During glacial cycles the level of the Mediterranean, like other seas, fell by 120–150 m: enough to join Sicily to Italy, Corsica to Sardinia, and Mallorca to Minorca. Most of the other islands are surrounded by deep sea and would not be much affected unless by tectonic movements at the same time. In the early Holocene absolute sea level rose to approximately what it is now, creating jagged capes and drowned valleys. These have gradually adapted to the new sea level, as rivers have brought down sediment and filled in bays, forming deltas and sandy beaches. On the mainland this continued into historic times, choking ancient harbours and creating agricultural land. On islands this has not happened to the same extent, owing to the lack of big rivers and of badlands to act as abundant sources of sediment. Islands still have jagged promontories. Some have lagoons. Sardinia has the finest lagoon coasts in southern Europe; the presence of the algal concretions called stromatolites indicates that there were similar lagoons in previous interglacials.
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Rackham, O. (2008). Holocene History of Mediterranean Island Landscapes. In: Vogiatzakis, I., Pungetti, G., Mannion, A.M. (eds) Mediterranean Island Landscapes. Landscape Series, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5064-0_3
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