Sea surface temperatures and environmental conditions during the “warm Pliocene” interval (~Â 4.1-3.2Â Ma) in the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus)

The first Pliocene alkenone-SST record in the E. Mediterranean presented here documents the “warm Pliocene” period (~ 4.1-3.25 Ma) characterized by mean SST of c. 26 °C. Distinct SST minima at ~ 3.9 Ma, 3.58 Ma and between 3.34 and 3.31 Ma, correspond to the MIS Gi16, MIS MG12 and MIS M2 global cooling episodes, before the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Our findings imply that the peak of the MIS M2 cooling in the Eastern Mediterranean may be up to ~ 40 kyrs older than the age attributed before to benthic stable oxygen isotopes records of this event.