Abstract The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Project provides freely available data on European seas. The main purpose of EMODnet is to overcome the fragmentation and dishomogeneity of the available data, providing access to a harmonized and interoperable database. The EMODnet Geology Lot includes information at multiple scales on the seabed and its substrate ( http://www.emodnet-geology.eu/ ). The dataset on ‘Geological events and probabilities’ collects information on landslides, earthquakes, volcanic structures, active tectonics, tsunamis and fluid emissions. The Geological Survey of Italy, which coordinates the collation of ‘Geological events and probabilities’ data, provided guidelines to compile layers complemented by comprehensive and detailed patterns of attributes for each feature in order to characterize each type of geological event. Occurrences of events are often associated with each other, particularly in tectonically active areas. Geological events affect both submerged and coastal environments. Data gathered by EMODnet Geology provide a good basis for further studies, contributing to the outlining of different tectonic settings and providing support to the use of marine resources, as well as to the management of marine-coastal areas particularly regarding the identification and assessment of geological and environmental hazards.

ABSTRACT An unusual deposit at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary within the Adriatic carbonate platform shallow-water succession is interpreted as a major tsunamite, and a possible mechanism that links it to the Chicxulub asteroid impact on Yucatan (Mexico) is speculated. Although the K-Pg boundary hiatus is a common feature within the shallow-marine successions of the Adriatic carbonate platform, three exceptional sections were discovered that are characterized by continuous sedimentation and the event beds at the K-Pg boundary. Two sections include ~5-m-thick coarse-grained complex event beds intercalated within more than 100-m-thick successions of predominantly micritic carbonates deposited in the protected low-energy inner-platform setting, relatively proximal to the platform-margin embayments. The third section is characterized by an ~10-cm-thick event bed showing distinct soft-sediment bioturbation, and it is interpreted as a more distal section. It has been reported previously that the Chicxulub impact cratering generated an almost global tsunami, while the seismic waves caused collapses of the North American southeastern margins. It is hypothesized that the collapses could have generated a megatsunami in the Atlantic Ocean that could pass through a deep seaway between the Atlantic and western Tethys Oceans and finally terminate on the Adriatic carbonate platform, located ~10,000 km from the impact site. Considering the fact that there are potential sedimentological indications for such a huge sedimentary event in NW Africa (Morocco), focused research is needed in the region, along with landslide tsunami modeling, for a relevant evaluation of the hypothesis.

ABSTRACT We present the results of a compositional characterization study of amphorae from the ancient Greek town of Pharos, today Stari Grad, on the island of Hvar, in central Dalmatia, Croatia. The aim of the study was to identify the provenance of amphorae unearthed in Pharos, to determine the locally produced amphorae, and to identify the provenance of imported amphorae with a scientific-based approach, using optical thin-section petrography and bulk geochemical analysis by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence on 19 samples of different types of amphorae and reference materials. The results of the analyses allowed us to identify a group of imported amphorae from Corinth or Corfu and a group of imported amphorae from southern Italy, probably from Calabria. We were also able to identify a third group of imported amphorae from an as-yet-unknown provenance/workshop. Finally, according to the geochemical composition and close match with the reference material, namely, kitchenware, only two amphorae from the examined collection could be identified as local products. The results of the compositional characterization of amphorae from Pharos show us that an ancient Greek town had trade contacts beyond the Adriatic-Ionian region, and they provide opportunities for further studies of ancient amphorae production and circulation in this part of the Mediterranean.

Abstract Even in a system whose stratal record is well expressed, it can be challenging to confidently differentiate sequence boundaries from other erosional surfaces because of lateral changes in stratal patterns due to variations in accommodation and sediment-supply rates and routes. Identifying a sequence boundary, as originally defined by Mitchum et al. (1977) , is based on objective geometric relations. The original and standard criteria for defining a sequence boundary include not only the recognition and interpretation of stratal terminations but also an assessment of the spatial distribution of such terminations. Key geometric relations, however, are not always apparent on every single seismic line and are commonly inferred solely from vertical sections from boreholes. Hence it is essential to correlate and map the three-dimensional distribution and character of potential sequence boundaries (and any other sequence-stratigraphic surfaces) for a more confident interpretation. Variations in observed geometric relations are a function of profile location and orientation with respect to sediment-entry points and shelf-edge, as well as to spatial changes in rates of change in accommodation relative to the rates of sediment supply (e.g., Madof et al., 2016). We illustrate this interpretation process using our work in the Adriatic continental margin taking advantage of the preserved and well-expressed strata and surfaces of the late Pleistocene succession. In addition, in the study area, independent evidence of accommodation changes (eustasy and subsidence), sediment-supply (rates and routes), and robust geochronological control are available ( Pellegrini et al., 2017 ). On the Adriatic margin, the late Pleistocene stratigraphy consists of a succession of regressive depositional sequences bounded by shelf-wide erosional surfaces, each recording approximately 100-ky glacio-eustatic cycles ( Trincardi and Correggiari, 2000 ; Ridente and Trincardi, 2005 ). The most recent depositional sequence shows at its top different erosional surfaces developed during higher frequency changes in accommodation and sediment supply. Following the classic definition of sequence boundary by Mitchum et al. (1977) , we are able to differentiate the sequence boundary from other erosional surfaces by their different types and extents of onlap on the slope and different basinal deposits. We compare and contrast the character of these surfaces in three dimensions, taking into account the importance of along-strike variations in supply regime along a continental margin, and show how this aids interpretation of causal mechanisms and the consequences for predictions of rock properties.