Centennial- to millennial-scale climate oscillations in the Central-Eastern Mediterranean Sea between 20,000 and 70,000 years ago: evidence from a high-resolution geochemical and micropaleontological record

Here we present a high-resolution faunal, floral and geochemical (stable isotopes and trace elements) record from the sediments of Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 (central Mediterranean basin), which shows centennial/millennial-scale resemblance to the high-northern latitude rapid temperature fluctuations documented in the Greenland ice cores between 20 and 70 kyr BP.Oxygen and carbon isotopes, planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil distributions suggest that Dansgaard–Oeschger (D/O) and Heinrich events (HE) are distinctly expressed in the Mediterranean climate record. Moreover, recurrent though subdued oscillations not previously identified in the Lateglacial Mediterranean sediments document a significant centennial-scale climate variability in the basin that is greater than previously thought.Alternations between climate regimes dominated by polar outbreaks during D/O stadials and warm D/O interstadials, with associated intensification of continental runoff, are well expressed in the ODP Site 963. These place the Mediterranean basin as an often overlooked recorder of the interplay between large- and regional- scale climate controls at intermediate latitudes, and of the possible interactions between different components of the climate system. Significant changes in Ba/Ca values measured in Globigerinoides ruber shells from a number of D/O stadials and interstadials suggest enhanced freshwater input from the north-eastern Mediterranean borderland during the D/O interstadials. However, the short duration of 3D stratification events never led to complete oxygen consumption along the water column, but clear effects of sluggish 3D circulation in the basin are testified to by negative excursions in δ13C measured in selected species of planktic and benthic foraminifera.HEs are constantly associated with lightening in the δ18O record of planktic foraminifera, possibly because of the impact of iceberg melting in the Iberian Margin on Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. Interestingly, in two cases in particular, HE2 and HE5, fresher water inputs also affected deeper horizons of intermediate waters, suggesting a basin-wide impact.

► Mediterranean high-frequency changes in climate and ocean dynamics during late glacial. ► Analysis of Ba/Ca on G. ruber and water budget of the Mediterranean basin. ► Evaporation/precipitation budget of the basin during stadials and interstadials. ► Freshening of surface waters during Heinrich events and reduction of MIW formation.