Chelli A., Bini M., Br & uuml;ckner H., Vacchi M., Cajade-Pascual D., Pappalardo M., Palaeoenvironmental dataset from the northern Apuo-Versilian coastal plain (NW Italy): a key tool for scientific and management applications. (IT ISSN 0391-9838, 2026). Coastal plains represent valuable sources of palaeogeographic data, especially for the Mid and Late Holocene, revealing also important postglacial sea-level elevation and age constraints to validate glacio-hydro-isostatic (GIA) predictive models. Moreover, they provide evidence of the human-environment interaction. With this paper we present a dataset of the geomorphological and geological information collected during a long-lasting collaborative project, led by the University of Pisa, in the northern Apuo-Versilian Plain, a coastal plain located in NW Italy. The data collected are mostly unpublished, especially in their extended form. They reveal the nature of the sedimentary fill of the Apuo-Versilian Plain and its lateral changes, providing some basic chronological constraints on landscape evolution. They also represent a source of raw data to produce index and limiting points to be cross-checked with relative sea-level (RSL) change model predictions for this area since the Mid-Holocene. Such body of evidence can be used to infer information relevant to constrain the geodynamic model of the area, for assessment of ongoing subsidence of the coastal plain and for projects of flood risk management. Finally, our dataset may be a relevant source of information for ongoing and future archaeological campaigns in this area and particularly for those aimed at revealing the vestiges of the Roman city of Luna and its architectural evolution in the Middle Ages and beyond.

This study presents a high-resolution reconstruction of environment modifications of the Tirso coastal plain, the largest in Sardinia (western Mediterranean). Pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs analyses, complemented by new sedimentological and sea-level data allowed us to reconstruct changes in the coastal landscape over the last seven millennia. We documented a long-term transformation from an early estuarine open wetland to a semienclosed lagoon and eventually to a deltaic backswamp system under combined sea-level fluctuations and fluvial dynamics. Between 6900 and 6000 cal BP, the floodplain region, possibly frequented by humans for hunting and stockbreeding, was dominated by meadows and open semi-arid Mediterranean vegetation, with Erica maquis as natural woodland baseline. From around 6000 cal BP, the deceleration of sea-level rise and the formation of sandy barriers triggered the establishment of a sheltered lagoon with swamps hosting Alnus woodlands. Between 6000 and 4200 cal BP, the dominant evergreen thermo-mediterranean elements represented by Quercus and Erica show stability coupled with regular fire activity. This site-specific pattern, which occurred under limited human activity, contrasts with the forest dynamics observed at other sites in Sardinia and Corsica, where evergreen Quercus expanded while Erica and fire activity declined. A high-energy alluvial depositional event around 4200 cal BP indicates delta progradation that led to the isolation of a backswamp environment rapidly covered by Amaranthaceae-dominated saltmarshes. During the Bronze Age, limited pollen evidence of local farming likely reflects geomorphological instability, which prevented the southeastern Tirso floodplain from experiencing the demographic growth documented in the surrounding sectors of western Sardinia.

Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) changes along the Atlantic coast of South America reflect a complex interplay between ice equivalent sea-level, glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA), regional tectonics, and local sedimentary processes. However, the uneven spatial and temporal resolution of existing Holocene RSL data has hindered regional assessments. Here, we compile and standardize 1108 RSL data points from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chilean Tierra del Fuego, creating the first comprehensive database for the southwestern Atlantic. The data reveals a widespread Mid-Holocene highstand between 7000 and 4000 years BP, with RSL rising 2 to 4 m above present-day sea level, followed by a gradual fall to present. This pattern is consistent with GIA model predictions across the region's > 50° latitudinal span. Peak rates of RSL change occurred during the Early to Mid-Holocene transition, reaching up to 17.2 mm/yr in Tierra del Fuego and decreasing to 1.6 mm/yr near the Amazon delta. After 5000 years BP, RSL started to fall at 0.5 mm/yr . This Atlantic coast of South America database fills a critical geographic gap and provides a robust framework for refining GIA models and understanding sea-level evolution during the Holocene in the Southern Hemisphere.

