a high resolution record of the last deglaciation in the central mediterranean sea palaeovegetation and palaeohydrological evolution abstract a high resolution palynological and stratigraphical record of a marine deep sea core in the adriatic sea documents marine and continental palaeoenvironmental changes in the basin during the last deglaciation and early holocene a chronology is derived from the oxygen isotope stratigraphy three periods of aridity marked by the development of a semi desert rich in artemisia occurred between 18 5 and 16 kyr between 14 4 and 12 7 kyr and between 11 1 and 9 7 kyr consistent with the last glacial maximum the oldest dryas and the younger dryas they are correlated with increases in productivity and intensification of the levantine water formation in the eastern mediterranean basin during the warmer bolling allerod 12 7 11 1 kyr the presence of the cold temperate dinocyst bitectatodinium tepikiense is interpreted as indicating the establishment of a strong seasonal thermal gradient probably linked to seasonal cold freshwater runoff from the po river attested by the unique presence of pollen of freshwater plants the expansion of forest and the development of the warmer dinocysts start with termination ib during the holocene three tree phases are recognized and are contemporaneous with the preboreal boreal and atlantic chronozones of europe the two phases of sapropel deposition are marked by higher pollen and dinocyst concentrations and a high representation of brigantedinium spp which indicate higher preservation of organic material and or freshwater runoff of the po river

from greenhouse to icehouse organic walled dinoflagellate cysts as paleoenvironmental indicators in the paleogene abstract dinoflagellates are an important component of the extant eukaryotic plankton their organic walled hypnozygotic cysts dinocysts provide a rich albeit incomplete history of the group in ancient sediments building on pioneering studies of the late 1970s and 1980s recent drilling in the southern ocean has provided a wealth of new dinocyst data spanning the entire paleogene such multidisciplinary studies have been instrumental in refining existing and furnishing new concepts of paleogene paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions by means of dinocysts because dinocysts notably exhibit high abundances in neritic settings dinocyst based environmental and paleoclimatic information is important and complementary to the data derived from typically more offshore groups as planktonic foraminifera coccolithophorids diatoms and radiolaria by presenting case studies from around the globe this contribution provides a concise review of our present understanding of the paleoenvironmental significance of dinocysts in the paleogene 65 25 ma representing earth s greenhouse icehouse transition this episode holds the key to the understanding of extreme transient climatic change we discuss the potential of dinocysts for the reconstruction of paleogene sea surface productivity temperature salinity stratification and paleo oxygenation along with their application in sequence stratigraphy oceanic circulation and general watermass reconstructions

methodology of the last climatic cycle reconstruction in france from pollen data abstract a numerical method has been devised to reconstruct the climate of the last climatic cycle from pollen data reliable annual reconstructions have been published recently for the two french long sequences of la grande pile and les echets covering the last 140 millennia this paper gives more details on the method used it proposes new reconstructions based on an extended modern pollen data base these reconstructions are consistent with the previous ones especially detailed information is obtained on the seasonal characteristics of climate computations of gcm on the climate variations from 125 kyr to 115 kyr b p are confirmed for western europe the insolation variations have induced at that time a decrease of seasonality accompanied by an increased cyclonic activity in winter this has been the beginning of the first ice growth after the last interglacial other glacier growth phases are detected at the end of substage 5c and particularly at the end of substage 5a

insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years new values for the astronomical parameters of the earth s orbit and rotation eccentricity obliquity and precession are proposed for paleoclimatic research related to the late miocene the pliocene and the quaternary they have been obtained from a numerical solution of the lagrangian system of the planetary point masses and from an analytical solution of the poisson equations of the earth moon system the analytical expansion allows the direct determination of the main frequencies with their phase and amplitude numerical and analytical comparisons with the former astronomical solution ber78 are performed so that the accuracy and the interval of time over which the new solution is valid can be estimated the corresponding insolation values have also been computed this analysis leads to the conclusion that the new values are expected to be reliable over the last 5 ma in the time domain and at least over the last 10 ma in the frequency domain

mediterranean sea surface radiocarbon reservoir age changes since the last glacial maximum sea surface reservoir ages must be known to establish a common chronological framework for marine continental and cryospheric paleoproxies and are crucial for understanding ocean continent climatic relationships and the paleoventilation of the ocean radiocarbon dates of planktonic foraminifera and tephra contemporaneously deposited over mediterranean marine and terrestrial regions reveal that the reservoir ages were similar to the modern one 400 years during most of the past 18 000 carbon 14 years however reservoir ages increased by a factor of 2 at the beginning of the last deglaciation this is attributed to changes of the north atlantic thermohaline circulation during the massive ice discharge event heinrich 1

dansgaard oeschger and heinrich event imprints in alboran sea paleotemperatures past sea surface temperature sst evolution in the alboran sea western mediterranean during the last 50 000 years has been inferred from the study of c37 alkenones in international marine global change studies md952043 core this record has a time resolution of 200 years allowing the study of millennial scale and even shorter climatic changes the observed sst curve displays characteristic sequences of extremely rapid warming and cooling events along the glacial period comparison of this alboran record with 18o from greenland ice greenland ice sheet project 2 core shows a strong parallelism between these sst oscillations and the dansgaard oeschger events five prominent cooling episodes standing out in the sst profile are accompanied by an anomalous high abundance of neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral which is confined to the duration of these cold intervals these features and the isotopic record reflect drastic changes in the surface hydrography of the alboran sea in association with heinrich events hl 5

a centennial scale record of vegetation and climate variability from 312 to 240 ka marine isotope stages 9c a 8 and 7e from tenaghi philippon ne greece abstract based on a new centennial scale resolution pollen record from the terrestrial site of tenaghi philippon ne greece we report a series of high amplitude millennial scale forest expansion events during the interval from 312 to 240 ka equivalent to isotopic substages c a of marine isotope stage mis 9 mis 8 and the onset of mis 7e pollen based indices support the climatic interpretation of the forest expansion events as indicators of abrupt increases in temperature and moisture availability in the mediterranean region long term changes in vegetation cover and composition during the studied interval permit the definition of glacial substages early middle and late analogous to the glacial substages of the last climatic cycle within this framework forest expansion events occurred during the early glacial equivalent to mis 9c a and the later part of the middle glacial mid to late mis 8 but are absent from the early part of the middle glacial early mis 8 forest expansion events are also detected during the lateglacial and onset of mis 7 associated with a millennial scale climate oscillation across the glacial interglacial transition i e termination iii t iii a peak for peak match between forest expansion events and antarctic temperature maxima suggests interhemispheric coupling of millennial scale climate variability via global oceanic circulation change and synergistic variability in atmospheric circulation consistent with the bipolar see saw the resolution of our record mean 290 yr also permits the characterisation of climate evolution over the course of interstadial episodes following forest expansion events and highlights differences in the characteristics of early and middle glacial interstadials saw tooth vs plateau profile these differences point to an influence of long term boundary conditions especially global ice volume on the characteristics of millennial scale events

the co evolution of black sea level and composition through the last deglaciation and its paleoclimatic significance abstract the black sea was an inland lake during the last ice age and its sediments are an excellent potential source of information on eurasian climate change showing linkages between regionally and globally recognized millennial scale climate events of the last deglaciation here we detail changes from the last glacial maximum lgm through the transition to an anoxic marginal sea using isotopic strontium and oxygen and trace element sr ca ratios in carbonate shells which record changing input sources and hydrologic conditions in the basin and surrounding region sr isotope records show two prominent peaks between 18 and 16 ka bp cal reflecting anomalous sedimentation associated with meltwater from disintegrating eurasian ice sheets that brought black sea level to its spill point following a sharp drop in sr isotope ratios back toward glacial values two stages of inorganic calcite precipitation accompanied increasing oxygen isotope ratios and steady sr isotope ratios these calcite peaks are separated by an interval in which the geochemical proxies trend back toward glacial values the observed changes reflect negative water balance and lake level decline during relatively warm periods bolling allerod and preboreal and increasing river input less evaporation resulting in higher lake levels during the intervening cold period the younger dryas a final shift to marine values in sr and oxygen isotope ratios at 9 4 ka bp cal corresponds to connection with the global ocean and marks the onset of sedimentation on the black sea continental shelf this date for the marine incursion is earlier than previously suggested based on the appearance of euryhaline fauna and the onset of sapropel formation in the deep basin

abrupt changes of temperature and water chemistry in the late pleistocene and early holocene black sea new mg ca sr ca and published stable oxygen isotope and 87sr 86sr data obtained on ostracods from gravity cores located on the northwestern black sea slope were used to infer changes in the black sea hydrology and water chemistry for the period between 30 to 8 ka b p calibrated radiocarbon years the period prior to 16 5 ka b p was characterized by stable conditions in all records until a distinct drop in 18o values combined with a sharp increase in 87sr 86sr occurred between 16 5 and 14 8 ka b p this event is attributed to an increased runoff from the northern drainage area of the black sea between heinrich event 1 and the onset of the bolling warm period while the mg ca and sr ca records remained rather unaffected by this inflow they show an abrupt rise with the onset of the bolling allerod warm period this rise was caused by calcite precipitation in the surface water which led to a sudden increase of the sr ca and mg ca ratios of the black sea water the stable oxygen isotopes also start to increase around 15 ka b p although in a more gradual manner due to isotopically enriched meteoric precipitation while sr ca remains constant during the following interval of the younger dryas cold period a decrease in the mg ca ratio implies that the intermediate water masses of the black sea temporarily cooled by 1 2 c during the younger dryas the 87sr 86sr values drop after the cessation of the water inflow at 15 ka b p to a lower level until the younger dryas where they reach values similar to those observed during the last glacial maximum this might point to a potential outflow to the mediterranean sea via the sea of marmara during this period the inflow of mediterranean water started around 9 3 ka b p which is clearly detectable in the abruptly increasing mg ca sr ca and 87sr 86sr values the accompanying increase in the 18o record is less pronounced and would fit to an inflow lasting 100 a

