The Uniqueness of Planktonic Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea: The Response to Orbital- and Suborbital-Climatic Forcing over the Last 130,000 Years

AbstractThe Mediterranean Sea is an ideal location to test the response of organisms to hydrological transformations driven by climate change. Here we review studies carried out on planktonic foraminifera and coccolithophores during the late Quaternary and attempt the comparison of data scattered in time and space. We highlight the prompt response of surface water ecosystems to both orbital- and suborbital-climatic variations.A markedly different spatial response was observed in calcareous plankton assemblages, possibly due to the influence of the North Atlantic climatic system in the western, central and northern areas and of the monsoon system in the easternmost and southern sites. Orbita…

Holocene millennial-scale climatic variability in the Siciliy Channel (Mediterranean Sea).

Pelagic calcium carbonate production and shallow dissolution in the North Pacific Ocean

Funding: Funding was provided by NSF Grants OCE1220600 and OCE1220302 awarded to JA and WB, respectively, MINECO PID2020-113526RB-I00, the Generalitat de Catalunya MERS (#2017 SGR-1588) awarded to PZ and NERC grant NE/N011716/1 awarded to JR. Planktonic calcifying organisms play a key role in regulating ocean carbonate chemistry and atmospheric CO2. Surprisingly, references to the absolute and relative contribution of these organisms to calcium carbonate production are lacking. Here we report quantification of pelagic calcium carbonate production in the North Pacific, providing new insights on the contribution of the three main planktonic calcifying groups. Our results show that coccolithop…

Holocene millennial-scale productivity variations in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea)

[1] The calcareous nannofossil assemblages of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 963D from the central Mediterranean Sea have been investigated to document oceanographic changes in surface waters. The studied site is located in an area sensitive to large-scale atmospheric and climatic systems and to high- and low-latitude climate connection. It is characterized by a high sedimentation rate (the achieved mean sampling resolution is <70 years) that allowed the Sicily Channel environmental changes to be examined in great detail over the last 12 ka BP. We focused on the species Florisphaera profunda that lives in the lower photic zone. Its distribution pattern shows repeated abundance fluctuations of …

I Geositi della Sicilia Occidentale: situazione attuale e valorizzazione

Physical forcing and physical/biochemical variability of the Mediterranean Sea:A review of unresolved issues and directions of future research

The response of calcareous nannoplankton to sea surface variability at Ceara Rise during the early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles

The Ceara Rise lies just beyond the edge of the Amazon River Fan and sediments from this site may record the complex interplay of different climatic systems and processes, including past changes in southern America monsoon activity, Intertropical Convergence Zone setting, different Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength and phytoplankton blooming triggered by Amazon River plumes. Here we investigate early Pleistocene calcareous nannoplankton at Ceara Rise, between about 1150 and 850 kiloyears ago. Our investigation shows abrupt variations in water column dynamics across glacial/interglacial cycles or, even better, linked with different AMOC modes. Dominant placoliths in…

Planktic foraminiferal changes in the western Mediterranean Anthropocene

The increase in anthropogenic induced warming over the last two centuries is impacting marine environment. Planktic foraminifera are a globally distributed calcifying marine zooplankton responding sensitively to changes in sea surface temperatures and interacting with the food web structure. Here, we study two high resolution multicore records from two western Mediterranean Sea regions (Alboran and Balearic basins), areas highly affected by both natural climate change and anthropogenic warming. Cores cover the time interval from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to present. Reconstructed sea surface temperatures are in good agreement with other results, tracing temperature changes through the Co…

Millenial-scale paleoenviromental changes in the central Mediterranean during the Last Interglacial: comparison with European and North Atlantic records.

Abstract The environment of the central Mediterranean Sea is investigated on the basis of high-resolution planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil data (mean sampling resolutions of about 80 and 160 yr, respectively). MIS 5 is characterized by warm, oligotrophic and stratified waters, while coccolithophore communities developed a vertical zonation that, in today's oceans, is typical of the low-latitude gyres. The temperate-subtropical configuration of planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil assemblages is repeatedly transformed into a temperate-subpolar one during the suborbital cooling episodes C25-C18. A comparison with European pollen sequences and North Atlantic cor…

Variability in the vertical structure of the water column and paleoproductivity reconstruction in the central-western Mediterranean during the Late Pleistocene.

Abstract A sedimentary sequence spanning Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 to MIS 2 in core LC07, recovered in the central Mediterranean, has been investigated in order to produce a high-resolution paleoceanographic reconstruction. The changes in productivity deduced from calcareous plankton relative abundances and independently confirmed by the Ba XS fluctuations are linked to the stability of the water column which is mainly controlled by the water mass temperature. During glacial intervals, productivity was generally enhanced. Oligotrophic and warmer water masses with a deepened seasonal thermocline can be inferred for most of MIS5. The magnetic properties of the sediment show increased occur…

Response of calcareous nannofossils to late Quaternary orbital and suborbital climate changes: Evidence from central Mediterranean and Iberian Margin records.

