Seismische Vermessung der verlandeten Buchten des Medione und Gorgo Cotone. Hinweise zur Lage des Hafens der antiken Stadt Selinunt, Sizilien = Seismic survey of the silted bays of the medione and gorgo cotone rivers. Evidence of the location of the harbour of the Ancient City of Selinus, Sicily.

Rabbel, Wolfgang, Hoffmann-Wieck, Gerd, Jakobsen, Olaf, Özkap, Kerem, Stümpel, Harald, Suhr, Wiebke, Szalaiova, Eva and Wölz, Susanne (2014) Seismische Vermessung der verlandeten Buchten des Medione und Gorgo Cotone. Hinweise zur Lage des Hafens der antiken Stadt Selinunt, Sizilien = Seismic survey of the silted bays of the medione and gorgo cotone rivers. Evidence of the location of the harbour of the Ancient City of Selinus, Sicily. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts - Römische Abteilung ("Römische Mitteilungen"), 120 . pp. 135-150.

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Abstract

Seismic survey of the silted bays of the Medione and Gorgo Cotone rivers. Evidence of the location of the harbour of the ancient city of Selinus, Sicily.
The ruins of the ancient city of Selinus are located on the southern coast of Sicily on a limestone plateau bounded to the east and west by two respective silted bays or riverbeds. So far it has been impossible to archaeologically determine which of these bays served as a harbour in antiquity. In order to explore the depth structure of the silted bays, we performed two seismic surveys with shear waves, reaching penetration depths of approximately 25 m. The seismic measurements were calibrated by drillings. In th upper 15 m, the two bays differ strongly in seismic structure. The eastern bay (Gorgo Cotone valley) must be considered as a former lagoon that was connected to the sea. When the city of Selinus was founded, this lagoon was already silted at its shore, and it was banked up artificially for the construction of the eastern city quarter up to the city wall. The western bay (Modione valley) shows uniform fluvial sedimentation. A possibly artificial banking can also be found at the western foot of the city hill, dipping steeply (∼20°) from the city wall down to the Modione valley. The comparison of both locations shows that the eastern bay is a more plausible location of the harbour of Selinus, due to its protected lagoon and remains of construction.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Selinus; Ancient harbour; Sedimentation; Seismic measurement; Drill hole
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > D-DIR Directorate > D-OE Communication and Media
Refereed: No
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Schnell und Steiner
Date Deposited: 11 Dec 2014 13:09
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2017 13:09
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/26452

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