Abstract Coastal areas have been prime locations for habitation and commerce. Early authors such as Pausanias (second century CE), and Strabo (64 or 63 BCE–24 CE) noted the impacts of shoreline changes. Geomorphological and subsurface geological data, combined with archaeological excavation and ancient texts, indicate a long interplay between natural processes of estuarine infilling by sediments from the Küçük Menderes River (ancient Cayster River) and multiple attempts of human intervention to preserve the harbours of Ephesus. Strabo noted that harbour engineering efforts there, such as the construction of a mole to prevent siltation, instead created a sediment trap that made things worse. The pre-Holocene river valley was inundated by Holocene sea-level rise that formed the ancient Gulf of Ephesus. Extensive palaeogeographical studies, based on sediment coring, geomorphology, archaeology and history, have provided details of the problems the inhabitants faced in keeping vital harbours in operation. Dating and analysis of sedimentary deposits has allowed the description of shifting river courses, floodplain changes, human intervention, and anthropogenic deposits at Ephesus. During and following Classical times sediment deposition rapidly began to fill in the embayment, requiring the inhabitants to regularly shift the harbours westward. Ultimately, it was to no avail.

Abstract Incised-valley fills provide the greatest potential for preservation of sediments in a transgressive system. We compare examples from the coastal plain of Delaware and the glaciated bedrock terrain of Maine. Facies models developed in these areas suggest that 1/2 to 2/3 of the initial phases of transgression may be preserved below the shoreface ravinement surface in coastal-plain settings, recording initial fluvial, estuarine, lagoon, and some flood-tidal delta deposits. Coastal-plain systems are controlled by processes of open-ocean wave energy and back-barrier tidal systems. Lithosomes are irregular and may be disconnected lenses, 10–30 m maximum thickness, 1–5 km normal to the shoreline, and 10's of kilometers alongshore extent. Shoreface incision to a wave base of 10 m creates a ravinement unconformity. Incised-valley fills along the margins of a major estuary, Delaware Bay, record a similar sequence, but shoreface incision is smaller, approximately 1 m. In Maine, embayments are framed by bedrock, and cut into glaciomarine sediments. The tide-dominated system accumulates sediment in the inner reaches but becomes progressively truncated by tidal-channel erosion at mid-embayment, creating an estuarine, tidal-ravinement surface. The outer, less geographically sheltered reaches are dominated by wave erosion, which removes the majority of the sequence. Lithosomes are disjunct lenticular pods of a few meters to 10 m thickness and kilometer scale in lateral and longitudinal extent. In both cases, maximum preservation may occur as sea level reaches highstand, producing a prograding sequence that caps the earlier transgressive units.

Abstract Humans are fascinated with the proposition that there are artifacts of ancient civilizations below sea level. The question arises, “How feasible is it for twentieth and twenty-first century humans to find extensive remains of ancient civilizations that were submerged by the Holocene rise in sea level?“ The interest of society in marine archaeology and treasure hunting surged in recent years as a result of several spectacular discoveries. Among these were the 1972 discovery of the U.S.S. Montitor off Cape Hatteras (oldest iron-clad warship), the H.M.S. De Braak off Cape Henlopen (a British warship purported to be carrying as much as $500 million worth of booty), and the H.M.S. Titanic off the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Although these are not prehistoric finds, they raised public support for archaeological research in general. In this chapter we synthesize the state-of-the-art of paleogeography of known prehistoric archaeological sites in the coastal zone, as well as those that presumably lie on the submerged portion of the continental shelf of North America's mid-Atlantic Bight (Fig. 1). In the Americas, according to Deetz (1988), "prehistoric"refers to any material remains prior to A.D. 1492. On the peninsula of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (Delmarva), Thomas (1974) defined prehistoric periods approximately as cited in Table 1. Where necessary, this approximate period nomenclature for early humans in the area is used. Coastal and shallow-marine archaeological sites are reported from around the world (Edwards and Emery, 1977; Fleming, 1983; Kraft and others, 1983b, 1985). An additional site is described here and related

Abstract: Transgressive barriers of the embayed Atlantic and Gulf coast are generally similar in overall form, processes, and landward migration in response to relative sea-level rise, but they vary greatly in potential sources and volume of sand supply. Delaware's transgressive barriers vary in thickness from 25 m to less than 5 m; dunes may rise to 20 m above sea level, whereas barrier-spit and inlet sand reach depths of 10–18 m below sea level. Widths vary between 0 m at eroding headlands and 4–6 km near tidal delta and spit complexes. A complete Holocene paralic sequence for Delaware includes a basal sand and/or gravel overlain by marsh, lagoon, and barrier lithosomes. Shoreface erosion, as the barrier lithosome moves landward, occurs to an average depth of 10 m, with about 50% of eroded sediment derived from Holocene and Pleistocene lagoonal mud outcrops. Since the suspended material is carried out of the shoreface, its removal requires a re-evaluation of the volumetric model commonly inferred from the Bruun mechanism. Also, the third dimension of longshore transport of coarse material needs to be considered. As transgression continues, the ravinement surface exposes lagoonal sediments, marsh mud, irregularly shaped basal remnants of the Holocene barrier lithosome, or varied Pleistocene strata. These are then blanketed by varying thicknesses of inner-shelf sand. Ultimately, the transgressive barrier and associated paralic environments migrate landward to peak interglacial positions where the entire transgressive record may be preserved. A relatively complete vertical sequence of transgressive coastal lithosomes might also be preserved at the outer edge of the continental shelf at glacial sea-level minima. Thus, the optimal chance for total preservation of a transgressive coastal lithosome sequence lies at the extremes, landward at the peak interglacial when eustatic sea-level rise stops and the coastal lithosome sequences become stranded, and possibly on the outer edge of the shelf as deglaciation begins and there is rapid rate of sea-level rise.

