Paleosoils within Late Holocene aeolian sands at the Gulf of Messara (Crete, Greece) - Reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions since the Minoan Bronze Age

• Applicant: Dr. Fabian Kirsten
• Subject Area: Physical Geography
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558469822

The Messara Graben in southern Crete (Greece) has been an agricultural and a political-cultural center of the island since the Minoan Bronze Age. In the area surrounding the well-known archaeological sites of Phaistos, Agia Triada and Kommos on the Gulf of Messara, thick fluvial sediments were deposited in the Tymbaki basin, which is also the delta area of the Geropotamus River. To the south of the delta, there is an aeolian sand sheet parallel to the coast, which covers the Neogene bedrock and in some places extends more than 1 km inland from the coast. The accumulation of the aeolian sands, that can reach a thickness of more than 10 meters, has been attributed to Late Holocene phases of increased eolian activity, which presumably go hand in hand with phases of increased soil erosion in the catchment area. Initial geoscientific studies and paleo-environmental reconstructions already exist for the fluvial sediments in the delta area, but these display considerable spatial and temporal gaps, while an overarching and systematic study regarding the aeolian sands is lacking altogether. Based on our own preliminary work with a focus on near-surface brown paleosols, which are found within the aeolian sands at several anthropogenic outcrops, a first chronostratigraphy of the youngest eolian sediments and paleosols could be established. These indicate sedimentation and soil formation in Byzantine, Arab and Venetian times. These findings raise further questions regarding the thickness and distribution pattern of the eolian sediments and their (chrono)stratigraphy. It is also expected that further paleosoils, which indicate landscape stability phases, will be found in the sediments. As part of the proposed pilot study, an age model of the sediments and paleosoils is to be established with the aid of geophysical methods as well as vibracore soundings and subsequent luminescence and radiocarbon datings. This work is being carried out in cooperation with the Geomorphology group at JGU Mainz and the Applied Geophysics group at the Technical University of Chania (Crete). By means of sedimentological-geochemical laboratory analyses, both a stratigraphic classification and a characterization of the paleosoils will be developed. Furthermore, a spatial-stratigraphic correlation between the alluvial sediments in the Tymbaki basin and an adjacent wetland as well as the eolian sediments will be established. Based on these results, a (first) paleoenvironmental reconstruction for the Late Holocene can be inferred for this intensively farmed, densely populated and ecologically sensitive area. In addition to its significance for the interpretation of archaeological and historical findings, the study will also provide important findings for an area heavily affected by climate change and the parameters of the geomorphological process regime therein.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Peter Fischer; Professor Dr. Andreas Vött