L'evoluzione del clima nell'area mediterranea durante l'intervallo 20.000-70.000 anni

Suborbital climate variability during Marine Isotopic Stage 5 in the central Mediterranean basin: evidence from calcareous plankton record

Abstract New faunal and floral records from Ocean Drilling Project Hole 963A, resolved at ∼80-year spacing, provide evidence of suborbital scale climate variability in the central Mediterranean Sea throughout Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Cold events in the central Mediterranean Sea, indicated by low abundances of warm species and high abundances of cold species, are also evident in a planktonic foraminifera paleoclimatic curve. They have been linked to NGRIP Greenland ice core “C” events and appear correlative with similar sub-millennial climate fluctuations identified in the North Atlantic region and in the Alboran Basin (Westernmost Mediterranean). Low-resolution benthic and planktonic O…

Dynamics at the Strait of Sicily and Mediterranean Sapropels

HOLOCENE MARINE SEDIMENTS IN THE HISTORICAL CENTRE OF PALERMO

HIGH-RESOLUTION PALAEONVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF ODP HOLE 963D (SICILY CHANNEL) DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION BASED ON CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSILS

Abstract A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 963D (Sicily Channel) has been obtained on the basis of quantitative abundance fluctuations in the calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The studied hole is characterized by a very high sedimentary resolution and covers the last ca. 20 kyr. A new palaeoclimatic curve, based on the Gephyrocapsa muellerae/Upper Photic Zone (UPZ) group ratio, permitted the detection of the rapid climatic fluctuations that characterized the last deglaciation. Cold water masses occupied the Sicily Channel during the glacial period and the Younger Dryas, whereas they were generally warm during the Bolling–Allerod and the Holocene. An…

A multidisciplinary approach to reveal the Sicily Climate and Environment over the last 20 000 years

Abstract We present a thorough review of the knowledge on the climate and environment in Sicily over the last 20 000 years, taking into account results of several studies carried using terrestrial and marine records. We obtain a coherent framework of the most important changes succeeded in the island, even if some points need further investigation. All the reconstructions of surface temperatures of the seas and the air surrounding Sicily point out severe climatic conditions during the last glacial period. The steppe- and semisteppe-like vegetation pattern testifies, together with additional evidence from geochemical data of lacustrine evidence, markedly arid conditions. Fi-nally, significan…

Calcareous Nannofossil and Planktonic Foraminifera Biostratigraphy of selected Piacenzian-Gelasian Laminites from Southern Italy

Here we present the biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic framework of a number of selected diatomaceous laminated intervals from the Crotone Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy). These layers, which we consider correlative to the Eastern Mediterranean Sapropel Layers, range in age from the early Piacenzian to the Gelasian, and show surprising thicknesses, suggesting that they were probably laid down in a landlocked, overfed basin. Specifically, a thick laminite from the surroundings of Cropani (Catanzaro) can be ascribed to nannofossil biozone MNN 16a and planktonic foraminifera biozone MPL 4b (lower Piacenzian) according to the Mediterranean calcareous plankton biostratigraphic zonations. …

The Postglacial Isotopic Record of Intermediate Water Connects Mediterranean Sapropels and Organic‐Rich Layers

Carbon‐rich layers exist at both sides of the Mediterranean Sea sedimentary record and are called sapropels and organic rich layers (ORLs), respectively, in the eastern and western basins. They have different levels of organic carbon accumulation and seafloor oxygen deprivation. The most recent sapropel and ORL depositions have a different timing, approximately 10.8–6.1 and 14.5–9.0 ka, respectively. Here we investigate oxygen isotopic records of three foraminifera species that occupy different habitats within the Sicily Channel water column since ~12.0 ka, thus in the sill between the eastern and western Mediterranean basins. These data are ice volume corrected, to get information on water…

Surface and deep water conditions in the Sicily channel (central Mediterranean) at the time of sapropel S5 deposition

New centennial-scale data of benthic foraminifera assemblages and of stable isotopes of foraminifera shells from the Sicily Channel, representative of surface and bottom waters, over the interval between about 140 and 110 kyr BP, are presented. During this period anoxia developed on the eastern Mediterranean basin and sapropel S5 deposited. Although anoxic sediments have not been deposited in the Sicily Channel, this area is strategic to study the character of intermediate waters, whose chemical-physical properties strongly precondition the eastern Mediterranean deep water formation. So far, no data from these water masses have been obtained, apart from the isotopic composition of shells of…

Calcareous nannofossil surface sediment assemblages from the SicilyChannel (central Mediterranean Sea): palaeoceanographic implications.

