Nick Marriner

French National Centre for Scientific Research | CNRS · ThéMA

Understanding deltaic resilience in the face of Holocene climate change and human impacts is an important challenge for the earth sciences in characterizing the full range of present and future wetland responses to global warming. Here, we report an 8000-year mass balance record from the Nile Delta to reconstruct when and how this sedimentary basin...

Storm surges, leading to catastrophic coastal flooding, are amongst the most feared natural hazards due to the high population densities and economic importance of littoral areas. Using the Central Mediterranean Sea as a model system, we provide strong evidence for enhanced periods of storminess leading to coastal flooding during the last 4500 year...

From 2000 to 2015, tsunamis and storms killed more than 430,000 people worldwide and affected a further >530 million, with total damages exceeding US$970 billion. These alarming trends, underscored by the tragic events of the 2004 Indian Ocean catastrophe, have fueled increased worldwide demands for assessments of past, present, and future coastal...

The impacts of relative sea‐level (RSL) variations and crust mobility on the development of ancient harbours in the northern Persian Gulf are poorly understood. Many unanswered questions remain with regard to the main reasons for a shift in the location of the most important ancient harbours in the northern part of the Persian Gulf coastal since 50...

While the exact technical processes employed in the construction of the pyramids are still a subject of ongoing debate, it is widely recognized that the Giza Plateau served as a hub where various trades converged with the common objective of building the necropolis. Of particular importance was the development of a local and sustainable food supply...

New high-resolution relative sea-level (RSL) proxy data obtained from Lithophyllum rims in the Adriatic allow us to distinguish major local, regional and global RSL driving processes during the past two millennia. RSL change on the Elafiti islands in the Dubrovnik archipelago (Southern Adriatic) has been significantly affected by local tectonic con...

Wadi El-Natrun depression lies about 100 km north-west of Cairo, just south of the ‘desert road’ between Cairo and Alexandria. The depression has a longitudinal morphology extending from the southeast to the northwest with average dimensions of about 60 km × 15 km. Bani Salama site lies in the eastern part of the depression, to the east of Fasda La...

Wadi El-Natrun depression lies about 100 km north-west of Cairo, just south of the ‘desert road’ between Cairo and Alexandria. The depression has a longitudinal morphology extending from the southeast to the northwest with average dimensions of about 60 km × 15 km. Bani Salama site lies in the eastern part of the depression, to the east of Fasda La...

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is one of the species best adapted to a Mediterranean-type climate. Nonetheless, the Mediterranean Basin is deemed to be a climate change ‘hotspot’ by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change because future model projections suggest considerable warming and drying. Within this context, new environmental challe...

During the last two decades, the number of tropical cyclone (TC) events in the Arabian Sea has increased dramatically. These events have led to severe human and economic damage in Oman, Iran and Pakistan. Within this context, Gonu, Phet and Shaheen were the Arabian Sea's most destructive TCs on record, leading to a total of 6.07 billion USD in dama...

The genesis and distribution of marine notches around the microtidal Mediterranean basin has been widely debated in recent years. Here we provide new climate and geomorphological insights into the factors controlling notch formation based on the bathymetric distribution of marine notches found in Marseille Bay (NW Mediterranean). In this area, the...

We present a historical record of landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs, 85 events) over the Mascarene Islands (southern Indian Ocean) since the 17th century to evaluate interannual-to-decadal-scale changes in past TC variability, from the cooler Little Ice Age (LIA) to the present warming world, and to contextualize present and future changes in risk...

The pyramids of Giza originally overlooked a now defunct arm of the Nile. This fluvial channel, the Khufu branch, enabled navigation to the Pyramid Harbor complex but its precise environmental history is unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, we use pollen-derived vegetation patterns to reconstruct 8,000 y of fluvial variations on the Giza floodplain...

The fluvial harbour of Aquileia (Italy), one of the most important Roman trading centres in the Mediterranean, was abandoned after the city's destruction in 452 AD. The deserted harbour evolved into a swamp surrounded by a floodplain that has recorded the anthropogenic, environmental and climatic pressures that have occurred during the last 1500 ye...

The Mediterranean is facing numerous socio-environmental challenges linked to global change, frequently compounded by rapid population growth. Within this framework, regional-scale Holocene temperature reconstructions are key to placing industrial-era warming into the perspective of natural climatic variability. Here, we present a new Mediterranean...

The western Makran subduction zone is capable of producing considerable tsunami run-up heights that penetrate up to 5 km inland. In this study, we show how climate change has affected urbanization along the tsunami-prone Makran coastline during the past 35 years. To address this issue, we have employed climate data, satellite altimeter radar, geomo...

The SE coast of Iran is of great economic and environmental importance. Global climate change affects this coastline through sea level rise (SLR), compounded by a decrease in sediment budgets in coastal areas. This study developed a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the SE coast of Iran using satellite, instrumental and field data. Eight risk v...

