Multiple processes causing sea-level rise in the Central Mediterranean

Our analysis of a series of sea-level records along the Italian coast of th e Adriatic sea indicates a sea-level rise not attributable to a global eust atic signal, but rattler to the combined effects of active tectonics and Gl acial Isostatic Adjustment (henceforth GIA). The highest predicted sea-leve l rise, of the order of 0.9 - 1.0 mm/yr, occurs in proximity of the city of Ravenna, in the northern sector of the Adriatic sea, decreasing to 0.4 - 0 .5 mm/yr in the northernmost and southern Darts of the Adriatic sea. While GIA is the dominant mechanism of sea-level rise in the southern sector of t he Adriatic sea, active tectonics and GIA contribute a comparable amount in the north. Our results are of importance for quantitative estimates of tre nds of sealevel changes in a part of the Mediterranean, the northern Adriat ic sea, where the historical cities of Venice and Ravenna are severely expo sed to sea-level rise.