northern levantine and adriatic quaternary planktic foraminifera reconstruction of paleoenvironmental gradients rohling e j jorissen f j vergnaud grazzini c and zachariasse w j 1993 northern levantine and adriatic quaternary planktic foraminifera reconstruction of paleoenvironmental gradients mar micropaleontol 21 191 218 a detailed study of the planktic foraminiferal records of three cores recovered near crete shows very consistent changes unfortunately the record of t87 2 13g our shallowest core is bioturbated too much for detailed comparisons but it can still be used to discuss the general trends the mutual record of the other two cores t87 2 20g and t87 2 27g extends back to about 125 000 yr b p principal components analyses performed on the combined records of t87 2 20g and t87 2 27g yield two axes that can be interpreted paleoecologically namely a temperature axis and an annual stability axis the latter is a measure of stratification within the euphoric layer in this study we consider t87 2 20g and t87 2 27g to be reference cores for the eastern mediterranean subsequently we interprete the faunal variation in two cores from the adriatic sea in 68 5 and in 68 9 containing records extending back to 15 000 and 18 000 yr b p in the context of these reference cores this is done by calculating scores of the adriatic records along the two relevant pca axes derived from the northern levantine records also cluster analyses of the adriatic and northern levantine records are compared on the average the adriatic sea appears to have been considerably colder than the region around crete during the past 18 000 years this temperature difference was largest during the pleniglacial and only small during the holocene we found no distinct expression of a younger dryas cooling event in the adriatic records neither on our pca axis nor in the oxygen isotope record this contradicts previous paleoclimatic reconstructions based mainly on paleobotanical evidence which suggests that the younger dryas event greatly influenced circum mediterranean areas as yet we have no ready explanation for this discrepancy low annual stability values dominate both the pleniglacial and the holocene intervals of the adriatic records this suggests that homothermal conditions were as prevalent in the adriatic euphoric layer at pleniglacial times as they are at present in the present day adriatic homothermal conditions are associated with deep convection and subsequent eastern mediterranean deep water emdw formation and therefore our data suggest that emdw formation was as effective at pleniglacial times as it is at present high annual stability values in the transitional interval from 12 700 to 9600 yr b p in the adriatic records are suggestive of low emdw formation rates at that time in combination with high productivity throughout the eastern mediterranean which has previously been inferred from the planktic foraminiferal record these low emdw formation rates may have preconditioned the eastern mediterranean for sapropel formation

lateglacial and holocene vegetation dynamics in the aegean region an integrated view based on pollen data from marine and terrestrial archives to elucidate the vegetation dynamics in the aegean region during the last 20 kyr we have studied terrestrial palynomorphs in marine core geotu sl152 mount athos basin northern aegean sea at centennial scale 125 to 300 yr resolution the robust chronology of the core allows us to reliably date signals of short term vegetation change in the aegean region for the pleniglacial interval until 14 6 kyr bp our data document steppe vegetation suggesting dry climatic conditions in the borderlands of the aegean sea subaerially exposed parts of the shelf were probably colonized by pinus dominated vegetation until shelf areas were flooded during lateglacial sea level rise the final rapid decrease of pinus pollen percentages between 14 and 13 kyr bp appears to be connected to meltwater pulse mwp 1a the lateglacial interstadial complex ie meiendorf bolling and allerod is characterized by the spread of oak trees but also by the continuous presence of steppe elements indicating only slightly increas

gisp2 oxygen isotope ratios the gisp2 oxygen isotope record with its high resolution detail yields crucial information on past climate change the glacial 18o oscillations of the gisp2 core with their very fast onsets are templates of a prototype oscillation of variable duration with an amplitude of 3 9 the halfway mark of the cold warm transition is reached in 2 years the top is reached in 50 years the 18o time gradient of the leading front is about 7 8 per 100 yr after reaching the top 18o slowly declines by 0 14 per 100 yr the duration of 18o decline varies from a couple of centuries for fast oscillations to about 4000 yr for slower ones the subsequent 18o downturn during the warm cold transition has a 18o time gradient of 3 2 per 100 yr and lasts about 80 yr

late glacial holocene palaeoceanography of the sea of marmara timing of connections with the mediterranean and the black seas abstract stratigraphic analysis of late quaternary sediments of the sea of marmara basin smb indicates that it was a freshwater lake during the late glacial to ca 12 000 yr bp depositing sediments with a neoeuxinian fauna characteristic of the black sea basin at ca 12 000 yr bp it was inundated by the mediterranean waters and gradually converted into a marine realm as indicated by the presence above the neoeuxinian sediments of a mixed layer containing both marine and freshwater fauna a sapropelic sediment layer was deposited between 10 600 and 6400 yr bp under suboxic bottom water conditions this layer roughly corresponds in time to s1 sapropel unit of the eastern mediterranean suggesting a common origin its presence in the smb therefore supports the hypothesis that a large influx of freshwaters from the black sea was an important factor in sapropel formation in the eastern mediterranean a second sapropelic layer formed in the smb during 4750 to 3200 yr bp the earliest known record of mediterranean water in the bosphorus is at ca 5300 yr bp suggesting a later marine inundation than the 7150 yr bp event suggested by ryan and co workers an abrupt drowning of black sea shelf at 7 5 kyr bp geo eco marina 2 proc int workshop on fluvial marine interactions mainas romania 1 7 october 1997 pp 115 125 and ryan w b f pitman iii w c major c o shimkus k moskalenko v jones j a dimitrov p gorur n sakinc m yuce h 1997b an abrupt drowning of black sea shelf mar geol 138 1997 119 126 this implies that either earlier marine connections with the black sea were through a different waterway or the earlier marine record in the strait has been eroded the present two layer flow system was established at 4000 yr bp

late glacial holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic evolution of the aegean sea micropaleontological and stable isotopic evidence abstract late glacial to holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes are examined using records of calcareous and organic walled marine microfossils pollen and terrestrial spores and oxygen isotope data in cores from the aegean sea basins planktic foraminiferal coccolith and dinoflagellate data show that the late glacial holocene transition in the region was associated with a large warming of surface water mediterranean based paleotransfer functions for planktic foraminifera show a 5 10 c increase in surface water temperature from 14 000 to 9600 yr b p estimates of surface water oxygen isotopic composition 18 o w derived from planktic foraminiferal oxygen isotopic and transfer function data indicate that this warming was associated with a 2 0 to 2 5 reduction in 18 o w transfer function results indicate corresponding 1 0 to 1 5 salinity reductions for this tim ca 6400 9600 yr b p throughout the aegean sea pollen dinoflagellate and isotopic data show that the early holocene excess fresh water originated from rapid melting of the northern european and siberian ice sheets supplied primarily from the black sea by the opening of bosphorus and dardanelles channels during the post glacial sea level rise and supplemented by major rivers entering the aegean sea continuous outflow of fresh water into the aegean sea provided a low salinity surface lid preventing the ventilation of the deep water benthic foraminifera shows a major turn over that indicates low dissolved oxygen however bottom waters were not anoxic sapropel level s1 resulted from a combination of stagnant deep water in isolated depressions increased terrigenous organic matter and periods of high primary productivity as indicated by pollen and dinocysts respectively the surface water temperature and salinity reached present day values at 6400 yr b p with little subsequent change despite the major deforestation onshore

morphologic gradation and ecology in neogloboquadrina pachyderma and n dutertrei planktic foraminifera from core top sediments abstract an analysis of ecologic preferences of n pachyderma n dutertrei and morphologically intermediate forms is used for a test of coincidence of morphologic and ecologic gradation in modern neogloboquadrina relative abundances in 461 indian ocean and north atlantic surface sediment assemblages of planktic foraminifera 150 m climap data are plotted against annual means of physical parameters extracted for each core location sea surface temperature sea surface salinity the temperature at 200 m depth the vertical temperature gradient and the density contrast stratification between the sea surface and 200 m depth the intermediate forms can be considered as n pachyderma living under suboptimum conditions neogloboquadrina dutertrei consists of two populations one in tropical water masses and one in subtropical water masses near ocean margins morphologic gradation in neogloboquadrina does not reflect ecologic gradation two ecological groups exist in neogloboquadrina 1 n dutertrei tropical population and 2 n pachyderma the intermediate forms and n dutertrei subtropical ocean margin population a relative abundance minimum exists between these populations near the limit between tropical and subtropical water masses

was the younger dryas triggered by a flood draining of a huge lake into the northern atlantic may have triggered a cold period 12 900 years ago the route taken by the flood waters remains unknown

a centennial scale organic walled dinoflagellate cyst record of the last deglaciation in the south adriatic sea central mediterranean abstract a high resolution study of sea surface temperature sst and primary productivity changes during the last deglaciation in the south adriatic sea is presented on the basis of organic walled dinoflagellate cysts dinocysts compared with stable oxygen and carbon isotope records derived from globigerina bulloides two more defined warming phases between 14 75 and 14 10 cal kyr bp gi 1e and between 13 85 and 13 25 cal kyr bp gi 1c and perhaps a mild one between 12 95 and 12 60 cal kyr bp gi 1a interrupted by two cold events between 14 10 and 13 85 cal kyr bp gi 1d and between 13 25 and 12 95 cal kyr bp gi 1b are highlighted weaker sst oscillations occurred within the relatively stable periods gs 2a 17 00 14 75 cal kyr bp gs 1 or younger dryas 12 60 11 60 cal kyr bp and early holocene several dinocyst proxies used to evaluate surface primary productivity suggest that the cold events gi 1d and gi 1b are associated with episodes of both enhanced primary productivity and perhaps improved organic matter preservation due to reduced deep water formation phases of more pronounced increased surface primary productivity without stagnation in bottom waters are recorded during gi 1c and early gs 1 freshwater po river discharge seems to be the cause of enhanced productivity during event gi 1c at 13 4 cal kyr bp and probably during gi 1d

