Venice lagoon was once dry land before seas rose, study finds

Scientists led by Samuele Ongaro of the University of Southampton combined seismic data and sediment cores to reconstruct the northern Adriatic over 10,000 years. Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the study shows today's Venice lagoon was once dry land stretching over 30 miles from the coast, and Trieste was hills above swamps. Sea levels sometimes rose up to 25mm a year.