Abstract: The stratigraphic record of Quaternary transgressions due to glacio-eustatic rise varies as a function of sediment supply from rivers to the paralic realm. Extremes from low to high sediment supply are represented by the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, respectively. The vertical sequence produced by these transgressions at the low sediment supply end of the spectrum consists of paralic and fluvial lithosomes erosionally truncated by shoreface retreat and overlain by shelf marine lithosomes. The lithosomes produced in the landward portion of the paralic realm are commonly preserved, whereas the lithosomes from the more shoreward part are less likely to be preserved. Thus, beach facies are rarely incorporated into the transgressive stratigraphic record, except as a peak sea-level deposit preserved by abandonment. Erosional truncation of the paralic section produces a unique stratigraphic surface, the ravinement surface, which exhibits many of the physical characteristics of a major break in deposition. The surface is then overlain by nearshore to offshore shelf facies in a deepening-upward succession. When encountered in the stratigraphic record, the ravinement surface is likely to be interpreted as a depositional sequence boundary. When this occurs, a continuous cycle of deposition during transgression is not recognized. When a ravinement and its associated facies are properly interpreted, a complete cycle of transgression and regression in response to changing sea level can be recognized.

Location The Cape Henlopen spit and associated dunes, beaches, marshes, and other coastal landforms are located at the confluence of Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean near Lewes, Delaware. Much of this area is included in the State of Delaware's Cape Henlopen State Park. The state park is open all year; however, entry fees are charged from Memorial Day to Labor Day as the park is a popular recreation area. In general, the beaches, berm, tidal flats, and large portions of the dunes and barriers are open to foot traffic. There are restrictions in bird-nesting areas and in several small U.S. military zones. Trails inland are good, but we suggest care regarding excess heat in the summer and local patches of poison ivy. Should you wish to dig beach trenches, we suggest that they be shallow and broad to avoid collapse and that all trenches be refilled at the end of the study. Much of the park is included and protected in the Cape Henlopen Archaeological District. The staff at the park headquarters or at the nature center can provide further information on available facilities. Once in southern Delaware, take U.S. 9 east towards Lewes, following signs for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and the Cape Henlopen State Park (Fig. 1). The park entrance is approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) east from the ferry terminal. During the summer months this is a busy resort area, and reservations are suggested for local motels. Cape Henlopen State Park has an excellent campground, but

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, G. K. Gilbert began a study of the origin of the lakeshore features of ancestral Lake Bonneville. By means of hypothesis and observation, he used features of the shorelines of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to form modern-ancient analogs. Studies of present coastal processes and the geometry and internal structure of the Lake Bonneville shorelines lead to the hypothesis that the littoral transport mechanism was dominant in the formation of lagoon-barrier coastal systems. His works on barrier evolution have stood the test of time. Although some of the world’s barrier shorelines have evolved by other processes, most of them appear to fit Gilbert’s hypothesis for barrier evolution. Furthermore, the process of littoral transport appears to be of great importance in modification or alteration of coastal barrier landforms no matter what their origin.

A silicified ostracode fauna consisting of 54 species, 44 of them new, from the Middle Ordovician (Chazyan-Trentonian) Lincolnshire and Edinburg formations of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is described. Among the genera studied are: A parchites, Oepikella, Leperditella, Conchoprimitia, Schmidtella, Milleratia, Hallatia, Euprimitia, Ectoprimitia?, Primitiella, Chilobolbina, A patochilina, Eurychilina, Ctenobolbina, Aechmina?, Monoceratella, Winchellatia?, Thomasatia, Balticella, Bromidella, Bassleratia, Kirkbya?, Krausella, Macrocyproides, Camdenidea?, Bairdiacypris, Bairdianella?, Budnianella, Platyrhomboides, and Bythocypris?. Three new genera—Eokloedenella, Eographiodactylus, and Shenandoia—are proposed. A new family, the Budnianellidae, is proposed to include the genera Budnianella and Platyrhomboides, which bear no close affinities to any previously described family. Fourteen of the species occur in other formations. Nine of these are in the Chazyan Crown Point formation on Valcour Island, Lake Champlain. Comparative species are also in the Bromide formation (Black Riverian and Chazyan) of the Arbuckle Mountains, formations of the Trentonian and Richmondian stages of north-central United States, the Middle Ordovician of Arctic Canada and North Greenland, and the Upper Ordovician of North Europe. Preliminary considerations are given to the phylogeny of the fauna. Leperditella is probably the root stock from which the Euprimitiidae developed through Schmidtella, Eridoconcha, Cryptophyllus , and Milleratia . Close relationships are pointed out between the Primitiidae and the Eurychilinidae. The writer suggests that the Eurychilinidae, Oepikellidae, and Aechminidae descended from Aparchites. Primitiella and closely related genera are associated with Eurychilina but may very likely have developed independently. Relations between Ctenobolbina and Winchellatia and primitive sigmoopsids are discussed. The closely related Bassleratia and Thomasatia probably developed from primitive tetradellids via Steusloffia . Two early kloedenellids, Eokloedenella and Balticella , are suggested as the root stock of that group. Eographiodactylus , a new genus, is proposed as a primitive form from which Graphiadactyllis developed. Bairdiacypris, Shenandoia, early Paleozoic “Bythocypris”, and Macrocyproides are descended from a common unknown ancestor. Bairdianella? is suggested as the root stock of the bairdiids, closely related to Camdenidea. Krausella and Rayella are very closely related if not synonymous.