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Abstract We examined a Late Holocene sea-level stillstand using phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) recovered from Medvjeđa Špilja [Bear Cave] (northern Adriatic Sea) from −1.28 ± 0.15 m below present mean sea level. Different mineralogical analyses were performed to characterize the POS and better understand the mechanisms of their formation. Results reveal that the fibrous overgrowth is formed of calcite and that both the supporting soda straw and the overgrowth have very similar trace element compositions. This suggests that the drip-water and groundwater pool from which the POS formed have similar chemical compositions. Four subsamples were dated by means of uranium-series. We found that ca. 2800 years ago, the relative sea level was stable for about 300 years at a depth of approximately −1.28 ± 0.15 m below the current mean sea level. This finding roughly corresponds with the end of a relatively stable sea-level period, between 3250 and 2800 cal yr BP, previously noted in the southern Adriatic. Our research confirms the presence of POS in the Adriatic region and establishes the Medvjeđa Špilja pool as a conducive environment for calcite POS formation, which encourages further investigations at this study site. 

This study examines Holocene phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) found in brackish pools of Mallorca Island’s coastal caves. It traces the evolution of knowledge about these deposits, beginning with initial morphogenetic observations in the late 1970s. Recent research, involving 138 U-Th datings from eight caves, reconstructs the late Holocene sea-level history over the last 4,000 years. Findings include a sea level position at 25 cm below the pre-industrial times ‒occurring between 3.89 and 3.26 ka BP‒, followed by a rapid rise to current levels, remaining stable from 2.84 ka BP until the early 20th century. The paper also discusses glacial isostatic adjustment models, one of which is similar with the obtained POS data, linking sea-level rise to West Antarctica’s ice melt. Today, these crystallizations are partially submerged in the coastal phreatic waters, due to the gradual rise in sea level linked to modern (industrial) global warming; since 1900 the sea-level has risen by about 17.3 cm, with the rate of rise accelerating to 2.05 mm/year in the recent decades.