This paper reconstructs coastal landscape evolution, together with its vegetation history and land use on the Osu coastal plain (southeastern Corsica) and on Cavallo Island, two areas with well attested human presence, notably during Roman times. Ten vibrocores reaching depths of up to 4.20 m were recovered and analysed using a multiproxy approach combining sedimentological analyses, mollusc identification, pollen and non pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) analysis. In addition, a total of 20 radiocarbon datings have enabled to obtain a chronostratigraphy for both studied areas. Our results reveal a delta progradation of the Osu River with two main phases of shoreline advance dated from the Early Bronze Age and the Roman Empire. On Cavallo Island, which was exploited for its mineral resources (granite) during Roman times, our results bring to light for the first time the presence of a freshwater wetland in the north central part of the island dating from the Bronze Age to the Late Roman times. High eutrophication of the water body then occurred, ending only when artificial silting up happened during the second half of the 20th Century CE. Pollen records indicate early agricultural activities on the Osu deltaic plain from the Final Neolithic/Chalcolithic onwards, with further expansion during the Early Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. At Cavallo, there is no clear evidence of agricultural activity from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Genoese period. At a broader, island-wide scale, Roman-period agriculture intensified pre-existing land-use systems rather than initiating them, leading in many Corsican coastal areas to a marked and irreversible opening of arboreal and Erica formations. These transformations were spatially heterogeneous, with more limited landscape change in the San Ciprianu area compared to other regions, and were accompanied by increasing agricultural specialization during the Roman Empire, notably between cereal-dominated systems in lowland eastern coastal plains and olive cultivation in other coastal sectors (e.g. north-west).

Geomorphological mapping is a powerful tool for reconstructing the evolution of landscapes inhabited by human communities since prehistory. We present high-resolution (1:1000) geomorphological mapping of the Balzi Rossi archaeological area (Liguro-Proven & ccedil;al coast, NW Italy), an outstanding site for European prehistory which has been inhabited since the Middle Pleistocene. The map was produced by combining different types of remote sensing data, complimented with field survey. Both surface and submerged landforms are included from 70 m a.s.l. to the depth of ca. 10 m. All elevations were referenced to a tidal datum. The study area comprises a tectonically formed vertical cliff where karst dissolution along faults and fractures created several caves and rock shelters that were later settled by Middle and Upper Palaeolithic human groups. During the Pleistocene, the area experienced significant climatic shifts from interglacial to glacial conditions. Our work will aid archaeologists to unravel the responses of our ancestors to climatic and environmental changes.

Constraining sea level at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is spatially restricted to a few locations. Here, we reconstruct relative sea-level (RSL) changes along the Atlantic coast of Africa for the last similar to 30 ka BP using 347 quality-controlled sea-level datapoints. Data from the continental shelves of Guinea Conakry and Cameroon indicate a progressive lowering of RSL during the LGM from -99.4 +/- 5.2 m to -104.0 +/- 3.2 m between similar to 26.7 ka and similar to 19.1 ka BP. From similar to 15 ka to similar to 7.5 ka BP, RSL shows phases of major accelerations up to similar to 25 mm a(-1) and a significant RSL deceleration by similar to 8 ka BP. In the mid to late Holocene, data indicate the emergence of a sea-level highstand, which varied in magnitude (0.8 +/- 0.8 m to 4.0 +/- 2.4 m above present mean sea level) and timing (5.0 +/- 1.0 to 1.7 +/- 1.0 ka BP). We further identified misfits between glacial isostatic adjustment models and the highstand, suggesting the interplay of different ice-sheet meltwater contributions and hydro-isostatic processes along the wide region of Atlantic Africa are not fully resolved.

