Tectonic constraints on the late Pleistocene-Holocene relative sea-level change along the north-eastern Adriatic coast (Croatia)

•Eastern Adriatic coast hosts excellent sea-level indicators but also very complex tectonics.•We revised former evidence of relative sea level change in light of possible regional/local uplift.•The regional tectonic setting generally supports periods of local uplift.•Tidal notch formation also required occasional uplift episodes.

In spite of very favourable coastal features, late Pleistocene-Holocene relative sea-level changes along the eastern Adriatic coast are still not completely resolved mostly due to the intensive and complicated regional and local neotectonics. We gathered current knowledge that generally presents the north Adriatic area as subsiding one, and proposed a reconstruction in new light of possible very slow (local) uplift (average rate of 0.1–0.25 mm/a for last 80 ka) which is supported by well-dated submerged speleothems and tectonic reconstruction. In addition, such a scenario supports also the formation of tidal notches that are common in the north Adriatic region, but not yet entirely understood. However, according to the latest Mediterranean data on sea level during the marine isotope stage (MIS) 5.1 being at + 1 m 80 ka ago, we do not dismiss the possibility of subsidence which would have been 0.18–0.23 mm/a on average for the last 80 ka, but notch formation under such condition would not have been realistic. Apparently, the position of the north-eastern Adriatic coast on a convergence area requires extensive palaeoenvironmental studies, including structural, lithostratigraphical, palaeontological, archaeological and radiometric data and application of isostatic modelling.