Paleobathymetric history of the Western Mediterranean Sea shelf during the latest glacial period and the Holocene: Quantitative reconstructions based on foraminiferal transfer functions

We present results of the palaeobathymetric evolution in cool-water shelf carbonate environments of the Western Mediterranean Sea during the latest glacial period and the Holocene. For this quantitative approach, we used the Weighted Averaging-Partial Least Squares (WA-PLS) regression method for the development of benthic foraminifera-based transfer functions, and the Modern Analog Technique (MAT) to test the robustness of the models. Transfer functions were created on the basis of recent benthic foraminiferal assemblages in surface samples (modern data sets), and were then applied to fossil samples in sediment cores from the Alboran Platform, the Oran Bight and the Mallorca Shelf. The performance of the WA-PLS transfer functions suggests a close relationship between the observed and estimated water depths in the modern data sets with a precision of ~ 11 m (Root Mean Squared error of Prediction (RMSEP)) within water depths ranging from 38 to 160 m. The estimated relative sea-level histories of the Alboran Platform and the Mallorca Shelf show a total relative sea-level rise of ~ 50 m with sample-specific errors of approximately ±7 m and generally match the global and regional Mediterranean Sea records. Inconsistencies in the paleobathymetric estimates are strongly attributed to redeposition processes, dating problems and to minor effects of an under-representation of modern samples from shallower water depths.

► The paleobathymetric history of Western Mediterranean shelf areas is presented.
► Transfer functions based on recent abundance data of benthic foraminifera were used.
► The performances reach a precision of ~ 11 m within a range of 122 m water depth.
► Our sea-level records generally match other records. > Inconsistencies result primarily from re-deposition processes.