The continental shelf remains underexplored in terms of large-scale seafloor morphologies, despite their importance for reconstructing past sea-level changes and coastal dynamics. In this study, a sector of the LiguroProvençal shelf was investigated to test the hypothesis that most of the currently detectable submerged morphologies were formed during past sea-level lowstands prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). To this end, newly acquired high-resolution single-channel seismic reflection and multibeam bathymetry data were integrated, enabling a detailed reconstruction of the seabed morphologies in the study area. The systematic mapping, description, and genetic interpretation of geomorphological features confirm that landforms shaped during periods of subaerial exposure before the LGM are still preserved and influence the postLGM sedimentary record. Some of these landforms record shoreline positions during phases of relative sea-level stability from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4 to 2. The investigated portion of the continental shelf is bordered landward by a cliff hosting caves that preserve globally significant evidence of Palaeolithic cultures. Reconstructing the submerged palaeo-landscape in this area is essential for understanding early human interactions with the coastal environment during key phases of human evolution.

A multidisciplinary study was conducted in the high volcanic island of Mo`orea (South Pacific, French Polynesia) in order to reconstruct its long-term environmental evolution together with its history of human occupation. The 'Opunohu Valley, in particular, records one of the longest and best documented human histories of the island dating from the first Polynesian (Ma`ohi) occupation, from roughly the 11th to the 18th Cent. CE. In order to reconstruct past landscape dynamics that include both the depositional history of the sediments and the shoreline mobility, we have studied six sedimentary profiles from the foothills and from the modern coastal floodplain. Laboratory work includes loss on ignition measurements, laser granulometry analyses and pollen/NPP identification. Chronostratigraphy was based on a series of five radiocarbon datings performed on charcoals, organic sediment, and coral debris. Palaeoenvironmental results reveal two major phases of detrital input related to deforestation (fires) and changes in land use, first during the Ma`ohi period, and secondly at the onset of the European period. The substantial delivery of these fine-grained sediments into 'Opunohu Bay has contributed to the formation of a delta since the onset of the 2nd millennium CE. Our results bring to light the contribution of anthropogenic actions and natural factors to explain the specific landscape evolution of the 'Opunohu coastal plain since the beginning of human settlement on the island. Finally, our work is of archaeological interest since it helps to determine primary settlement of the Ma`ohi people in the context of a rapidly shifting shoreline.

The forest ecosystems of large Mediterranean islands are critical hubs of evolutionary diversity with unique floristic composition and distinctive vegetation patterns reflecting long-term population dynamics and ecological legacies. Mediterranean islands provide invaluable natural archives, preserving crucial insights into the resilience of past forest ecosystems and their responses to climate variability. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the Holocene vegetation history of major western Mediterranean islands, with the twofold aim of examining the timing, extent, and rates of vegetation changes over the last few thousand years, and evaluating the influence of Rapid Climate Changes (RCCs) on forest ecosystems. The rate of change analysis allowed the identification of a distinct pattern of rapid shifts in forest composition, corresponding to periods of climate instability. These shifts align with the periodicity of Bond events, suggesting synchronicity between changes in forest ecosystems and centennial-scale climatic oscillations at a supra-regional scale. A REDFIT spectral analysis applied to palynological proxies of forest cover changes identified prominent periodicities suggesting a direct influence of solar activity and/or a relation with complex ocean–atmosphere circulation mechanisms triggered by global climate forcings.