deciphering late quaternary land snail shell δ18o and δ13c from franchthi cave argolid greece this paper investigates the stable isotopic composition from late pleistocene holocene 13 to 10 5 cal ka bp shells of the land snail helix figulina from franchthi cave greece it explores the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the isotope palaeoecology of archaeological shells at the time of human occupation of the cave modern shells from around the cave were also analysed and their isotopic signatures compared with those of the archaeological shells the carbon isotope composition of modern shells depicts the consumption of c3 vegetation shell oxygen isotopic values are consistent with other mediterranean snail shells from coastal areas combining empirical linear regression and an evaporative model the 18os suggest that modern snails in the study area are active during periods of higher relative humidity and lower rainfall 18o probably at night late glacial and early holocene 18os show lower values compared to modern ones early holocene 18os values likely track enhanced moisture and isotopic changes in the precipitation source by contrast lower late glacial 18o could reflect lower temperatures and 18op compared to the present day shell carbon isotope values indicate the presence of c3 vegetation as main source of carbon to late glacial and early holocene snails

sedimentation processes in the eastern mediterranean sea during the late glacial and holocene revealed by end member modelling of the terrigenous fraction in marine sediments we present grain size distributions of the terrigenous fraction of two sediment cores from the southeast levantine sea sl112 and the northern aegean sea sl148 spanning the time interval from the late glacial to the present end member modelling of the grain size distribution allows discriminating between aeolian and fluvial transport of the sediments and helps to infer palaeoenvironmental conditions in the source areas sedimentary and depositional processes during the late glacial and holocene were controlled by climatic variations of both the northern high latitudes and the african climate system the sedimentation at site sl112 off israel is dominated by the suspension load of the river nile and aeolian dust from the sahara variations in grain size reflect the early to mid holocene climate transition from the african humid period to recent arid conditions this climate change was gradual in contrast to the abrupt humidity change documented in western saharan records this implies a successive decrease in nile river sediment supply due to a step wise aridification of the headwaters the grain size data of sl112 show a humidity maximum at 5 kyr bp coincident with a regionally restricted wet phase in the levantine sea the sediments at the north aegean site sl148 consist of riverine particles and low amounts of aeolian dust probably derived from south european sources and with probably minor saharan influence the sedimentation processes are controlled by climate conditions being characterized by enhanced deposition of dust during the cold and dry glacial period and by decreased aeolian influx during the temperate and humid holocene

paleo oxygenation in tertiary epeiric seas evidence from dinoflagellate cysts the dinoflagellate cyst record from an epeiric setting in the oligocene of southwest germany exhibits major changes associated with variations in paleo oxygenation inferred from benthic foraminifera dinoflagellate cyst diversity and equitability strongly decline in the case of extreme oxygen depletion the relative abundance of the dinoflagellate cyst thalassiphora pelagica inversely correlates with the availability of benthic oxygen the t pelagica spectrum consists of different morphotypes which are considered to represent different stages within the cystal part of the t pelagica life cycle following the concept of benedek and gocht the distribution of these morphotypes is also linked to oxygen availability horizons with highest t pelagica abundances are characterized by the occurrence of t pelagica specimens representing an early stage in cyst formation a model is proposed that uses t pelagica as a proxy to assess oxygenation both at the sediment surface and in the water column the occurrence of t pelagica specimens representing an early stage in cyst formation is interpreted to reflect the extension of oxygen depletion upwards into the water column because t pelagica is an easily recognized globally distributed element of paleogene and early neogene dinoflagellate cyst assemblages the application of this model may be of importance in the reconstruction of paleo oxygenation in epeiric settings from these times its sensitivity to changes in benthic oxygenation can be as high as if not higher than that of the approach based on foraminifera moreover it is applicable to decalcified sediments

early and middle holocene in the aegean sea interplay between high and low latitude climate variability changes in the orbital parameters solar output and ocean circulation are widely considered as main drivers of the holocene climate yet the interaction between these forcings and the role that they play to produce the pattern of changes observed in different domains of the climate system remain debated here we present new early to middle holocene season specific sea surface temperature sst and d 18 oseawater results based on organic walled dinoflagellate cyst and planktonic foraminiferal data from two sediment cores located in the central sl21 and south eastern lc21 aegean sea eastern mediterranean today this region is affected by high to mid latitude climate in winter and tropical subtropical climate in summer the reconstructed d 18 o seawater from lc21 displays a marked w1 3 negative shift between 10 7 and 9 7 ka bp which represents the regional expression of the orbitally driven african monsoon intensification and attendant freshwater flooding into the eastern mediterranean a virtually contemporaneous shift of the same sign and magnitude is apparent in the d 18 ospeleothem record from soreq cave northern israel an important part of which may therefore reflect a change in the isotopic composition of the moisture source region aegean and levantine seas our sst reconstructions show that aegean winter ssts decreased in concert with intensifications of the siberian high as reflected in the gisp2 nss k record specifically three distinct sea surface cooling events at

lateglacial and holocene vegetation history at nisi fen and the boras mountains northern greece new pollen data from three contrasting sites in northern greece allow an analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation change during the holocene and lateglacial in northern greece at the principal site nisi fen six cores from the thickest surficial peat deposits have yielded a detailed composite ams 14c dated pollen record covering the period from 20000 cal bp almost to the present day cores kp 4 and bor 3 were taken from small mires at high elevations in the boras mountains a few kilometres to the north of nisi in which peat has been accumulating since the mid holocene our results show that only pinus expanded significantly during the lateglacial interstadial although small thermophilous tree populations were present in the region the younger dryas chronozone is at best marked by subtle vegetational change in favour of steppe taxa tree cover increased rapidly at the beginning of the holocene with deciduous woodland probably expanding above its present day altitudinal limits ther

orbital and sub orbital scale climate impacts on vegetation of the western mediterranean basin over the last 48 000 yr article i nfo high resolution pollen analysis of alboran sea core md95 2043 provides a 48 ka continuous vegetation record that can be directly correlated with sea surface and deep water changes the reliability of this record is supported by comparison with that of padul sierra nevada spain marine isotope stage mis 3 was characterised by fluctuations in quercus forest cover in response to dansgaard oeschger climate variability mis 2 was characterised by the dominance of semi desert vegetation despite overall dry and cold conditions during mis 2 heinrich events hes 2 and 1 were distinguished from the last glacial maximum by more intensely arid conditions taxon specific vegetation responses to a tripartite climatic structure within the hes are observed in mis 1 the bolling allerod was marked by rapid afforestation while a re expansion of semi desert environments occurred during the younger dryas the maximum development of mixed quercus forest occurred between 11 7 and 5 4 cal ka bp with forest decline since 5 4 cal ka bp on orbital timescales a long term expansion of semi desert vegetation from mis 3 into mis 2 reflects global ice volume trends while holocene arboreal decline reflects summer insolation decrease the influence of precession on the amplitude of forest development and vegetation composition is also detected

millennial scale ice rafting events and hudson strait heinrich like events during the late pliocene and pleistocene a review abstract various types of abrupt millennial scale climate variability such as dansgaard oeschger and heinrich events characterized the last glacial period over the last decade a number of studies demonstrated that such millennial scale climate variability was not limited to the last glacial but inherent to quaternary climate here we review the occurrence and origin of millennial ice rafting events in the north atlantic during the late pliocene and pleistocene last 3 4 ma with a special focus on north atlantic hudson strait hs heinrich like events we show that heinrich layers 5 4 2 and 1 in marine sediment cores from across the north atlantic all bear the organic geochemical fingerprint of the hudson area using this framework and combining previously published results detailed investigations into the organic and inorganic chemistry of ice rafted debris ird found across the north atlantic demonstrate that prior to mis 16 650 ka ird in the north atlantic did not originate from the hudson area of northern canada the signature of this early ird is distinctly different compared to that of hs heinrich layers rather ice rafting events during the late pliocene and early pleistocene predominantly emanated from the calving of the greenland and fennoscandian ice sheets and possibly minor contributions from local ice streams from the north american and british ice sheets compared to north atlantic hs heinrich events these early pleistocene ird events had a limited impact on surface water characteristics in the north atlantic north atlantic hs heinrich like events first occurred during mis 16 at the same time the dominant frequency in silicate rich ird accumulation shifted from the obliquity 41 ka to a 100 ka frequency across the north atlantic iceberg survivability or a change in iceberg trajectory likely did not control this change in ird regime these results lend further support for the existing hypothesis that an increase in size thickness of the laurentide ice sheet controls the occurrence of north atlantic hs heinrich events favoring an internal dynamic mechanism for their occurrence

