Marine and terrestrial climate variability in the western Mediterranean Sea during marine isotope stages 20 and 19

Paleoproductivity Modes in Central Mediterranean During MIS 20—MIS 18: Calcareous Plankton and Alkenone Variability

“…Within the medium‐sized group, G. oceanica is a common component of low‐latitude assemblages (Baumann et al., 2005; Boeckel & Baumann, 2004; Haidar & Thierstein, 2001; Winter et al., 1994; Ziveri et al., 2004) and related to less saline Atlantic inflow in the Mediterranean Sea (Álvarez et al., 2010; Bárcena et al., 2004; Bazzicalupo et al., 2018, 2020; Knappertsbusch, 1993; Oviedo et al., 2017) especially during sea level highstand. On the other hand, G. caribbeanica is considered a cosmopolitan taxon (Baumann & Freitag, 2004; Flores et al., 2012; Saavedra‐Pellitero et al., 2017) with a more questionable ecology since it has been related to oligotrophic and warm surface waters (Bollmann, 1997; Bollmann et al., 1998; Toti et al., 2020), to seasonally nutrient‐enriched subpolar to subtropical waters (Baumann & Freitag, 2004). This species is capable of seasonal bloom (Baumann et al., 2005; Flores et al., 2012), and usually used as a proxy for high paleoproductivity (González‐Lanchas et al., 2020; López‐Otálvaro et al., 2008; Maiorano et al., 2013; Quivelli et al., 2020).…”

“…It has been documented that in this part of the section marked millennial‐scale drying and cooling events alternate with wetter and warmer phases, as proved by distinct shifts in the Mesothermic arboreal pollen taxa (Figure 1C) coupled with sharp SST and oxygen and carbon isotope changes (Maiorano et al., 2016; Marino et al., 2020; Nomade et al., 2019). They reflect not only local environmental changes but also short‐term climate instability recorded on a global scale, during the transition toward the MIS 18 glacial inception in North Atlantic (Emanuele et al., 2015; Ferretti et al., 2015; Kleiven et al., 2011), at the Iberian margin (Sánchez Gõni et al., 2016) and in the Mediterranean region, in both marine (Marino et al., 2015, 2016; Nomade et al., 2019; Toti et al., 2020) and continental records (Giaccio et al., 2015; Mangili et al., 2007; Regattieri et al., 2019). The millennial‐scale productivity changes we observe during MIS 19a points toward enhanced productivity during interstadials relative to stadials.…”

“…The eutrophic affinity of G. bulloides in the fossil record has been also widely documented in different Mediterranean geological settings (e.g., Rohling et al., 1997 and references therein; Zachariasse et al., 1997; Kontakiotis, 2016 and references therein). Neogloboquadrina pachyderma , a polar‐subpolar species (Darling et al., 2006; Hemleben et al., 1989) is used as a proxy of Atlantic cold (melt) water influx into Mediterranean (Bazzicalupo et al., 2018; Cacho et al., 1999; Capotondi et al., 2016; Girone et al., 2013; Marino et al., 2018, 2020; Pérez‐Folgado et al., 2003; Sierro et al., 2005; Toti et al., 2020).…”

“…Our study aims to fill the gap of knowledge that exists on the productivity variations during the Early/Middle Pleistocene period in the central Mediterranean region, focusing across the interval from the late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 20 to the MIS 18 glacial inception. This interval includes MIS 19, considered a close analog of the present interglacial (Pol et al., 2010; Tzedakis et al., 2012) and which revealed orbital and millennial‐scale climate variability in marine (Emanuele et al., 2015; Ferretti et al., 2015; Maiorano et al., 2016; Marino et al., 2020; Nomade et al., 2019; Sánchez Gõni et al., 2016; Toti et al., 2020; Tzedakis et al., 2012), lacustrine (Giaccio et al., 2015; Mangili et al., 2007; Regattieri et al., 2019), and ice core (Pol et al., 2010) records. We have investigated the expounded marine Ideale section in southern Italy (Figures 1A–1C), which is part of the Montalbano Jonico sequence (MJS, southern Italy) encompassing MIS 37‐MIS 16.…”

Review of the Early–Middle Pleistocene boundary and Marine Isotope Stage 19

“…A somewhat truncated planktonic foraminiferal δ 18 O record of ODP Site 976, Alboran Sea, western Mediterranean (Toti et al 2020;Fig. 4) does not distinguish between MIS 19b and MIS 19a, although two interstadials and the onset of a third in the upper part of MIS 19 can be referred to interstadials i1-i3 (Fig.…”