The eastern Mediterranean has been hit by numerous tsunami landfalls during the past millennia. This Supplementary Issue of Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie features the results of studies, conducted along the coasts of the western and southern Peloponnese in search of palaeotsunami signatures in the local sedimentary record. Further papers deal with regional neotectonic issues relevant for understanding the Holocene landscape evolution.
The authors present geomorphological and sedimentological evidence of tsunamites detected in near-coast geological archives, such as traces of the 1303 AD tsunami event, so far unknown. The effects of tsunami-related high-energy wave impacts during history on man-made coastal infrastructure and settlements are thoroughly described. The studies underline the high vulnerability of the Peloponnese against tsunami hazards.
The contributions of this issue also emphasize the important role of tsunamis for the overall coastal evolution of the Peloponnese and far beyond, which should no longer be neglected or ignored. Extreme tsunamis that occurred centuries ago may still crucially control present-day coastal geomorphologies. Most of the studies were conducted within the interdisciplinary project “Quaternary tsunami events in the eastern Ionian Sea – reconstructing and modelling extreme events based on interdisciplinary geo-scientific investigations” funded by the German Research Foundation.
Of special interest for coastal geomorphologists and geologists professionally dealing with palaeotsunami and neo-tectonic research in the Mediterranean region, but also for lecturers and students of the disciplines of Geography, Geology and Geoarchaeology.