aegean sea as driver of hydrographic and ecological changes in the eastern mediterranean the eastern mediterranean is undergoing a long term increase in net evaporation which may have preconditioned the profound changes that occurred in its deep sea ventilation over the past two decades we test the sensitivity of aegean convective deep water formation to forcing in the opposite sense based on a last interglacial episode of enhanced freshwater injection into the eastern mediterranean we find that aegean subsurface ventilation collapsed completely within 40 20 yr promoting euxinic conditions hostile to aerobic life that expanded toward the photic layer within 650 250 yr similar conditions extended throughout the eastern mediterranean 300 120 yr later these findings emphasize the exceptional sensitivity of aegean deep water formation to climate forcing driving large scale hydrographic adjustments throughout the eastern mediterranean and beyond

interhemispheric atlantic seesaw response during the last deglaciation the asynchronous relationship between millennial scale temperature changes over greenland and antarctica during the last glacial period has led to the notion of a bipolar seesaw which acts to redistribute heat depending on the state of meridional overturning circulation within the atlantic ocean here we present new records from the south atlantic that show rapid changes during the last deglaciation that were instantaneous within dating uncertainty and of opposite sign to those observed in the north atlantic our results demonstrate a direct link between the abrupt changes associated with variations in the atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the more gradual adjustments characteristic of the southern ocean these results emphasize the importance of the southern ocean for the development and transmission of millennial scale climate variability and highlight its role in deglacial climate change and the associated rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide

palaeoproductivity and post depositional aerobic organic matter decay reflected by dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the eastern mediterranean s1 sapropel abstract in the reconstruction of bioproductivity in surface waters the extent to which a proxy has been diagenetically altered is often a matter of debate here we investigate how organic and calcareous walled dinoflagellate cysts can be used for separately estimating bioproductivity and oxygen related diagenesis this is achieved by studying the cyst content of the most recent eastern mediterranean sapropel s1 that is thought to have been deposited under conditions of increased primary production in surface waters and possible anoxia in the bottom waters based on chemical evidence it has been shown that the visible sapropelic layer represents only the residual lower part of what was initially a much thicker sapropel as a result of post depositional decay of organic matter related to oxygen penetration into the sediments the effect of aerobic organic matter decay on the cyst associations is studied through the comparison of the unaffected lower part of the initial sapropel and the oxidised upper part comparing the unaffected sapropelic sediments with pre and post sapropelic material gives insight into the relationship between fossil cysts assemblages and palaeoproductivity impagidinium aculeatum impagidinium patulum operculodinium israelianum polysphaeridium zoharyi and probably impagidinium spp impagidinium paradoxum and nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus are very resistant against aerobic decay and their accumulation rates appear to be primarily related to productivity in surface waters protoperidinium and echinidinium species on the other hand are shown to be very sensitive and can be used to recognise oxygen related decay the calcareous walled dinoflagellate cysts seem to be unaffected by oxic organic matter decay in mediterranean sediments

the lateglacial and holocene environmental history of the ioannina basin north west greece this study centres on palaeoenvironmental analysis of the upper part of a long core from the partially drained tectonic ioannina basin north west greece the data span the lateglacial and holocene and comprise pollen mollusc magnetic susceptibility loss on ignition and particle size analyses these augment previously published ostracod and stable isotope data from the same sediment sequence the age model for the sequence is based on 19 ams dates five of which were obtained using a novel procedure for the separation of microcharcoal from sediment the pollen data suggest that although temperate woodland expanded at the beginning of the lateglacial only limited woodland contraction occurred during the younger dryas chronozone despite strong evidence for a sharp drop in sea surface temperature in the neighbouring adriatic at this time in contrast large scale vegetational and sedimentological changes occur in concert during the holocene some of which may be ascribed to human impact comparison with other records from the ioannina basin suggests that previous more littoral pollen sequences did not constitute a wholly representative record of lateglacial and holocene vegetational change

climate variability in se europe since 1450 ad based on a varved sediment record from etoliko lagoon western greece to achieve deeper understanding of climate variability during the last millennium in se europe we report new sedimentological and paleoecological data from etoliko lagoon western greece the record represents the southernmost annually laminated i e varved archive from the balkan peninsula spanning the little ice age allowing insights into critical time intervals of climate instability such as during the maunder and dalton solar minima after developing a continuous ca 500 year long varve chronology high resolution xrf counts stable isotope data measured on ostracod shells palynological including pollen and dinoflagellate cysts and diatom data are used to decipher the season specific climate and ecosystem evolution at etoliko lagoon since 1450 ad our results show that the etoliko varve record became more sensitive to climate change from 1740 ad onwards we attribute this shift to the enhancement of primary productivity within the lagoon which is documented by an up to threefold increase in varve thickness this marked change in the lagoon s ecosystem was caused by i increased terrestrial input of nutrients ii a closer connection to the sea and human eutrophication particularly from 1850 ad onwards and iii increasing summer temperatures integration of our data with those of previously published paleolake sediment records tree ring based precipitation reconstructions simulations of atmospheric circulation and instrumental precipitation data suggests that wet conditions in winter prevailed during 1740 1790 ad whereas dry winters marked the periods 1790 1830 ad dalton minimum and 1830 1930 ad the latter being sporadically interrupted by wet winters this variability in precipitation can be explained by shifts in the large scale atmospheric circulation patterns over the european continent that affected the balkan peninsula e g north atlantic oscillation the transition between dry and wet phases at etoliko points to longitudinal shifts of the precipitation pattern in the balkan peninsula during the little ice age

circulation changes and nutrient concentrations in the late quaternary aegean sea a nonsteady state concept for sapropel formation sapropel forming conditions we identify the start of seasonal stratification and highlight a lag in d 18 o response of the planktonic foraminifer n pachyderma to termination t1b as identified in the d 18 o record of g ruber by use of a simple model we determine that this offset cannot be a function of bioturbation effects the lag is of the order of 1 kyr and suggests that isolation of intermediate deep water preceded the start of sapropel formation by up to 1 5 kyr using this discovery we propose an explanation for the major unresolved problem in sapropel studies namely the source of nutrient supply required for export productivity to reach levels needed for sustained sapropel deposition we suggest that nutrients had been accumulating in astagnant basin for 1 1 5 kyr and that these accumulated resources wereutilized duringthe deposition of s1 in addition we provide a first quantitative estimate of the diffusive 1 e mixing timescale for the eastern mediterranean in its stratified sapropel mode which is of the order of 450 years index terms 1050 geochemistry marine geochemistry 4835 4850 3030 marine geology and geophysics micropaleontology 3339 meteorology and atmospheric dynamics ocean atmosphere interactions 0312 4504 4267 oceanography general paleoceanography 4870 oceanography biological and chemical stable isotopes keywords sapropel mediterranean holocene foraminifera climate variability

glacial mediterranean sea surface temperatures based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages we present a new reconstruction of mediterranean sea surface temperatures sst during the last glacial maximum lgm a calibration data set based on census counts of 23 species of planktonic foraminifera in 129 north atlantic and 145 mediterranean core top samples was used to develop summer winter and annual average sst reconstructions using artificial neural networks anns and the revised analogue method ram prediction errors determined by cross validation of the calibration data set ranged between 0 5 and 1 1 c with both techniques being most successful in predicting winter ssts glacial reconstructions are based on a new expanded data set of 273 samples in 37 cores with consistent minimum level of age control the new lgm reconstructions suggest that the east west temperature gradient during the glacial summer was 9 c whereas during the glacial winter the gradient was 6 c both some 4 c higher than that existing today in contrast to earlier studies our results tend to suggest much cooler sst estimates throughout the glacial mediterranean particularly in the eastern basin where previous sst reconstructions indicated a decrease of only 1 c our new sst reconstructions will provide the modelling community with a detailed and updated portrayal of the mediterranean sea during the lgm setting new targets on which glacial simulations can be tested

155 000 years of west african monsoon and ocean thermal evolution a detailed reconstruction of west african monsoon hydrology over the past 155 000 years suggests a close linkage to northern high latitude climate oscillations ba ca ratio and oxygen isotope composition of planktonic foraminifera in a marine sediment core from the gulf of guinea in the eastern equatorial atlantic eea reveal centennial scale variations of riverine freshwater input that are synchronous with northern high latitude stadials and interstadials of the penultimate interglacial and the last deglaciation eea mg ca based sea surface temperatures ssts were decoupled from northern high latitude millennial scale fluctuation and primarily responded to changes in atmospheric greenhouse gases and low latitude solar insolation the onset of enhanced monsoon precipitation lags behind the changes in eea ssts by up to 7000 years during glacial interglacial transitions this study demonstrates that the stadial interstadial and deglacial climate instability of the northern high latitudes exerts dominant control on the west african monsoon dynamics through an atmospheric linkage

climate dynamics in the borderlands of the aegean sea during formation of sapropel s1 deduced from a marine pollen record abstract to unravel the climatic and environmental dynamics in the borderlands of the aegean sea during the early and middle holocene and notably for the interval of sapropel s1 s1 formation we have analysed terrestrial palynomorphs from a marine core in the northern aegean sea the qualitative results were complemented by quantitative pollen based climate reconstructions a land sea correlation was established based on pollen data and sediment lightness measurements from the same core and previously published benthic foraminifer data from a nearby core the borderlands of the aegean sea underwent a transition from an open vegetation to oak dominated woodlands between 10 4 and 9 5 ka cal bp a coeval increase in winter precipitation suggests that moisture availability was the main factor controlling holocene reforestation the 50 higher winter precipitation during s1 formation relative to pre sapropelic conditions suggests a strong contribution from the borderlands of the aegean sea to the freshwater surplus during s1 formation the humid and mild winter conditions during s1 formation were repeatedly punctuated by short term climatic events that caused a partial deforestation and a reorganisation within the broad leaved arboreal vegetation in the marine realm these events are documented by improved benthic oxygenation the strongest event represents the regional expression of the 8 2 ka cold event and led to an interruption in s1 formation except for the interval of s1 formation the pollen derived winter temperatures correlate with the smoothed gisp2 k series they support the previously published marine based concept that the intensity of the siberian high strongly controlled the winter climate in the aegean region during s1 formation in the aegean sea however climate conditions in the borderlands were more strongly affected by the monsoonally influenced climate system of the lower latitudes

