Aperture Radar Sentinel-1 data reveals the presence of an oil seepage system composed of 33 recurrent oil seeps sites in the Aegean Sea. The temporal analysis of this system shows that most oil seeps are detected during the summer period, probably due to better detection conditions during this period. The e...

Vegoritis is a large, deep, mesotrophic, karstic lake in NW Greece, located in Ptolemais basin. Dramatic lowering of the lake's level has occurred during the last half century due to human pressures. The Ptolemais Basin and the lake itself are subjected to serious human pressures. Pollutants are carried into the lake through both, the atmosphere an...

EUSeaMap 2023 is the sixth iteration of EUSeaMap. All versions have been produced as part of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is one of several thematic lots in EMODnet. The project has brought together a European consortium of specialists in benthic ecology and seabed habitat mapping. The partners first worked together in EMODnet Phase 1...

EUSeaMap 2023 is the sixth iteration of EUSeaMap. All versions have been produced as part of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is one of several thematic lots in EMODnet. The project has brought together a European consortium of specialists in benthic ecology and seabed habitat mapping. The partners first worked together in EMODnet Phase 1...

The North Anatolian Fault is the ~1200-km-long active continental transform boundary between Anatolia and Eurasia. This strike-slip system initiated around 10-12 Ma and experienced diachronous episodes of strain localization along its strike. The structural evolution of the ~350-km-long fault segments crossing the North Aegean Sea remains to be acc...

The proposed novel “BathySent” approach for coastal bathymetric mapping, using the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, as well as the assessment and specification of the uncertainties of the derived depth results, are the objectives of this research effort. For this reason, Sentinel-2 bathymetry retrieval results for three different pilot sites in Greec...

On the Island of Samos (East Aegean region, Greece), two sedimentary basins are filled by thick continental series dated to the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene. A multi‐disciplinary study has been performed including 1) the definition of 21 sedimentary facies, 2) a review of the biological components and 3) carbon, oxygen and strontium stable isotop...

The MagellanPlus workshop "BlackGate" addressed fundamental questions concerning the dynamic evolution of the Mediterranean-Black Sea (MBS) gateway and its palaeoenvironmental consequences. This gateway drives the Miocene-Quaternary circulation patterns in the Black Sea and governs its present status as the world's largest example of marine anoxia....

The southern Red Sea is affected by intense interactions between monsoon and sea level changes in a semi-closed environment. Still, the impacts on the wide shelves remain poorly documented. We investigate the seafloor environmental conditions on the southern Red Sea shelf over the last 30 ka through sedimentological (visual inspection, granulometry...

The "Guide for Marine Habitat Mapping" is the outcome of the Green Fund project entitled "Development of common methodology and techniques for marine habitat mapping". This Guide aims to provide a synopsis of the diverse array of concepts and methods used to undertake the marine habitat mapping adapted to the marine environment of the Hellenic Seas...

The current study presents the preliminary results of a marine geological survey of Myrtoon Basin, on the western part of the Hellenic Volcanic Arc. The processing and interpretation of recently acquired swath bathymetry and seismic data, along with older relevant information, led to the improvement of our knowledge of the geological structure, the...

The Eastern Mediterranean deep-sea floor includes regions characterized by complex sedimentological and structural features: continental slopes, submarine canyons and landslides, base-of-slope deposits, seamounts, cold seepages (including mud volcanoes and pockmarks), hydrothermal vents, bathyal or basin plains with abundant deposits of muds and th...

The southern Red Sea is a key region for investigating the effect of climate forces on a semi-closed basin. Detailed micropaleontological (planktic foraminifera) and isotopic (δ 18 Ο, δ 13 C) analyses along with reconstructions of sea surface temperature and salinity on a sediment core from the Farasan banks revealed the imprints of sea level chang...

EUSeaMap 2021 is the fifth iteration of EUSeaMap. All versions have been produced as part of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is one of several thematic lots in EMODnet. The project has brought together a European consortium of specialists in benthic ecology and seabed habitat mapping. The partners first collaborated in EMODnet phase 1 (2...

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Bathymetric and seismic data provide insights into the geomorphological configuration, seismic stratigraphy, structure, and evolution of the area between Santorini, Amorgos, Astypalea, and Anafi islands. Santorini-Amorgos Shear Zone (SASZ) is a NE-SW striking feature that includes seven basins, two shallow ridges, and hosts the volcanic centers of...

The objectives: Allow the easiest access to ready to use satellite data analytics for seafloor and the coastal zone New concepts and methods shall be developed, validated and included which exceed the current state of the art to provide more precise information than currently available and improve monitoring capabilities on seafloor and bathymetr...

