The late Holocene record of Lake Mareotis, Nile Delta, Egypt

Flaux, Clément; Giaime, Matthieu; Pichot, Valérie; Marriner, Nick; el-Assal, Mena; Guihou, Abel; Deschamps, Pierre; Claude, Christelle; Morhange, Christophe

Abstract

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 high-energy events considerably shaped the human occupation history of the Maryut. To reconstruct Lake Maryut hydrology in historical times, we used faunal remains, geochemistry (Sr isotopic signature of ostracods) and geoarcheological indicators of relative lake-level changes. The data show both a rise in Nile inputs to the basin during the first millennia BCE and CE and a lake-level rise of ca. 1.5 m during the Roman period. A high-energy deposit, inferred from reworked radiocarbon dates, may explain an enigmatic sedimentary hiatus previously attested to in Maryut's chronostratigraphy.

Citation

Flaux, C., Giaime, M., Pichot, V., Marriner, N., el-Assal, M., Guihou, A., …Morhange, C. (2021). The late Holocene record of Lake Mareotis, Nile Delta, Egypt. E&G - Quaternary Science Journal, 70(1), https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-93-2021

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 8, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Nov 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2021
• Journal: E&G Quaternary Science Journal
• Print ISSN: 0424-7116
• Electronic ISSN: 2199-9090
• Publisher: Copernicus Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 70
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-70-93-2021