postglacial connection of the black sea to the mediterranean and its relation to the timing of sapropel formation the opening of the connection between the mediterranean and black seas as sea level rose above the bosporus sill has long been associated with the formation of the most recent holocene sapropel deposit s1 in the eastern mediterranean but the mechanism has remained elusive we present a model for the opening of the black sea based on hydraulics arguments which demonstrates that increased freshwater flux out of the black sea began 500 1000 years after sea level reached sill depth and that the timescale for the increased freshwater flux that drained the freshwater reservoir of the black sea is about 2500 3500 years we argue that the increased freshwater discharge out of the black sea would lead to decreased deep water formation and higher productivity in the surface waters in the eastern mediterranean two conditions generally associated with sapropel formation the delay in increased freshwater flux after the opening of the black sea and the period of increased freshwater discharge appear to match the onset and duration of sapropel deposits in the eastern mediterranean

black sea impact on the formation of eastern mediterranean sapropel s1 evidence from the marmara sea abstract water exchange between the black sea and the mediterranean sea has been a major focus of the paleohydrography of the eastern mediterranean glacial melt water released from the black sea is a potential factor in the formation of sapropel s1 an organic rich sediment layer that accumulated during the early holocene a high resolution study done on sediments from the marmara sea the gateway between the mediterranean and the black sea sheds light on the holocene exchange processes past sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity sss were derived from stable oxygen isotope ratios 18o of foraminiferal calcite and alkenone unsaturation ratios uk 37 heavy 18o values and high sss in the marmara sea suggest absence of low salinity water from the black sea during s1 the comparison with data from the levantine basin and southern aegean sea outlines gradients of freshening in the eastern mediterranean sea whereby the major sources of freshwater were closer to the levantine basin it is thus concluded that the black sea was not a major freshwater source contributing to formation of s1 given the absence of a low salinity layer the deposition of organic rich sediments corresponding to s1 in the marmara sea is likely the result of the global transgression and the concomitant re organization of biogeochemical cycles leading to enhanced productivity as shown by globigerina bulloides

evidence for last interglacial chronology and environmental change from southern europe establishing phase relationships between earth system components during periods of rapid global change is vital to understanding the underlying processes it requires records of each component with independent and accurate chronologies until now no continental record extending from the present to the penultimate glacial had such a chronology to our knowledge here we present such a record from the annually laminated sediments of lago grande di monticchio southern italy using this record we determine the duration 17 70 0 20 ka and age of onset 127 20 1 60 ka b p of the last interglacial as reflected by terrestrial ecosystems this record also reveals that the transitions at the beginning and end of the interglacial spanned only 100 and 150 years respectively comparison with records of other earth system components reveals complex leads and lags during the penultimate deglaciation phase relationships are similar to those during the most recent deglaciation peaks in antarctic warming and atmospheric methane both leading northern hemisphere terrestrial warming it is notable however that there is no evidence at monticchio of a younger dryas like oscillation during the penultimate deglaciation warming into the first major interstadial event after the last interglacial is characterized by markedly different phase relationships to those of the deglaciations warming at monticchio coinciding with antarctic warming and leading the atmospheric methane increase diachroneity is seen at the end of the interglacial several global proxies indicate progressive cooling after 115 ka b p whereas the main terrestrial response in the mediterranean region is abrupt and occurs at 109 50 1 40 ka b p

timing and climatic impact of greenland interstadials recorded in stalagmites from northern turkey a 50 kyr long exceptionally well dated and highly resolved stalagmite oxygen 18o and carbon 13c isotope record from sofular cave in northwestern turkey helps to further improve the dating of greenland interstadials gi 1 and 3 12 timing of most gi in the sofular record is consistent within 10 to 300 years with the iconic hulu cave record larger divergences 500 years between sofular and hulu are only observed for gi 4 and 7 the sofular record differs from the most recent ngrip chronology by up to several centuries whereas age offsets do not increase systematically with depth the sofular record also reveals a rapid and sensitive climate and ecosystem response in the eastern mediterranean to gi whereas a phase lag of 100 years between climate and full ecosystem response is evident finally results of spectral analyses of the sofular isotope records do not support a 1 470 year pacing of gi

massive perturbation in terrestrial ecosystems of the eastern mediterranean region associated with the 8 2 kyr b p climatic event the climatic perturbation at ca 8 2 kyr b p is the strongest short term climate anomaly within the holocene it is generally attributed to a meltwater induced slowdown of the thermohaline circulation in the north atlantic model simulations and available proxy data suggest that it was strongest in the high to middle latitudes around the north atlantic based on new pollen data from tenaghi philippon northeastern greece we provide evidence for a massive climate induced turnover in terrestrial ecosystems of the aegean region associated with the 8 2 kyr b p event the reconstructed winter temperature decline of 4 c is much stronger than suggested by model simulations and proxy data from more northern latitudes of europe although the latter provide a direct downstream response to a north atlantic thermohaline circulation slowdown we attribute this discrepancy to mesoclimatic effects a stronger influence of the siberian high during the 8 2 kyr b p event may have enhanced the katabatic air flow from the mountains bordering the study site via a larger longer persisting snow cover our data demonstrate that high amplitude temperature anomalies and increased seasonality connected to the 8 2 kyr b p event may also have occurred in the lower mid latitudes much farther south than previously thought the magnitudes of these anomalies appear to have been strong enough to have seriously affected neolithic settlers in the northeastern mediterranean region

pollen inferred late glacial and holocene climate in southern balkans lake maliq abstract high temporal resolution analysis of pollen records from lake maliq albania provides quantitative estimates of monthly temperature and precipitation changes since the last deglaciation the climate parameters were estimated using the best modern analogue technique with an updated modern pollen climate database composed of 2748 surface samples the record shows two main cooling phases in the maliq area the oldest and younger dryas and a cooling event around 8200 years which suggests that the forcing factors driving climate variations in the north atlantic area since the last glacial period also extended their influence into the mediterranean area the oldest and younger dryas are also characterized by an arid climate and a change in the seasonality of precipitation the summer precipitation tends to be greater during the cooling phases than during the temperate periods the holocene climate is relatively stable and the values of each parameter reach their modern levels except for an arid event between 8300 and 8100 cal bp

correlation and synchronisation of lateglacial continental sequences in northern central europe based on annually laminated lacustrine sediments abstract the present study focusses on correlation and synchronisation of weichselian lateglacial varved lake sediments from western germany meerfelder maar eifel region northern germany hamelsee lower saxony central poland lake go ci a z and eastern poland lake perespilno by using varve chronology tephrochronology palynostratigraphy and stable isotopes comparison of the several independent time scales shows that biotic and abiotic parameters respond abruptly and quasi synchronously within the errors of the different chronologies during the younger dryas preboreal transition moreover there is a consensus about the length of the younger dryas cold stage of 1100 1150 varve years in the allerod the prominent laacher see tephra 12 880 varve years bp can be used to fix floating varve chronologies the relative duration of this biozone has been determined in meerfelder maar and hamelsee at between 625 and 670 varve years in the meerfelder maar a combination of continuous varve counting and biostratigraphy has been possible for the almost entire lateglacial the comparison between continental limnic sequences and greenland ice core records should be made on the basis of independent chronologies in both archives it is more practicable to develop regional stratotypes on the continental regions instead of simply using ice cores as stratotypes for the lateglacial for terrestrial european records in this respect annually laminated lacustrine sequences have a great potential

holocene atmosphere ocean interactions records from greenland and the aegean sea we compare paleoclimate proxy records from central greenland and the aegean sea to offer new insights into the causes timing and mechanisms of holocene atmosphere ocean interactions a direct atmospheric link is revealed between aegean sea surface temperature sst and high latitude climate the major holocene events in our proxies of aegean sst and winter spring intensity of the siberian high gisp2 k record follow an 2300 year spacing recognised also in the 14c record and in worldwide holocene glacier advance phases suggesting a solar modulation of climate we argue that the primary atmospheric response involved decadal centennial fluctuations in the meridional pressure gradient driving aegean sst events via changes in the strength duration and or frequency of northerly polar continental air outbreaks over the basin the observed natural variability should be accounted for in predictions of future climate change and our timeframe for the aegean climate events in addition provides an independent chronostratigraphic argument to middle eastern archaeological studies

impact of lateglacial cold events on the northern aegean region reconstructed from marine and terrestrial proxy data marine palynomorph data paired with other indicators of sea surface hydrography planktic foraminiferal assemblages and oxygen isotopes were used to decipher the impact of cold events on the northern aegean region during the last glacial to interglacial transition the data which were derived from marine sediment cores geotusl152 and geotusl148 point to a strong impact of the heinrich 1 and younger dryas cold events on surface water conditions in the northern aegean sea shifts in marine palynomorph assemblages correlate with changes in terrestrial vegetation and climate i e precipitation and temperature reconstruc tions based on pollen assemblages in the northern borderlands of the aegean sea the climate responses of the aegean region to heinrich event 1 h1 ca 17 5 to ca 15 7 cal ka bp and younger dryas ca 12 6 to ca 11 7 cal ka bp events appear similar in magnitude with mean annual temperatures between 6 and 108c and mean annual precipitation between 300 and 450 mm however the annual temperature decline during the h1 relative to the preceding already cold conditions was minor 38c the transition from the relatively warm and humid local equivalent of the allerod interstadial to the younger dryas on the other hand witnessed an annual temperature decline of 68c and an annual precipitation decrease of 300 mm the latter occurring abruptly within only ca 150 a the return to warmer conditions in the northern aegean region after the younger dryas was completed at ca 11 6 cal ka bp copyright 2011 john wiley sons ltd