This chapter aims to provide a short, still comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the bathymetry and geomorphology of the seafloor of Aegean Sea, the seismicity and the kinematics, the tectonic network and active offshore faulting, the Plio-Quaternary and active sedimentary basins. Integrated analysis of the bathymetric, morphological,...

Seabed mapping plays a key role in the understanding of the marine hydrodynamic flows that form a variety of micro- and macro-geomorphological/sedimentological features, while it is crucially important for a wide range of underwater activities, including offshore oil and gas exploration, pipeline and cable surveying, dredging operations, coastal wo...

Since the excavations at Franchthi Cave in the 1960s and 1970s, the possibility of finding a submerged Neolithic site in the Bay of Kiladha has been discussed. Initial research, based on marine geophysical survey and core sampling, brought contrasted results. Starting in 2012, new parts of the Bay were investigated, using different techniques and i...

EUSeaMap 2019 is the third iteration of EUSeaMap. All versions have been produced as part of the EMODnet Seabed Habitats project, which is one of several thematic lots in EMODnet. In the new version, the spatial coverage has been extended further North in order to include the Barents Sea. The spatial detail has substantially been improved. This has...

The Balkan Peninsula lies on a key geographical location between Africa and Eurasia. The southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, referred to as the Aegean region was a passageway for migrations of Eurasian fauna throughout the Pleistocene. Recent advances in the Lower Palaeolithic archaeology of Greece and in the research of the submerged landscapes...

This article is the Foreword to a multi-author text resulting from the SPLASHCOS Action on submerged prehistoric archaeology of Europe. This book describes the archaeology of all known submerged prehistoric remains and their regional context for the whole European continental shelf. They were inundated by the postglacial rise of global sea level. O...

The submerged archaeology of Greece extends from the Palaeolithic to the early Byzantine period. It offers valuable information on some of the critical themes of Eurasian prehistory: hominin dispersals, settlement patterns, strategies of survival, population movements and sea voyaging, communication and trade, high-energy destructive events and cli...

The submerged archaeology of Greece extends from the Palaeolithic to the early Byzantine period. It offers valuable information on some of the critical themes of Eurasian prehistory: hominin dispersals, settlement patterns, strategies of survival, population movements and sea voyaging, communication and trade, high-energy destructive events and cli...

The book is the final publication from the SPLASHCOS project and describes the recorded submerged prehistoric sites in European seas. Dimitris Sakellariou and I were involved in launching the project in 2008, and Professor Geoff Bailey, the lead Editor, invited us to write the Foreword. It is an open access publication.

In this work, core sediment samples up to 50 cm have been collected from three different marine environments; Gulf of Corinth, Gulf of Thermaikos, specifically from Litochoro Coast and Lake Uluabat from the wider region of Black Sea. Natural (210Pb) and anthropogenic (137Cs) radionuclides in the samples were measured using an HPGe detector, calibra...

Sea bottom geomorphology is widely considered a research field of interdisciplinary interest, since understanding the general structure of the ocean terrain can promote knowledge in several scientific fields (e.g. Geology, Biology, Physics etc). Hence, Identifying submarine landforms is of significant importance, as morphology, principal amongst ot...

Sediment transport processes from the slopes to the deep basins were studied in the southern Cretan margin (Eastern Mediterranean) by means of swath bathymetry, seismic reflection (airgun) profiling, and gravity coring. Mud/silt turbidites, developed in structureless or laminated patterns, appear to dominate the continental slope and the 2700–3600-...

Back-arc extension in the Greek Cyclades has been widely studied and its extensional style seems to have evolved through time. The earliest stages started with high-pressure, low-temperature rock exhumation, and metamorphic core complex exhumation in the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene. It has since progressed to low angle normal faulting, and throu...

Back-arc extension in the Greek Cyclades has been widely studied and its extensional style seems to have evolved through time. The earliest stages started with high-pressure, low-temperature rock exhumation, and metamorphic core complex exhumation in the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene. It has since progressed to low angle normal faulting, and throu...

Marine transform faults and associated fracture zones (MTFFZs) cover vast stretches of the ocean floor, where they play a key role in plate tectonics, accommodating the lateral movement of tectonic plates and allowing connections between ridges and trenches. Together with the continental counterparts of MTFFZs, these structures also pose a risk to...

The North Anatolian Fault in the northern Aegean Sea triggers frequent earthquakes of magnitudes up to Mw∼7. This seismicity can be a source of modest tsunamis for the surrounding coastlines with less than 50 cm height according to numerical modelling and analysis of tsunami deposits. However, other tsunami sources may be involved, like submarine l...