Quantitative analysis of 67 calcareous nannofossil assemblages from surface sediments recovered in a wide area across the Sicily Channel has been carried out in order to improve the interpretation of palaeontological data based on this planktonic group in a key area for Mediterranean palaeoceanographic studies. The investigation focused on three case studies that demonstrate the high potentiality of such a combined approach, taking into account the recent distribution of taxa or groups of taxa on the sea floor and the palaeontological record. The distribution of reworked specimens over the northern Sicily Channel sea floor validates the role of southern Sicily as a source region for reworke…

YTTRIUM AND REE SIGNATURE RECOGNIZED IN CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA (ODP SITE 963) DURING THE MIS 6 – MIS 5 TRANSITION

The Mediterranean Sea acts as a miniature ocean with the development of its own conveyor belt. It constitutes an ideal location to study and forecast how the marine environment responds to rapid climatic change. Here we present a palaeoenvironmental study carried out on the sediments of ODP Site 963, recovered in the Sicily Channel, the sill which divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean basin. We focused on the transition between the penultimate glacial (MIS 6) and the last interglacial (MIS 5), between approximately 130 and 115 kyr BP. A novel approach is proposed, taking into account centennial-scale geochemical data on major elements, selected trace elements, and yttrium and R…

Decline in coccolithophore diversity and impact on coccolith morphogenesis along a natural CO2 gradient

A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off Vulcano Island (Italy) was used to assess the effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores, which are abundant planktonic unicellular calcifiers. Such seeps are used as natural laboratories to study the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, since they cause long-term changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and pH, exposing the organisms to elevated CO2 concentrations and therefore mimicking future scenarios. Previous work at CO2 seeps has focused exclusively on benthic organisms. Here we show progressive depletion of 27 coccolithophore species, in terms of cell concentrations and diversity, along a calcite saturation …

Climatic variability and anthropogenic signatures in the Gulf of Salerno (southern-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea) during the last half-millennium

Sea Surface Temperatures and Paleoenvironmental Variability in the Central Mediterranean During Historical Times Reconstructed Using Planktonic Foraminifera

The ongoing anthropogenic‐induced warming assessment requires a robust background from regional sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions. Planktonic foraminifera have yielded valuable insights into late Quaternary SST dynamics, but the techniques to estimate SST from fossil assemblages have only rarely been used in very recent sedimentary records (the last 2,000 years). Here we use two transfer function methods, modern analog technique and artificial neural networks, to reconstruct SST variability in two cores from the Central Mediterranean Sea that span the last five centuries. Both cores show similar and considerable changes in the planktonic foraminifera assemblages. However, the in…

The Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT): a paleomagnetic and paleoceanographic overview of Mediterranean piston cores from the Sicily Channel margins

Holocene marine depositional event in the Centre of Palermo

Mediterranean circulation perturbations over the last five centuries: Relevance to past Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events

The Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) occurred in the Aegean Sea from 1988 to 1995 and is the most significant intermediate-to-deep Mediterranean overturning perturbation reported by instrumental records. The EMT was likely caused by accumulation of high salinity waters in the Levantine and enhanced heat loss in the Aegean Sea, coupled with surface water freshening in the Sicily Channel. It is still unknown whether similar transients occurred in the past and, if so, what their forcing processes were. In this study, sediments from the Sicily Channel document surface water freshening (SCFR) at 1910 ± 12, 1812 ± 18, 1725 ± 25 and 1580 ± 30 CE. A regional ocean hindcast links SCFR to enhanc…

High-frequency climate fluctuations over the last deglaciation in the Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean: Evidence from calcareous plankton assemblages

Abstract A high resolution study, with a centennial scale resolution, has been performed on the calcareous plankton assemblage (coccolithophores and planktonic foraminifera) at Ocean Drilling Program Site 976, Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean), focusing on the interval between 20 and 9 ka, in order to reconstruct changes in surface and subsurface water dynamics and productivity. The biotic surface water proxies integrate the extremely detailed (multi-decadal scale) geochemical data set and the pollen record already available at the core, thus providing a complete paleoenvironmental/paleoceanographic reconstruction. The results highlight the sensitivity of the calcareous plankton in record…

Calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy of selected Pliocene and Pleistocene laminites from Southern Italy.

