T

his region is characterized by the confused mass of the Black Sea, Aegean and Mediterranean faults and its physical structure has been further disrupted by recent movements: With the rise in the level of the Mediterranean Sea, made its way into the depressed areas and a large number of islands, gulfs (sometimes of considerable depths) and headlands thus came into existance. The coastline is very broken, and some of the gulfs have been filled in by the alluvial deposits brought down by the rivers: the ancient ports of MILETUS, HERACLIA AD LATMUS and EPHESUS are now ghost-cities situated several kms (miles) away from the coast.