Understanding the historical changes in Relative Sea Level (RSL) and coastal responses in stable regions is crucial for unraveling the intricate relationship between natural dynamics and human adaptation. This interdisciplinary study seeks to explore the Holocene sea-level fluctuations in the stable area of Southern Latium, shedding light on how past societies adapted to coastal changes.The study area, located in the historical Sinus Formianus, between the Fondi and Garigliano coastal plains, played a key role in ancient times. Formia, a strategic monitoring point for the Tyrrhenian Sea, was a thriving commercial hub during Roman occupation. During this period, the coastal stretch from Formia to Gaeta witnessed substantial urbanization, leaving behind well-preserved remnants visible today in submerged or semi-submerged coastal structures along the present shoreline.This study reconstructs the Holocene morpho-evolution and RSL changes in the study area by creating a geodatabase following international guidelines for sea-level markers (SLMs). A comprehensive dataset of 52 SLMs was compiled from direct geoarchaeological measurements, stratigraphic and palaeoecological interpretations of new borehole data, and reinterpreting bibliographic information. Archaeological site selection involved analyzing bibliographic, cartographic, and video materials for ruins' details and dating. Additionally, public institutions provided access to an unpublished stratigraphic dataset from five deep boreholes drilled between Fondi and Formia plains in 2023. Three samples were collected from the stratigraphic columns of the analyzed boreholes in Formia Plain and dated using the radiocarbon dating technique. One sample, derived from a lagoonal deposit, presented an age exceeding the dating technique's accuracy range and older than 54 ka BCE. Despite this, the dating provided valuable information on the initiation of backshore formation. The other two dated samples, derived from a second drilling and collected inside layers of peat deposits, were interpreted as Terrestrial Limiting Points (TLPs) defining an upper limit of -4.20 m MSL for the RSL position at about 7.5 ka BP.Accordingly, based on the collected data, between 8.0 and 7.5 ka BP, the sea level in the study area rose from -23 to -5 m at a rate of 25 mm/yr. Subsequently, the rate slowed to less than 5 mm/yr, stabilizing at its current position. In particular, the results coming from the geoarchaeological surveys suggest that the local sea level during the Roman period (I century BCE) was no higher than - 0.55 ± 0.29 m MSL. Overall, the RSL data included in the geodatabase highlights the tectonic stability of this sector during the last 2.0 ka, testified by the position of the SLMs in accordance with the GIA models and supported by the determination of average vertical ground movements rates of -0.017 ± 0.23 mm/yr.Finally, the interplay between new data from geoarchaeological surveys, bibliographic sources, and LiDAR-based geomorphological analysis allowed the creation of a paleogeographic scenario for the study area in the 1st century CE. This highlights the significant landscape modifications induced by anthropic activities during that period.

Reconstructions of relative sea-level (RSL) change from far-field regions (i.e., located far from extinct ice sheets) since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) provide fundamental constraints to global ice volumes. Most published sea-level records are temporally restricted to the Holocene (last ~11.7 ka BP) with very few extending to the LGM. Here, we present two new databases that quantify the magnitudes and rates of sea-level changes along the Atlantic coast of Africa and Southeast Asia from the LGM to present. (1) Along the Atlantic coast of Africa, we compiled a database of 341 sea-level index points. During the LGM, RSL progressively dropped from -99.4 ± 2 m at 26.7 ± 0.5 ka BP to -103.0 ± 0.8 m at 19.9 ± 0.8 ka BP with average rates by -1 mm/yr. From ~15 to ~7.5 ka, RSL show phases of major accelerations with rates up to ~25 mm/yr, the timing of which is non-coincident with the Meltwater Pulse 1B and a major deceleration triggered by the ~8.2 ka cooling event. In the mid to late Holocene, data indicate the emergence of a sea-level highstand, which varied in magnitude (0.8 ± 0.8 to 4.0 ± 2.4 m above present mean sea level) and timing (5.0 ± 1.0 to 1.7 ± 1.0 ka BP). In Southeast Asia we compiled a database of 113 sea-level index points from the Sunda Shelf and Singapore. RSL rose from a lowstand of −121.1 m at 20.7 ka BP to −112.3 m at ~19 ka BP at rates of RSL rise up to ~7 mm/yr. Between ~16 ka and ~13 ka BP, RSL rose to −70 m with a cluster of SLIPs associated with the Meltwater Pulse 1A. The average rate of RSL rise reached ~15 mm/yr. In the Holocene RSL rose from −20.6 m at 9.4 ka BP to −0.25 m at ~7 ka BP at a maximum rate of 15 mm/yr. The rate of RSL rise subsequently slowed as RSL continued to rise and reached a mid-Holocene highstand of ~4.6 m at 5.2 ka BP. SLIPs constraining the mid- to late-Holocene transition suggest RSL fell below present level to −2.2 m between ~2.5 and ~0.25 ka BP at a rate of −1 mm/yr.