early holocene climatic oscillations recorded by lake level fluctuations in west central europe and in central italy abstract on the basis of lake level data the period of the preboreal oscillation pbo at 11 300 11 150 cal yr bp as defined by the grip oxygen isotope record appears to correspond to wetter climatic conditions in west central europe and to a marked drying in north central italy additional short lived phases of higher lake level have been identified before the pbo at ca 11 450 11 400 and 11 350 cal yr bp in west central europe and at ca 11 500 cal yr bp in italy such multiple climatic oscillations around the pbo have been observed in various records in northwestern europe on the basis of various proxies a map of changes in moisture over western europe during the pbo indicates a mid latitude zone between 58 and 43 n characterised by wetter conditions while a drier climate developed in southern and northern europe this wet middle zone shows a larger extension and suggests a more meandering weaker atlantic westerly jet during the pbo than during the 8 2 kyr event a comparison of lake level records in west central europe with 1 outbursts from north american and north european proglacial lakes and 2 variations in solar activity as reflected by 14 c and the 10 be records supports the hypothesis that the pbo was a response to successive meltwater pulses at 11 300 11 250 11 200 and 11 170 cal yr bp and to a sudden decrease in solar activity at 11 250 cal yr bp this study points to the necessity of developing integrated multi proxy approaches to construct more robust regional event stratigraphies and of better documenting palaeohydrological changes in the mediterranean area

increasing vegetation and climate gradient in western europe over the last glacial inception 122 110 ka data model comparison high resolution terrestrial pollen and marine planktic and benthic isotopes coarse fraction and n pachyderma s analyses have been performed in the marine isotope stage mis 5 interval of images core md99 2331 retrieved in the northwestern iberian margin this study shows the occurrence of a zeifen interstadial stadial succession on land and in the ocean during the first part of mis 5e in northwestern iberia the eemian is marked from 126 to 122 ka by the development of deciduous quercus forest at the same time as mediterranean forest colonised southern iberia and deciduous quercus corylus forest occupied northernmost european regions from 121 to 115 ka carpinus betulus forest developed in nw iberia indicating a winter cooling by 2degreesc on land and an increase in annual precipitation by 100 200 min along with a sea surface temperature sst decreasing trend off iberia a similar cooling has been documented at the same time in northern germany 52degreesn by the replacement of deciduous forest by coniferous abies picea formations implying a southward displacement of the deciduous tree line between similar to60degreesn and 50degreesn as early as 120 ka the southward migration of the tree line between 72degreesn and 58degreesn simulated by the earth model of intermediate complexity mobidic from 122 and 120 ka and considered as a major process to initiate the last glaciation is therefore compatible with data between 115 and 110 ka the substantial ice accumulation in northern high latitudes mis 5e 5d transition was synchronous with successive drops c26 and c25 in northeastern atlantic sst in northwestern iberia abies pinus trees developed at the expense of quercus carpinus forest a tundra like environment occupied northern germany marking the end of the interglacial in northwestern europe at 115 ka and boreal forest likely colonised northeastern france the first displacement of the vegetation belts at 121 ka was enhanced at 115 ka indicating an amplification of the vegetation and climate gradients in northeastern atlantic and european borderlands probably related with the well developed ice caps at that time the comparison between the general trend in the estimated and simulated mobidic winter and summer temperatures for latitudes between 35 and 45degreesn shows that both follow quite straightforwardly the precession signal although the simulated and reconstructed temperatures agree better in the south than north of 40degreesn annual precipitation is exhibiting opposite trend in the data and in the model this contradiction is likely the fact that the zonal climate simulated by the model may not accurately represent the regional climate features as reconstructed from the pollen c 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

a synthetic pollen record of the eastern mediterranean sapropels of the last 1 ma implications for the time scale and formation of sapropels abstract the quaternary climate of southern europe south italy and greece is investigated by pollen analysis of the sapropels which were deposited in the deep eastern mediterranean sea during the last 1 million year ma the time scale of core kc01b in the ionian sea has been established by tuning its oxygen isotopic record to the ice volume model of imbrie and imbrie 1980 for the last 250 000 year 250 ka the previous pollen studies and astronomical tuning have been confirmed sapropels were deposited under a large range of mediterranean climates fully interglacial fully glacial and intermediary as revealed mainly by the balance between the respective pollen abundances of oak quercus and sage brush artemisia the high value of the oak reveals the warm and wet climate of an interglacial and the high value of the sage brush the dry and cold climate of a glacial whereas the mediterranean climate is directly related to the variation of the high latitude ice sheets the deposition of sapropels is not so in contrast with the wide climatic range sapropels were deposited only when summer insolation in the low latitudes reached its highest peaks however between 250 ka and 1 ma that stable pattern is not yet established only six sapropels are observed many expected ones do not appear even as ghosts signalled by peaks of barium abundance that remain after the post deposition oxidation of organic matter the pattern of sapropel formation in stable and direct relationship to highest insolation does not seem to apply for five of those sapropels neither climate extremes are observed they mainly formed during intermediary types of mediterranean climate in contrast one sapropel and one ghost relates to a relatively low peak of insolation and its climate is of a unique composite type not seen later this might suggest an unsuspected more complex pattern linking the formation of mediterranean sapropels to the astronomical configuration

late pleistocene holocene sedimentation in the nw aegean sea a palaeoclimatic palaeoceanographic reconstruction sedimentological particle size organic carbon calcium carbonate clay mineralogy and radiocarbon dating and micropalaeontological investigation of 9 cores from the nw aegean sea eastern mediterranean have enabled five main lithological units to be identified the units cover a period from the late pleistocene to the present day on the basis of these results and reference to other studies a palaeo reconstruction is presented for the area the reconstruction takes into account the increase in sea level during the period the decrease in fluvial inputs issuing to the area from the north mediterranean coastline and the possible influence of water issuing from the black sea it is concluded that the sedimentological and oceanographic regimes of the area were strongly influenced by a fluvial component during the late pleistocene and early holocene whereas today the sedimentary record is more indicative of an open oceanic environment

a dynamic concept for eastern mediterranean circulation and oxygenation during sapropel formation we propose that intermittent bottom water ventilation occurred throughout periods of sapropel deposition and that the recently reported sapropel interruptions represent centennial scale episodes of enhanced frequency intensity of that process in essence the modern high frequency variability in deep water formation affected by climatic variability over the northern basins on seasonal to longer time scales prevailed also at times of sapropel deposition although the overall ventilation state was much reduced this concept is supported by detailed multiple species isotope records for three aegean cores the presence of abundant globorotalia truncatulinoides within especially sapropels s7 and s8 in the western levantine basin observations of three rapid benthic repopulations within sapropel s6 in the deep western levantine basin a report of continuous benthic presence through sapropel s1 at intermediate deep locations offshore libya and further supporting information from the literature in the aegean records concomitant abundance of low oxygen tolerant benthic foraminifera and presence of the more oxyphilic benthic foraminifer uvigerina mediterranea with surface similar 13c values indicate repeated deep water re oxygenation events throughout the deposition of s1 the observations of a continuous benthic presence through s1 offshore from libya imply that no persistent anoxia developed at mid depth levels in that region which is far removed from direct deep ventilation influences the abundance of deep mesopelagic g truncatulinoides through several sapropels from the western levantine basin also suggests the presence of bio available oxygen at many hundreds of meters of depth moreover the rapid intermittent benthic repopulations within sapropels from the deep eastern mediterranean imply that bottom water anoxia was spatially restricted and or of a highly intermittent nature the short time scales of these repopulation events are incompatible with titration of an extensively anoxic water column and subsequent re establishment of water column anoxia we suggest that where anoxic azoic conditions were present they most likely were restricted to a veneer at the sediment water interface the extent of such an anoxic blanket depends on the balance between advective oxygen supply into the deep sea and biological and chemical oxygen demand the demand functions imply a decoupling of oxygenation from water mass advection allowing export production and corg posting rates to the sea floor to delimit the extent of the anoxic blanket in both space and time low productivity regions would develop no anoxic blanket allowing for the observed persistence of deep dwelling planktonic and bottom dwelling benthic faunas

middle holocene rapid environmental changes and human adaptation in greece numerous researchers discuss of the collapse of civilizations in response to abrupt climate change in the mediterranean region the period between 6500 and 5000 cal yr bp is one of the least studied episodes of rapid climate change at the end of the late neolithic this period is characterized by a dramatic decline in settlement and a cultural break in the balkans high resolution paleoenvironmental proxy data obtained in the lower angitis valley enables an examination of the societal responses to rapid climatic change in greece development of a lasting fluvio lacustrine environment followed by enhanced fluvial activity is evident from 6000 cal yr bp paleoecological data show a succession of dry events at 5800 5700 5450 and 5000 4900 cal yr bp these events correspond to incursion of cold air masses to the eastern mediterranean confirming the climatic instability of the middle holocene climate transition two periods with farming and pastural activities 6300 5600 and 5100 4700 cal bp are evident the intervening period is marked by environmental changes but the continuous occurrence of anthropogenic taxa suggests the persistence of human activities despite the absence of archaeological evidence the environmental factors alone were not sufficient to trigger the observed societal changes

