Gallagher R.

Independent Researcher, Scotland, 170, Gardner Drive, Aberdeen, AB12 5SA: gallagher_ronnie@yahoo.co.uk

DOI: 10.35714/ggistrat20260100021

Summary. Understanding hydrological change across the Ponto-Caspian region during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition remains a key challenge in Quaternary science. While existing models emphasise climate forcing and glacio-isostatic adjustment, a number of geomorphological, sedimentary, and biological observations are not easily reconciled within current frameworks

This study synthesises evidence from the Caspian, Black Sea, Mediterranean, and adjacent regions, with particular focus on the geomorphology of Azerbaijan. Raised terraces, high-elevation strandlines, and apparent wave-modified mud-volcano surfaces occur at levels significantly above the widely accepted Khvalynian highstand (~+50 m a.s.l.), suggesting the possibility of previously unrecognised hydrological conditions. Additional lines of evidence include ostracod faunal turnovers, shifts in salinity-sensitive taxa, anomalous sedimentary records, and indications of changing basin connectivity across Eurasia during the Early Holocene

Taken together, these observations support the interpretation that regional hydrology was more dynamic and complex than commonly assumed. Rather than a single-event framework, the data are more consistent with a multi-phase system involving fluctuating water levels, episodic basin overspill, stratified flow regimes, and variable connectivity between the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and neighbouring basins. In this context, earlier concepts of an enlarged Pleistocene “Asiatic Mediterranean” are reconsidered as a working hypothesis

The study also re-examines the Black Sea reconnection debate, suggesting that alternating phases of outflow and inflow through the Bosphorus may better explain available evidence than either strictly catastrophic or purely gradual models. Broader regional comparisons, including North Africa and the Arctic margin, indicate that hydrological and environmental changes during this interval may have been temporally clustered.

While the interpretations advanced here remain provisional, they highlight the need for integrated, multidisciplinary investigation. Future work should prioritise geochronological dating of strandlines and terraces, sediment coring, hydrodynamic modelling, and DEM-based palaeoshoreline reconstruction. The distinctive geomorphology of Azerbaijan may prove central to resolving outstanding questions concerning Eurasian Quaternary hydrology.

Keywords: Ponto-Caspian region, Early Holocene, Caspian Sea level, Black Sea hydrology, Quaternary palaeohydrology, basin connectivity, marine transgression, glacio-isostatic adjustment, palaeoshorelines, “Asiatic Mediterranean”

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