A marine geological-geophysical survey of selected areas on the Saudi Arabian continental shelf of the Farasan Archipelago in the southeastern Red Sea has been conducted in the framework of the ERC-funded DISPERSE project. The aim was to explore systematically the geological, tectonic and sedimentary structure of the shelf and provide insights into...

During the height of the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, the sea-level was 120–130 m lower, making movement out of Africa into Arabia relatively easy. The Hanish Sill at the southern end of the Red Sea would only have been a few metres deep, less than 10 km wide and interspersed with small islands. Extensive evidence of archaeological...

This study presents results of an examination of planktonic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the upper half of a 2.64 m-long sediment gravity core retrieved from the southern Red Sea continental shelf. The examined interval corresponds to the time period of the last 16 kyr. The microfaunal associations show concurrent and concomitant vari...

The distinction between contourites and turbidites is generally based on large-scale features and conversely detailed depositional model is still lacking, especially because the interaction of both processes is the norm rather than the exception. Only few outcrop examples were documented, and a studied case where both facies, intermediate (10's m)...

The WATER project (Western Aegean Tectonic Evolution and Reactivations) focuses on the study of a tectonically active domain of the northwestern Aegean Sea (Greece): the Oreoi Channel and the North Evia Gulf. This Oreoi Channel-North Evia Gulf domain, including the onshore Sperchios basin, is a key area located at the junction between the extension...

Systematic, high-resolution seafloor and subseafloor geological-geophysical survey was conducted in August 2014 with the aims of (1) mapping in high resolution the seafloor, the sedimentary deposits, and the sub-seafloor structure of the Eastern Argolic Gulf; (2) mapping precisely and reconstructing the paleoshorelines and submerged prehistoric lan...

The detailed review and re-evaluation of the marine geological, geophysical, seismological and geodetic data enabled the systematic mapping of the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary basins and the active offshore faults and led to re-interpretation of the deformation of the Aegean microplate since the Early Pliocene. Back-arc extension is accommodated by...

Swath bathymetry and seismic profiling data show that the current phase of the evolution of the western North Aegean Trough, Greece, reflects the development of a horsetail structure at the western termination of the North Anatolian Fault. The onset of the deformation in the NAT occurred probably in Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene. Transtensiona...

Systematic single channel seismic and 3.5 kHz profiling, gravity and box coring and Pb downcore analyses shed light to the structure and the Late Quaternary evolution of the North Evia Gulf graben. The latter is segmented along its axis in three distinct basins. The shallow, E-W striking western basin displays southward asymmetry. The NW-SE strikin...

Coastal and submarine landslides are frequent at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, where small to medium failure events (106–107 m3) occur on average every 30–50 years. These landslides trigger tsunamis and consequently represent a significant hazard. We use here a dense grid of high-resolution seismic profiles to realize an inventory of the...

Franchthi Cave, bordering Kiladha Bay, in Greece, is a key archaeological site, due to its long occupation time, from ~ 40,000 to ~ 5000 year BP. To date, no clear evidence of Neolithic human dwellings in the cave was found, supporting the assumption that Neolithic people may have built a village where there is now Kiladha Bay. During the Neolithic...

The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) is a >1200 km-long continental strike-slip fault system, acting as the plate boundary between Eurasia and Anatolia. West of the Yeniçağa fork in Turkey, the NAF divides in two main strands: the Main Marmara Fault crossing the Marmara Sea to the North, and a southern branch of the NAF crossing the Biga Peninsula. Both...

The analysis and interpretation of vintage and recent seismic profiles across Christiana Basin in the South Aegean arc provided information on the seismic stratigraphy and chrono-stratigraphy of the basin, the occurrence of volcanic deposits within the sedimentary basin infill, and its post-Miocene geodynamic evolution. Plio-Quaternary sediments ov...

The North Anatolian Fault in the northern Aegean Sea triggers frequent earthquakes of magnitude up to Mw ∼ 7. This seismicity can be a source of modest tsunamis for the surrounding coastlines with less than 50 cm height according to numerical modelling and analysis of tsunami deposits. However, other tsunami sources may be involved, like submarine...

In 2012, during an archaeological survey along the route of a future Greek-Italian gas pipeline, at the North Ionian Sea, between Corfu and Taranto, two late roman and one 18th c. shipwrecks were located at a depth of over 1000 m. From the first assessment of their cargo, it seems that the shipwreck named POSEIDON 1 (located at the depth of 1.175 m...

Detailed review and integrated re-interpretation of geological, seismological and geodetic data indicate a major change in the style of deformation of the Aegean microplate since the Early Pliocene. Widespread, arc-perpendicular, back-arc extension in the Miocene has been replaced by extensive shearing along strike-slip zones in the Plio-Quaternary...