The Sasanian period (224–651 CE) marked an era of large‐scale urban projects in southwest Asia, including Iran's semi‐arid highlands, with particular efforts to manipulate water bodies. This study presents a recent interdisciplinary investigation of a spring‐fed pond at the entrance of the Palace of Ardashir (Firuzabad plain, southwest Iran), part...

In the context of industrial-era global change, Mediterranean coastal areas are threatened by relative sea level (RSL) rise. Shifts in the drivers of coastal dynamics are forecasted to trigger changes in the frequency of flooding of low-lying areas, with significant effects on marine-coastal environments, societies, economy and urban systems. Here,...

Future warming in the Mediterranean is expected to significantly exceed global values with unpredictable implications on the sea-level rise rates in the coming decades. Here, we apply an empirical-Bayesian spatio-temporal statistical model to a dataset of 401 sea-level index points from the central and western Mediterranean and reconstruct rates of...

We combined biostratigraphical analyses, archaeological surveys, and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models to provide new insights into the relative sea-level evolution in the northeastern Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). In this area, characterized by a very complex tectonic pattern, we produced a new typology of sea-level index point, base...

Lake Maryut (northwestern Nile Delta, Egypt) was a key feature of Alexandria's hinterland and economy during Greco-Roman times. Its shores accommodated major economic centers, and the lake acted as a gateway between the Nile valley and the Mediterranean. It is suggested that lake-level changes, connections with the Nile and the sea, and possible hi...

Landscape archaeology is a relatively young subdiscipline that has grown in a multitude of directions, particularly in recent decades. It is strongly multidisciplinary and has borrowed tools from an array of fields, including the archaeological sciences, geology, geography, palaeoecology and geochronology; many landscape archaeologists have backgro...

Ongoing global change and its direct environmental impacts, in addition to securing economic transition to the post-oil era, could trigger complex socio-economic and political crises in oil-dependent economies of the Persian Gulf Region (PGR). To evaluate the role of climate change and related policies in degrading the environment and its socio-eco...

One of the most devastating environmental consequences of war is the disruption of peacetime human–microbe relationships, leading to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Indirectly, conflicts also have severe health consequences due to population displacements, with a heightened risk of disease transmission. While previous research suggests that confl...

Historical texts and archaeological studies attest to the maritime and trade importance of the Persian Gulf since the Sassanid Empires. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of data regarding ancient navigation and the reasons for a shift in maritime trade from the western (e.g. Shatt-al-Arab) to eastern (Siraf) Persian Gulf by the Abbasid dynasty. For s...

Industrial-era warming and aridification have underlined the importance of past climate reconstructions in contextualizing present-day anomalies from a long-term perspective. While the issue of climate change is global, studies have long stressed the vulnerability of the Mediterranean basin, especially with regard to its islands with likely acute e...

The history of the Eastern Mediterranean is punctuated by major crises that have influenced many of the region's established socioeconomic models. Recent studies have underscored the role of drought and temperature oscillations in driving changes but attempts to quantify their magnitude remain equivocal, hindering long-term assessments of the poten...

In Eastern Mediterranean history, 1200 BCE is a symbolic date. Its significance is tied to the important upheavals that destabilised regional-scale economic systems, leading to the dislocation of mighty Empires and, finally, to the “demise” of a societal model (termed “the Crisis Years”). Recent studies have suggested that a centuries-long drought,...

We reconstructed the late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) evolution of the ancient harbour of Naples, one of the largest coastal conurbations in the Mediterranean. We carried out multiproxy investigations, coupling archaeological evidence with biological indicators. Our data robustly constrain 2000 yr of non-monotonic changes in sea level, chiefl...

Morocco is an area subject to recurrent severe droughts, desertification and an increasing land degradation. It is within a Mediterranean hotspot of biodiversity as it harbors many threatened endemic species such as the argan tree (Argania spinosa). In this context, past climate records are needed to analyze the impact of climate variability on the...

Can climate affect societies? This question, of both past and present importance, is encapsulated by the major socioeconomic crisis that affected the Mediterranean 3200 yr ago. The demise of the core civilizations of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (Dark Ages) is still controversial because it...

Abstract: The late glacial – early Holocene transition is a key period in the earth’s history. However, although this transition is well studied in Europe, it is not well constrained in the Middle East and palaeohydrological records with robust chronologies remain scarce from this region. Here we present an interesting hydrobiological record showin...

In deltaic areas, within a context of relative sea-level stability during the past 6000 years, environmental conditions have been key in mediating human settlements and the evolution of ancient harbours. The natural diversity of clastic-coast environments, in particular deltas, is central to explain the wide disparity in harbour contexts. It is, th...

