Glacial Mediterranean sea surface temperatures based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages

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.