Coastal and submarine landslides are frequent at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, where small to medium failure events (10⁶–10⁷ m³) occur on average every 30–50 years. These landslides trigger tsunamis, and consequently represent a significant hazard. We use here a dense grid of high-resolution seismic profiles to realize an inventory of the...

The "Amorgos Basin" is located in the South Aegean Sea, Greece. Seismic and swath bathymetry data provide information on the kinematics and the deformation which led to its present structure. The "Amorgos Basin" is a group of NE-SW trending, asymmetric sub-basins. Their sedimentary infill displays very similar seismic character, with well-defined u...

This paper aims to (i) provide an updated map of the fault network, (ii) understand the seafloor's morphology and offshore geological structure and (iii) develope a new interpretation of the post-Miocene kinematics and deformation of the Aegean Sea.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to reveal information about the complex structure of the so-called “Amorgos Basin” through the description of the main geomorphological features and the understanding of the structural architecture, in order to develop a new model for the kinematics and the deformation of the newly proposed Amorgos Shear Zon...

On July 21, 2017 (01:32 GMT), an Mw 6.6 earthquake occurred with focal depth of about 10 km and epicenter located offshore northeastern Kos. It was generated by an E-W striking and south dipping (38°) fault located east of Kos and constitutes the westward prolongation of the Akyaka-Gökova fault of the Muğla province in Asia Minor. This fault is 16...

Preliminary interpretation of swath bathymetry data and seismic profiles acquired during four cruises of "YPOTHER/Aegean Explorations" project aboard R/V Aegaeo provides insights into the fault network, fault kinematics and deformation pattern of the western part of the North Aegean Trough (NAT). The N40°E trending western part of the dextral North...

An extensive oceanographic survey was conducted in the marine area between Kimolos and Sifnos Islands, a rather poorly-studied sector of the Aegean Sea, in order to gain better understanding of submarine geomorphological features and associated sediment provenance. Multi-beam bathymetry and surface sediment sampling with a box corer were carried ou...

Twenty five years after a first attempt by Mascle and Martin (1990), this paper aims at delivering an updated and considerably richer, map of the offshore faults in the Aegean Sea. Reinterpretation of vintage analogue seismic profiles, interpretation of new profiles and records of swath bathymetry data made available in the last two decades, as wel...

In order to most benefit from the potential offered by the European marine basins in terms of growth and employment (Blue Growth), and to protect the marine environment, we need to know more about the seafloor. European Directives, such as the MSFD, but also the Horizon 2020 roadmap explicitly called for a multi-resolution full coverage of all Euro...

The past decade has seen a rapidly widening interest in archaeological and scientific exploration of the submerged landscapes that were flooded by sea-level rise at the end of the Last Glacial period. That interest is shared by many different disciplines and constituencies, including archaeologists who recognise the potential significance of these...

The Aegean Region has remained marginal to research into human origins despite its key position in the multiple movements of animals between Europe and Asia. A possible explanation for this is that the Palaeolithic remains are invisible because they lie beneath the sea, whilst research in the field was hitherto developed on the mainland. In this ch...

We report on a preliminary exploration of the submerged landscapes in the Saudi Arabian sector of the southern Red Sea aboard the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) Research Vessel, AEGAEO, in May–June 2013. The survey sampled areas of the continental shelf down to the shelf margin at ~130 m depth in the vicinity of the Farasan Islands and...

Underwater geoarchaeological studies typically involve case studies that vary widely in scale, environment and stage of application. As a result, the range of survey techniques and applied methods is very broad. This paper aims to present an overview of state-of-the-art techniques and survey strategies for submerged prehistoric site evaluation. We...

This chapter reviews the main environmental factors which have controlled the evolution of the submerged prehistoric landscape and therefore influenced prehistoric human migration and activity, and discusses the potential for the survival of prehistoric cultural and natural remains on the sea floor of the continental shelf in the Aegean region. Und...

This volume contains the main results of the EC FP7 “The Ocean of Tomorrow” Project CoCoNet, divided in two sections: 1) a set of guidelines to design networks of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas; 2) a smart wind chart that will allow evaluating the possibility of installing Offshore Wind Farms in both seas. The concep...

Recently acquired offshore seismic and swath bathymetry data from the Hellenic Arc, the Ionian Sea and the South and North Aegean Sea, including the Hellenic Volcanic Arc and the Cyclades plateau, along with geological and tectonic data from Plio-Quaternary basins exposed on the Hellenic Arc indicate that strike slip tectonics has played a major ro...

This book focuses on issues of method and interpretation in studies of submerged landscapes, concentrating on illustrations and case studies from around Europe with additional examples from other parts of the world. Such landscapes were once exposed as dry land during the low sea levels that prevailed during the glacial periods that occupied most o...