The Holocene colonisation of islands by humans has invariably led to deep-seated changes in landscape dynamics and ecology. In particular, burning was a management tool commonly used by prehistoric societies and it acted as a major driver of environmental change, particularly from the Neolithic onwards. To assess the role of early human impacts (e....

Throughout human history, communication and trade have been key to society. Because maritime trade facilitated the rapid transportation of passengers and freight at relatively low cost, harbours became hubs for traffic, trade and exchange. This general statement holds true for the Pergamenian kingdom, which ruled wide parts of today's western Turke...

The Holocene colonisation of islands by humans has invariably led to deep-seated changes in landscape dynamics and ecology. In particular, burning was a management tool commonly used by prehistoric societies and it acted as a major driver of environmental change, particularly from the Neolithic onwards. To assess the role of early human impacts (e....

Relative sea-level (RSL) reconstructions are essential to answer a variety of scientific questions, ranging from the investigation of crustal movements to the calibration of earth rheology models and ice sheet reconstructions. It is generally assumed that most Cycladic islands (Aegean Sea, Greece) are affected by a gradual subsidence, attributed to...

In Northern Dobrogea, north of the Dunavăţ promontory, the Roman fortress of Halmyris was founded in the late 1st century AD on a Getic settlement dating to the middle of the 1st millennium BC, probably associated with a Greek emporium of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. At the time of the foundation of Halmyris, the Danube delta had already...

The 4.2 ka BP event is defined as a phase of environmental stress characterized by severe and prolonged drought of global extent. The event is recorded from the North Atlantic through Europe to Asia and has led scientists to evoke a 300-year global mega-drought. For the Mediterranean and the Near East, this abrupt climate episode radically altered...

The ancient harbour of Pisa, Portus Pisanus, was one of Italy's most influential seaports for many centuries. Nonetheless, very little is known about its oldest harbour and the relationships between environmental evolution and the main stages of harbour history. The port complex that ensured Pisa's position as an economic and maritime power progres...

The 4.2ka BP event is defined as a phase of environmental stress characterized by severe and prolonged drought of global extent. The event is recorded from the North Atlantic through Europe to Asia, leading scientists to evoke a 300-yr global mega-drought. Focusing on the Mediterranean and the Near East, this abrupt climate episode radically altere...

Palustrine carbonates are frequently found associated with active and dried karstic springs in the foothills of the mountains bordering the Persepolis Basin, SW Iran. A combination of geological conditions favours their formation including: (i) the presence of karstic limestone aquifers in the limbs of anticlines cut through by fault systems, (ii)...

Since the first archaeological excavations undertaken in the 1970s/1980s, Tel Akko is known to have been an important trade city from the early 2nd millennium B.C. onwards. Even if the site has been intensively excavated, no paleoenvironmental studies looking to understand coastal changes near the tell since the Bronze Age had been undertaken until...

Although there is rich evidence for human occupation of Paros’ coastline, there is a dearth of data with regards to the evolution of the island's seaboard palaeoenvironments. In this paper, we use sedimentological and palaeontological proxies of late Holocene coastal deposits from lagoonal environment to reconstruct the evolution of coastal landsca...

A multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation was conducted to reconstruct the Holocene history of coastal landscape change in the lower Posada coastal plain of eastern Sardinia. In the Mediterranean region, coastal modifications during the Holocene have been driven by a complex interplay between climate, geomorphological processes and human acti...

Global climate change has sharpened focus on the social and economic challenges associated with water deficits, particularly in regions where anthropogenic demands exceed supply. This modern condition was also experienced by the people of ancient western Asia, where chronic water shortages were accentuated by recurrent droughts. However, human soci...

In Northern Dobrogea, north of the Dunavăţ promontory, the Roman fortress of Halmyris was founded in the late 1st century on a Getae settlement dated back the middle of the 1st millennium BC. 8000 years ago, the area of the later Danube delta was a vast open marine bay. Since the end of the post-glacial marine transgression, the Danube delta has pr...

The Roman city of Pollentia was founded on the north-eastern coast of Mallorca (Balearic archipelago) after the Roman conquest of the island in 123 BC. There is evidence that the city had two harbours, a small harbour located to the north, whereas the main harbour was located to the south of Pollentia. Our study focuses on the southern harbour, on...

Ancient Alexandria possessed not only an important maritime front but also a long lake waterfront on its southern side. This dual waterfront was praised by the ancient geographer Strabo in the first century BCE, because its geomorphological configuration opened Alexandria to Mediterranean trade, and also the Nile delta and Egypt. While the city's m...

River deltas began forming around 7000 years BP because of the stabilization of mean sea level and high sedimentary inputs at base-level. The natural variety of wetland environments on clastic coasts, in particular deltas, explains in major part the important disparities in harbour contexts. These different geomorphological contexts led to specific...