deep sea ecosystem variability of the aegean sea during the past 22 kyr as revealed by benthic foraminifera abstract specific responses of the regional deep sea ecosystems to climatic and oceanographic processes during the last 22 kyr are revealed by benthic foraminiferal faunas from two cores in the northern and southern aegean sea under glacial boundary conditions high diversity benthic foraminiferal faunas and elevated benthic foraminiferal numbers indicate enhanced organic matter availability and well ventilated deep water masses in the whole aegean sea the glacial termination is accompanied by significant fluctuations in productivity and deep water ventilation in the northern aegean sea meltwater inflow from mountain glaciers during the bolling allerod warm period resulted in a restriction of local deep water formation as mirrored by a dominance of bolivinids during the deposition of sapropel s1 drops in benthic foraminiferal number and diversity are more significant in the southern aegean sea when compared to the north this suggests the persistence of local deep water formation in the northern aegean sea during s1 deposition in addition faunal fluctuations within s1 at both sites suggest the repeated influence of short term cooling events on the re ventilation and re colonization of aegean deep sea ecosystems during the middle and late holocene benthic foraminiferal faunas document the establishment of oligotrophic and well ventilated conditions in the southern aegean sea the corresponding faunas from the northern aegean sea reflect generally mesotrophic conditions and variable deep water oxygenation during the entire holocene the deep sea ecosystems of this region responded very sensitively to short term changes in humidity and temperature these abrupt climate changes controlled the inflow of nutrients from rivers and the black sea and the formation of local deep water masses

distribution of clay minerals in surface sediments of the aegean sea a compilation extensive published data sets and some new data on the clay mineral composition of surface sediments in the aegean sea northeastern mediterranean sea have been compiled in order to map the distribution patterns of clay mineral assemblages and to decipher source areas and transport paths we distinguished six provinces a northwest aegean province a marmara dardanelles province a west turkey province a southeast aegean province a kithira province and a central aegean province the clay mineral assemblages in the coastal and shelf areas carry the signature of the riverine sediment discharge from southeast europe and turkey respectively the southern aegean sea is probably influenced by the river nile discharge and transport of clay minerals by surface currents the clay minerals in the central aegean sea form a mixed assemblage comprising components of the other assemblages a dispersion and dilution of clay minerals by surface currents is obvious

microstructure specific carbon isotopic signatures of organic matter from 3 5 ga cherts of the pilbara craton support a biologic origin the 3 5 ga dresser formation from the north pole dome of the pilbara craton western australia contains some of the oldest evidence for life on earth here we present a detailed study of microstructure specific carbon isotopic composition of organic matter om preserved in dresser formation bedded cherts and hydrothermal chert vein using in situ secondary ion mass spectrometry sims the om in these rocks occurs mainly as clots that together with minor fine om layers and laminae are considered primary textures formed prior to host rock lithification other than rare om rich stylolites no evidence was found for later om migration beyond the micrometer scale average 13c om values in specific microstructural types range between 33 6 and 25 7 no correlation is seen between measured 13c values and h c ratios in the studied om microstructures this lack of correlation and the low metamorphic grade of the rocks studied argue against significant modification of om isotopic composition by later metamorphic alteration it is thus concluded that the range of 13c values found in the samples represents primary om isotopic variability within some individual samples variable 13c om values are correlated with specific microstructural types this observation is not consistent with solely abiotic om formation via fisher tropsch type reactions when compared with associated 13c ankerite values average 13c om values indicate c isotopic fractionation 13c ank om of 25 33 which translates to dissolved co2 om isotopic fractionation 13c co2 om of 20 30 this range of 13c co2 om is consistent with enzymatic c fixation via the calvin cycle utilized by photoautotrophs and the reductive acetyl coa pathway utilized by chemolithoautotrophs photosynthetic om formation is supported by the relatively shallow water depth inferred for the dresser environment and the restricted occurrence of stromatolites to shallow water deposits in this unit whereas chemolithosynthesis is supported by the abundance of om in sub seafloor hydrothermal chert veins the range of 13c om values observed in the samples may therefore represent the remains of different organisms utilizing different c fixation pathways other biologic effects such as the growth rate and density of microbial communities and further heterotrophic overprinting of the autotrophic biomass may have also contributed to the observed range of 13c om values

high resolution surveys along the hot spot affected galapagos spreading center 1 distribution of hydrothermal activity the spatial density of hydrothermal activity along most mid ocean ridges is a robust linear function of spreading rate or magmatic budget but extreme crustal properties may alter this relationship in 2005 2006 we tested the effect of thickened crust on hydrothermal activity using high resolution mapping of plumes overlying the hot spot affected galapagos spreading center from 95 to 89 42 w 560 km of ridge crest plume mapping discovered only two active high temperature vent fields subsequently confirmed by camera tows though strong plume evidence indicated minor venting from at least six other locations total plume incidence ph the fraction of ridge crest overlain by significant plumes was 0 11 0 014 about half that expected for a non hot spot mid ocean ridge with a similar magmatic budget plume distributions on the galapagos spreading center were uncorrelated with abrupt variations in the depth of the along axis melt lens so these variations are apparently not controlled by hydrothermal cooling differences we also found no statistical difference for a significance level of 0 05 in plume incidence between where the seismically imaged melt lens is shallow 2 0 56 km ph 0 108 0 045 and where it is deep 3 4 0 7 km ph 0 121 0 015 the galapagos spreading center thus joins mid ocean ridges near the iceland reykjanes ridge st paul amsterdam south east indian ridge and ascension mid atlantic ridge hot spots as locations of anomalously scarce high temperature venting this scarcity implies that convective cooling along hot spot affected ridge sections occurs primarily by undetected diffuse flow or is permanently or episodically reduced compared to normal mid ocean ridges

synchronisation of palaeoenvironmental events in the north atlantic region during the last termination a revised protocol recommended by the intimate group abstract the north atlantic intimate group of the inqua palaeoclimate commission has previously recommended an event stratigraphy approach for the synchronisation of records of the last termination using the greenland grip isotopic record as the regional stratotype and intcal98 for the calibration of radiocarbon dates lowe j j hoek w intimate group 2001 inter regional correlation of palaeoclimatic records for the last glacial interglacial transition a protocol for improved precision recommended by the intimate project group quaternary science reviews 20 1175 1187 here we present a revised protocol for time stratigraphic correlation in the north atlantic region over a more extended time period 30 8 ka this employs the new ngrip isotopic record and associated greenland ice core chronology 2005 gicc05 as the regional stratotype intcal04 for the calibration of radiocarbon dates bayesian based statistical procedures for the construction of age models and tephrochronology to validate correlations between regional site records

a high resolution absolute dated late pleistocene monsoon record from hulu cave china oxygen isotope records of five stalagmites from hulu cave near nanjing bear a remarkable resemblance to oxygen isotope records from greenland ice cores suggesting that east asian monsoon intensity changed in concert with greenland temperature between 11 000 and 75 000 years before the present yr b p between 11 000 and 30 000 yr b p the timing of changes in the monsoon as established with 230th dates generally agrees with the timing of temperature changes from the greenland ice sheet project two gisp2 core which supports gisp2 s chronology in this interval our record links north atlantic climate with the meridional transport of heat and moisture from the warmest part of the ocean where the summer east asian monsoon originates

silurian records of carbon and sulfur cycling from estonia the importance of depositional environment on isotopic trends abstract the llandovery wenlock carbonate marl succession of the baltoscandian basin has been analyzed in the viki drill core western estonia for carbonate carbon 13 c carb organic carbon 13 c org carbonate associated sulfate 34 s cas and pyrite 34 s pyr isotopes along with trace element concentrations following the end ordovician glaciation and the hirnantian carbon isotope excursion 13 c carb values rise to an early llandovery carbon isotope maximum 2 subsequently 13 c carb and coeval 13 c org record a large 4 5 excursion in the early wenlock associated with a regression and biotic turnover known as the ireviken bioevent ibe overall 34 s cas values generally fall within a range 25 to 35 similar to that reported in other sections of comparable age two distinct trends are observed low and stable 34 s cas values are associated with deep water facies while 34 s cas becomes higher and more variable in the shallow water facies similarly 34 s pyr values are low and invariant 15 in deep water facies but become higher and more variable ranging between 35 and 16 in shallow water deposits despite abundant recrystallization no obvious evidence for large scale alteration of proxies is apparent in concentrations of fe sr mn and mg or in isotopic correlations although increased variability and lower values of 34 s cas are observed where cas abundance is low a large well resolved positive excursion in 34 s cas observed during the ibe from a time correlative section on gotland sweden is absent in the data presented here this difference demonstrates that counter to general understanding local environmental variations can give rise to divergent 34 s cas profiles in coeval sections the s isotope fluctuations in cas and pyrite in the viki drill core can be explained by local processes involving facies changes early diagenetic processes and associated open vs closed system behavior that can overprint and potentially mask basin or global signals

an event stratigraphy for the last termination in the north atlantic region based on the greenland ice core record a proposal by the intimate group it is suggested that the grip greenland ice core should constitute the stratotype for the last termination based on the oxygen isotope signal in that core a new event stratigraphy spanning the time interval from ca 22 0 to 11 5 k grip yr bp ca 19 0 10 0 k 14 c yr bp is proposed for the north atlantic region this covers the period from the last glacial maximum through termination 1 of the deep ocean record to the pleistocene holocene boundary and encompasses the last glacial late glacial of the traditional northwest european stratigraphy the isotopic record for this period is divided into two stadial episodes greenland stadials 1 gs 1 and 2 gs 2 and two interstadial events greenland interstadials 1 gi 1 and 2 gi 2 in addition gi 1 and gs 2 are further subdivided into shorter episodes the event stratigraphy is equally applicable to ice core marine and terrestrial records and is considered to be a more appropriate classificatory scheme than the terrestrially based radiocarbon dated chronostratigraphy that has been used hitherto 1998 john wiley sons ltd

