Evidence of active subsidence at Basiluzzo island (Aeolian islands, southern Italy) inferred from a Roman age wharf

Abstract The Aeolian Arc (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is one of the most active volcanic areas of the Mediterranean basin, affected by volcanic/hydrothermal and seismic activity. Ancient populations settled this region since historical times, building coastal installations which currently are valuable archaeological indicators of relative sea level changes and vertical land movements. In this study we show and discuss data on the relative sea level change estimated from a submerged wharf of Roman age dated between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D., located at Basiluzzo Island. This structure has been studied through marine surveys and archaeological interpretations and is presently located at a corrected depth of −4.10 ± 0.2 m. We explain this submergence by a cumulative effect of the relative sea level change caused by the regional glacio-hydro-isostatic signal, active since the end of the last glacial maximum, and the local volcano-tectonic land subsidence. Finally, a total subsidence rate of 2.05 ± 0.1 mm/yr −1 , with a volcano-tectonic contribution of 1.43 ± 0.1 mm/yr −1 for the last 2 ka BP, is inferred from the comparison against the latest predicted sea level curve for the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, suggesting new evaluations of the volcano-tectonic hazard for this area of the Aeolian islands.