Unstable coastal cliffs represent a major threat to coastal infrastructure, housing, and economic activities, which depend on coastal stability. Understanding recession rates and the factors influencing them is therefore essential for enhancing risk prediction and management. Here, we investigated the evolution of coastal cliffs in a crucial sector of the Atlantic African coast in Morocco, stretching from Cap Beddouza in the north to Jorf Lihoudi in the south, covering an area of around 48 km and including the large city of Safi. The instability of these cliffs constitutes the main coastal geological hazard of the area, which has its geomorphological expression in different types of landslides punctuating the coastal cliff. We employed multidecadal aerial imagery along with GIS technique to calculate the rate of change of the cliff over 66 years. Our results indicate that most of the Safi Region coastal zone has undergone recession with rates of change generally variable from 0.04 to 0.08 m/yr +/- 0.01 m. The central part of the study area, conversely, experienced the highest retreat rate, exceeding 0.10 m/yr. The spatial variability of recession rates is explained through geological and morphological factors such as the nature of low-strength clay rock formations, favoring large-scale gravity movements. These data are crucial to better define the current level of coastal hazard in this densely populated portion of the Moroccan coast, given that cliff recession have considerable effects on the economic, social and environmental risk of the area. Moreover, this study represents one of the first applications of the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) method to an African coastline segment, specifically from Cape Beddouza to the Lihoudi cliffs. More generally, it is among the few studies focused on cliff recession rates in Africa. While a similar application has been conducted for the cliff base in the northern part of the same study area (Raja et al., 2023), that study primarily addresses coastal cliff failure hazards along the Safi coastline in Morocco. In contrast, the present study is focused on determining long-term cliff recession rates and understanding the distribution of these rates and modes of retreat in relation to the physical processes affecting the study area.

We constrain the GIA signal and its uncertainty for southeastern Canada and northeastern USA using 1013 relative sea-level (RSL) data points distributed over 38 sites from two regional RSL data compilations containing 544 sea-level index points, 232 marine limiting data points, and 237 terrestrial limiting data points. This state-ofthe-art dataset was compared to output from 14,960 model runs based on a 1D (spherically-symmetric) Earth model and 34 different North American ice sheet reconstructions. By considering different data subsets (regional partitioning), we found that significantly improved fits can be obtained by separating the data into two larger subregions: the first one close to the central section of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (including Hudson Bay, Ungava Peninsula, and Labrador), and the second one along the Atlantic coast of Canada and the USA (encompassing Newfoundland, St. Lawrence Corridor, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and Maine and Massachusetts). For the first subregion, relatively low lower mantle viscosity (1-2 x 1021 Pas; from the considered range of 1-90 x 1021 Pas) and relatively high upper mantle viscosity (greater than 0.5 x 1021 Pas from the considered range of 0.05-5 x 1021 Pas) for a given ice loading history can provide good quality fits. On the other hand, quality fits for the second subregion require intermediate values for these parameters (specifically, upper mantle viscosity of 0.5-1 x 1021 Pas and lower mantle viscosity of 20-30 x 1021 Pas). When considering model uncertainty bounds, -91.6% of the observations (928 out of 1013 RSL data points) can be captured, while the remaining residuals (-8.4%) reflect some observational errors (outliers) and systematic error in the model. Given the 1D analysis suggests the existence of significant lateral Earth structure, we explored this aspect via the use of a 3D finite volume Earth model. Considering two realizations of lateral Earth structure based on two shear-wave tomographic models, the 3D results support the spatial partitioning of the whole study region into two larger subregions. However, the 3D model was unable to improve upon the data-model fits obtained with the 1D model, indicating limitations in the models of lateral structure and/or the adopted ice models, which are reconstructed based on 1D Earth models. Finally, our 1D Earth modelling results indicate that, within the first subregion, ice history models with relatively thick ice during the early phase of deglaciation (prior to -13 ka) and thinner ice in the early Holocene are preferred by the RSL data.