radiocarbon calibration curve spanning 0 to 50 000 years bp based on paired 230 th 234 u 238 u and 14 c dates on pristine corals abstract radiocarbon dating is the most widely used dating technique in the world recent advances in accelerator mass spectrometry ams and sample preparation techniques have reduced the sample size requirements by a factor of 1000 and decreased the measurement time from weeks to minutes today it is estimated that more than 90 percent of all measurements made on accelerator mass spectrometers are for radiocarbon age dates the production of 14 c in the atmosphere varies through time due to changes in the earth s geomagnetic field intensity and in its concentration which is regulated by the carbon cycle as a result of these two variables a radiocarbon age is not equivalent to a calendar age four decades of joint research by the dendrochronology and radiocarbon communities have produced a radiocarbon calibration data set of remarkable precision and accuracy extending from the present to approximately 12 000 calendar years before present this paper presents high precision paired 230 th 234 u 238 u and 14 c age determinations on pristine coral samples that enable us to extend the radiocarbon calibration curve from 12 000 to 50 000 years before present we developed a statistical model to properly estimate sample age conversion from radiocarbon years to calendar years taking full account of combined errors in input ages and calibration uncertainties our radiocarbon calibration program is publicly accessible at http www radiocarbon ldeo columbia edu along with full documentation of the samples data and our statistical calibration model

an abrupt wind shift in western europe at the onset of the younger dryas cold period the younger dryas cold reversal during the last glacial termination is one of the most abrupt climate change events observed in the northern hemisphere analyses of varved lake sediments from western germany suggest that storminess in the north atlantic region increased within a single year at this time providing a mechanistic link between a decrease in the meridional overturning circulation and western european cooling the younger dryas cooling 12 700 years ago is one of the most abrupt climate changes observed in northern hemisphere palaeoclimate records1 2 3 4 annually laminated lake sediments are ideally suited to record the dynamics of such abrupt changes as the seasonal deposition responds immediately to climate and the varve counts provide an accurate estimate of the timing of the change here we present sub annual records of varve microfacies and geochemistry from lake meerfelder maar in western germany providing one of the best dated records of this climate transition5 our data indicate an abrupt increase in storminess during the autumn to spring seasons occurring from one year to the next at 12 679 yr bp broadly coincident with other changes in this region we suggest that this shift in wind strength represents an abrupt change in the north atlantic westerlies towards a stronger and more zonal jet changes in meridional overturning circulation alone cannot fully explain the changes in european climate6 7 we suggest the observed wind shift provides the mechanism for the strong temporal link between north atlantic ocean overturning circulation and european climate during deglaciation

sea land correlation of pollen records in the eastern mediterranean for the glacial interglacial transition biostratigraphy versus radiometric time scale abstract pollen diagrams based on marine cores from the eastern mediterranean and arabian seas and land cores from greece turkey the levant and western iran during the last deglaciation reveal a similar succession of conspicuous pollen abundance maxima an early phase with chenopodiaceae signaling the highest aridity a late phase with pistacia and gramineae in the mediterranean domain and tropical humid taxa in the arabian sea domain indicating conditions of mildest winter and wettest summer between these two phases the record for deciduous oak in the mediterranean and near east shows a continuous increase that points to rising moisture the chronology of this succession and its exact relationship with the marine isotopic record of global climate are established using marine cores the marine records dated by the ams 14 c method show that the chenopodiaceae phase correlates with the younger dryas chronozone globally dated 11 000 to 10 000 bp during which the climate reversed to quasi glacial conditions at least in the northern hemisphere they also show that the pistacia phase during which the mediterranean climate reached its seasonal optimum occurred from 9000 to 6000 14 c years bp boreal and early atlantic chronozones defined in nw europe in the first half of the holocene the oak pollen abundance increases rapidly from 10 000 to 9000 bp preboreal chronozone thus in terms of climate the younger dryas chronozone is regionally expressed by wide spread desert conditions as a cold and arid period during the pistacia phase the climate was most favourable both for plants that require frost free winters such as the mediterranean pistacia and those that need spring summer moisture such as gramineae at low annual moisture level seasonally 300 mm and deciduous oak at higher levels 600 mm all year without summer drought during the brief intermediary phase the climate changed drastically through an increase of winter temperature and of spring summer moisture the chronologies of the land cores however based on few 14 c dates show significant discrepancies with the marine based time frame these discrepancies imply a lack of coherence in the climate history of this mediterranean irano turanian region we propose using the chronology derived from the marine records for the entire region the local 14 c dates generally appear too old perhaps because of geological contamination of the material by older carbon

the impacts of sea level changes during latest pleistocene and holocene times on the morphology of the ionian and aegean seas se alpine europe abstract the tentative coastline configuration in the ionian and aegean seas in three late pleistocene holocene time slices is given based on the global eustatic sea level curve in combination with local geological and geoarcheological data at lowstand stage 2 21 500 cal yr bp years before present sea level 120 m extensive shelves existed in the northern aegean sea and to a second degree in the eastern aegean sea and in the northern and central parts of the ionian sea many islands were connected with each other and with the mainland a great part of the periphery of gulfs that have an entrance less than 120 m deep was subaerially exposed while in their central parts lakes were formed at 11 500 cal yr bp sea level 60 m the exposed shelf was much restricted most of the gulfs were overflowed by the advancing sea and only a few islands were still connected with the mainland finally at 8000 cal yr bp and onward the sea initially intruded the lowlands and the gulfs but the subsequent sediment input by the rivers regressed the sea to its present position thus many human settlements and old cities that were maritime during hellenistic or older times are now a few to tens of kilometers inland

geomorphologic and paleoclimatic evidence of holocene glaciation on mount olympus greece this study investigates the possibility of holocene glaciation on mount olympus greece with a respective local temperature precipitation equilibrium line altitude tp ela at c 2200m a s l based on geomorphologic and paleoclimatic evidence at present the local tp ela is situated above the mountain s summit c 2918 m a s l but permanent snowfields and ice bodies survive within megala kazania cirque between c 2400 and c 2300 m a s l because of the cirque s maritime setting that results from its close proximity c 18km to the aegean sea and of the local topographical controls the snow and ice bodies occupied a considerably larger area and attained a stabilization phase between ad 1960 and 1980 also manifested from aerial photographs a period characterized by increased winter precipitation pw with subsequent tp ela depression to c 2410m a s l mid to late 20th century pw and tp ela variations exhibit negative correlations with the winter north atlantic oscillation index naow at annual and multidecadal 30 years timescales late holocene ad 1680 1860 reconstructed summer mean temperatures were lower by ts 1 1 c in relation to the reference period between ad 1960 and 1980 and were also superimposed to negative naow phases thus bracketing this time interval as a favorable one to glacial formation and or advance millennial scale annual precipitation reconstructions at the hypothesized tp ela c 2200m a s l point the period between 8 and 4 kyr bp as another glacier friendly candidate the mid holocene rather simplistic sequence of potential glacial advance phase was disturbed by short lived cold climatic deteriorations well documented over the northern aegean region that may partly explain the multicrested shape of the highest c 2200 m a s l morainic complex of megala kazania cirque

sahel megadroughts triggered by glacial slowdowns of atlantic meridional overturning 1 the influence of the large scale ocean circulation on sahel rainfall is elusive because of the shortness of the observational record we reconstructed the history of eolian and fluvial sedimentation on the continental slope off senegal during the past 57 000 years our data show that abrupt onsets of arid conditions in the west african sahel were linked to cold north atlantic sea surface temperatures during times of reduced meridional overturning circulation associated with heinrich stadials climate modeling suggests that this drying is induced by a southward shift of the west african monsoon trough in conjunction with an intensification and southward expansion of the midtropospheric african easterly jet

insights into continental temperatures in the northwestern black sea area during the last glacial period using branched tetraether lipids abstract in the continental realm continuous quantitative temperature reconstructions spanning the last glacial are rare especially in central and eastern europe here we provide a reconstruction from the northwestern black sea catchment spanning 40 to 9 ka bp from a study of the relative distribution of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers brgdgts in black sea lacustrine sediments first the origins of brgdgts are discussed the comparison of geochemical proxies from the same core supports a dominant terrestrial origin for brgdgts during the last glacial and a strong decrease in the soil derived brgdgt proportion toward the holocene since the lowering of soil vs lacustrine derived brgdgts is prone to bias the temperature signal that is reconstructed using a soil calibration a correction for in situ production is applied the corrected signal is compared to independent discrete temperature records from the study area the brgdgt temperature relative evolution reconstructed in this work provides additional insight regarding millennial scale climate variability in central and eastern europe notably the imprints of heinrich event cold spells and lateglacial climatic oscillations are consistent with other regional paleorecords from the northern hemisphere

climatic changes in the aegean sea influence the eastern mediterranean thermohaline circulation 1986 1997 recent changes of water mass characteristics in the south aegean sea have considerably influenced the eastern mediterranean thermohaline circulation a combination of salinity increase 1987 92 and temperature drop 1992 94 caused massive dense water formation and strong outflow towards the deep and bottom parts of the eastern mediterranean this climatic shift the most important since the existence of observations in the basin is a combined effect of extreme meteorological events superimposed on large scale trends it has initiated a series of modifications in the hydrology and dynamics of the entire eastern mediterranean with possible influence on the mediterranean outflow in the north atlantic ocean