Editing Miletus (section)

=== Geology ===
During the [[Pleistocene]] epoch the Miletus region was submerged in the [[Aegean Sea]]. It subsequently emerged slowly, the sea reaching a low level of about {{convert|130|m|sp=us}} below present level at about 18,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]]. The site of Miletus was part of the mainland.

A gradual rise brought a level of about {{convert|1.75|m|sp=us}} below present at about 5500&nbsp;BP, creating several [[karst]] block islands of limestone, the location of the first settlements at Miletus. At about 1500 BC the karst shifted due to small crustal movements and the islands consolidated into a peninsula. Since then the sea has risen 1.75&nbsp;m but the peninsula has been surrounded by sediment from the [[Maeander]] river and is now land-locked. Sedimentation of the harbor began at about 1000 BC, and by 300 AD [[Lake Bafa]] had been created.<ref>Crouch (2004) page 180.</ref>