Venice Lagoon (Italy), the largest wetland in the Mediterranean basin, is extremely vulnerable to variations in relative sea level (RSL) which is locally defined by an average rising rate of about 2.5 mm per year, resulting from both sea-level change and vertical land movements. The environmental pressures stemming from projected higher RSL rising rates will have a profound impact on Venetian coastal ecosystems with a significant loss of wetlands partly due to a drastic reduction of salt marsh habitats. To understand how changes in marine influence could create such ecological upheaval in the near future, and fully remodel these coastal salt marshes, we reconstructed 5650 years of RSL rise history and land subsidence impacts on ecosystem dynamics during the Holocene transgression of Venice Lagoon. We show that the evolution of ecosystems mainly mirrors the gradual intrusion of salt water that progressively reshaped the coastal vegetation by turning the area into salt lagoon habitats. Before marine influence became dominant, the area was mainly fed by substantial freshwater supplies allowing the development of a diversified alluvial vegetation. Environmental pressures increased markedly about 6800-6600 years ago when seawater began to significantly influence the area, affecting marsh-swamp ecosystems. These marine inputs promoted the spread of halophytic and salt-tolerant vegetation types which laid the foundations for what would become the current salt marsh habitats. Venice Lagoon serves as a stark reminder of how rising sea levels, accompanied by increased saltwater intrusion into freshwater habitats and adjacent lands, can drastically alter and reshape pre-existing ecosystems. The lagoon's long-term ecological record indicates that contemporary fluctuations in RSL pose a substantial ecological threat, potentially culminating in a major upheaval of aquatic habitats in the near future.

Sea-level rise is one of the most significant and perceptible consequences of global warming because it affects natural environments and coastal anthroposcapes at human timescales, particularly in sediment-starved littoral contexts. Within this framework, improvements in understanding the projection of sea-level rise require better knowledge of regional changes. Here we focus on the recent sea-level history of the Mediterranean Sea, an area characterized by a densely populated coast and where climate variability is larger, and the rate of sea-level rise higher than the global average. We produce a spatially-averaged Mediterranean relative sea-level (RSL) time series, based on 138 tide-gauge records, stretching back to the late 1800s, indicating that Mediterranean RSL has risen by similar to 24 cm in the past similar to 140 years. At interdecadal timescales and beyond, we find that Mediterranean relative sea-level rising rates (RSLRR) are significantly influenced by the strength of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Climate-model predictions of a weakened Atlantic overturning circulation in the coming decades, slowing and diminishing North Atlantic heat transport, has the potential to accentuate Mediterranean rising rates, with significant implications for the basin's coastal societies, infrastructure and economies. We conservatively estimate that a 0.1 degrees C decrease in AMO sea surface temperatures can accentuate Mediterranean RSLRR by up to -0.61 +/- 0.5 mm yr(-1). Future coastal management and adaptation policies must assimilate these findings into local/regional-scale impact and vulnerability assessments.

This paper presents version 1.0 of the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS), a global database of sea-level proxies and samples dated to marine isotope stage 5 (∼ 80 to 130 ka). The database includes a series of datasets compiled in the framework of a special issue published in this journal (https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/special_issue1055.html, last access: 15 December 2022). This paper collates the individual contributions (archived in a Zenodo community at https://zenodo.org/communities/walis_database/, last access: 15 December 2022) into an open-access, standalone database (Rovere et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7348242). The release of WALIS 1.0 includes complete documentation and scripts to download, analyze, and visualize the data (https://alerovere.github.io/WALIS/, last access: 15 December 2022). The database contains 4545 sea-level proxies (e.g., marine terraces or fossil beach deposits), 4110 dated samples (e.g., corals dated with U-series), and 280 other time constraints (e.g., biostratigraphic constraints or tephra layers) interconnected with several tables containing accessory data and metadata. By creating a centralized database of sea-level proxy data for the Last Interglacial, the WALIS database will be a valuable resource to the broader paleoclimate community to facilitate data–model integration and intercomparisons, assessments of sea-level reconstructions between different studies and different regions, as well as comparisons between past sea-level history and other paleoclimate proxy data.

This chapter introduces the concept of mean sea level and discusses its variability at low frequency time scales (from monthly periods to multidecadal oscillations to millennial changes) in the Mediterranean Sea. It first describes the main techniques for measuring sea level, including instrumental in situ observations from tide gauges and remote observations from altimeters on board of satellites, as well as sea level proxies that are used to reconstruct sea level at millennial time scales. Ancillary geodetic measurements are also described, as these are relevant for coastal monitoring and sea level impacts. Secondly, the chapter focuses on the past evolution of Mediterranean sea level, starting with Holocene changes (ca. 10 kyrs back in time), followed by decadal to centennial sea level trends since the late 19th century, a period coinciding with the instrumental era. Finally, future mean sea level projections in the Mediterranean Sea are provided for the present century and for two climate change scenarios.

Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data from far-field islands in the mid-Pacific have been used to validate the ice-melting histories of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models. However, a lack of quality control in the reconstruction of RSL hinders the understanding of regional variability that can constrain ice-equivalent sea-level changes. Here, we present a standardised database of Holocene RSL data from five regions in the mid-Pacific (Cook Islands, Tuamotu Islands, Christmas (Kiritimati) Island, Gilbert Islands and Fiji). We categorised the data as high or low quality based on the susceptibility of samples to age and/or elevation errors. Of the 614 data points that were reviewed, 25% were rejected and 100 sea-level index points (SLIPs) were reinterpreted as limiting data. The new database consists of 141 SLIPs and 262 marine and 56 terrestrial limiting data points reconstructed from a variety of sea-level indicators (e.g., coral microatolls, mangrove peat, beachrock, and beach ridges), of which 71% provide high-quality constraints on RSL. The early to mid Holocene RSL evolution in the Cook Islands, Gilbert Islands and Fiji are poorly constrained due to a lack of high-quality SLIPs and limiting data during this period. The Tuamotu Islands provided the only record of early to mid Holocene evolution of RSL, indicating rapid RSL rise from between-22.9 m and-15.2 m at-9.0 ka to between-0.2 m and 0.5 m by-6.5 ka, at rates as high as 9.8 & PLUSMN; 5.1 mm/a, with a slowdown in the rate of RSL rise sometime between-8.2 ka and-6 ka. The Christmas (Kiritimati) Island record indicates stable RSL within-1.5 m of present-day levels over the past-6.6 ka. In the late Holocene, the Cook Islands record suggests a gradual fall in RSL over the past-2.9 ka at rates below 0.1 & PLUSMN; 4.3 mm/a. SLIPs at Fiji also indicate a slight fall in RSL at rates of less than 0.5 & PLUSMN;-4.4 mm/a at-4 ka, following which RSL fell from above 0.9 mat-3 ka to between-0.3 m and 0.6 m by-2.5e-2.1 ka. We highlight the importance of standardisation and quality control to critically evaluate the processes controlling RSL and validate GIA models. Indeed, the new standardised database has impli-cations for the timing of the mid-Holocene highstand, which has been used to support the ICE-4G and ICE-7G_NA models. Due to the poor constraints of data in the mid-Pacific islands, particularly in the early Holocene, there remains no unique solution for a global ice-melting history.& COPY; 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The western Makran subduction zone is capable of producing considerable tsunami run-up heights that penetrate up to 5 km inland. In this study, we show how climate change has affected urbanization along the tsunami-prone Makran coastline during the past 35 years. To address this issue, we have employed climate data, satellite altimeter radar, geomorphology and historical shoreline changes in order to shed light on the factors leading to a decline in access to freshwater resources and also rapid urbanization. We furthermore consider the interactions between environmental changes and human-induced coastal and catchment modifications in increasing socioeconomic vulnerabilities of littoral areas. The results of this study show that agricultural and freshwater management methods along the Chabahar coastal plain date back to at least 1808 CE, when wetter climate conditions characterized the area. Severe climate changes have been pronounced since 2000. Within this context, the majority of agricultural lands have been abandoned due to increasing drought intensity and duration. Decreasing cultivation and limited access to freshwater resources have led to extensive urbanization particularly for the two cities of Konarak and Chabahar. Enhanced soil erosion, increasing summer monsoon wind speed, sea-level rise and the growing number of strong storm events are some of the climate change-related hazards for high to very high socially vulnerable zones. In addition to environmental risks, poor urban planning has increased damage to coastal infrastructures such as ports and desalination plants. Furthermore, industrial and urban growth in the northwest of the Makran could further enhance socioeconomic damage by earthquakes and tsunamis.