Climate/ocean dynamics of the Central Mediterranean basin during Marine Isotope Stages 3-4

Middle-late Pleistocene eastern Mediterranean nutricline depth and coccolith preservation linked to Monsoon activity and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Altres ajuts: Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M; Universidade de Vigo's programme to attract excellent research talent (RR04092017) The eastern Mediterranean Sea lies under the influence of high- and low-latitude climatic systems. The northern part of the basin is affected by Atlantic depressions and continental and polar air masses that promote intermediate and deep-water formation. The southern part is influenced by subtropical conditions and monsoon activity. Monsoon intensification results in enhanced freshwater discharge from the Nile River and other (now dry) systems along the North African margin. This freshwater influx into the Mediterranean Sea reduces surface w…

Ambiente e clima della Sicilia durante gli ultimi 20 mila anni

Environment and Climate in Sicily over the last 20, 000 years. (IT ISSN 0394-3356, 2010). A series of recent studies shed light on the central Mediterranean, and Sicily, climate and environment, starting from the last glacial maximum (about 20 ka cal BP). In the present paper, we examine most of these works, in order to unravel environmental changes of the past, mainly in terms of temperature, atmospheric pattern, precipitation, vegetation and faunal associations. The climate of the last glacial maximum was characterised by very low temperature and by repeated northerlies penetration, even during summer. Low precipitation values led to a steppe- or semisteppe-like vegetation pattern, domina…

Coccolithophores in Water Samples and Fossil Assemblages in Sedimentary Archives of the Mediterranean Sea: A Review

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

Holocene climate variability of the Western Mediterranean: Surface water dynamics inferred from calcareous plankton assemblages

A high-resolution study (centennial scale) has been performed on the calcareous plankton assemblage of the Holocene portion of the Ocean Drilling Program Site 976 (Alboran Sea) with the aim to identify the main changes in the surface water dynamic. The dataset also provided a seasonal foraminiferal sea surface water temperatures (SSTs), estimated using the modern analog technique SIMMAX 28, and it was compared with available geochemical and pollen data at the site. Three main climate shifts were identified as (1) the increase in abundance of Syracosphaera spp. and Turborotalita quinqueloba marks the early Holocene humid phase, during maximum summer insolation and enhanced river runoff. It i…

Late Pleistocene-Holocene coastal adaptation in central Mediterranean: Snapshots from Grotta d’Oriente (NW Sicily)

Marine faunal remains from Grotta d’Oriente (Favignana Island, NW Sicily) offer invaluable snapshots of human-coastal environment interaction in the central Mediterranean from the Late Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene. The long-term shellfish and fish records reflect human exploitation of coastal environments undergoing considerable reorganizations during the postglacial sea level rise and the progressive isolation of Favignana from mainland Sicily. We detected an intensification of marine resource exploitation between ∼9.6 ka and ∼7.8 ka BP, which corresponds with the isolation of Favignana Island and, later on, with the introduction of early agro-pastoral economy in this region. We sugg…

Millennial-scale paleoenvironmental changes in the central Mediterranean during the Last Interglacial: comparison with European and Mediterranean records

Biostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy and Paleonvironmental Reconstruction of the Palermo Historical Centre Quaternary succession

Marine deposits from the Palermo Plain were historically relevant for the Quaternary Period definition. Here we show lithostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic data collected on three boreholes in the Palermo historical centre that recovered 36.8, 42.0 and 52.0 metres of sediments overlaying the Numidian Flysch. Marine sedimentary sequences span from the Calabrian Stage (calcareous nannofossil Zone MNN 19d) to the Middle Pleistocene (dominance of medium-sized gephyrocapsids within the MNN 19f Zone) and also include a short Holocene depositional event. Calcareous nannofossil, benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages point to a shallow coastal environment, possibly < …

High-frequency modification of the central Mediterranean seafloor environment over the last 74 ka

Here we present a high-resolution record of benthic foraminiferal assemblages for the last 74 kyr from the Sicily Channel Ocean Drilling Program Leg 160 Site 963. Benthic foraminiferal results are compared with geochemical (benthic and planktic δ18O and δ13C) and calcareous plankton data, previously acquired on the same marine core sediments. Within the succession, three benthic foraminifera compositional zones were defined. Temporal changes in the assemblages are interpreted in the context of the modification of subtropical and temperate climate systems that affected the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. A close connection between bottom conditions in the Sicily Channel and eastern M…

Palaeoecological remarks on calcareous nannofossils in Core LC07 (central Mediterranean Sea)during the Late Quaternary: a multidisciplinary investigation

Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy of the Central Mediterranean Basin during the last 430 000 years

Quantitative analyses on over 2300 samples were carried ut on late Quaternary calcareous nannofossil assemblages from a central Mediterranean Sea sedimentary sequence (ODP Site 963A). Our results indicate that Emiliania huxleyi dominated the assemblages between 0 and 45.7 kyr BP; Gephyrocapsa muellerae between 45.7 and 177.3 kyr BP; small Gephyrocapsa between 177.3 and 263.5 kyr BP; Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica from 263.5 kyr BP down to the basal sample of our investigation, at about 430 kyr BP A comparison with similar reports from Atlantic Ocean sites indicates that the boundaries of the acme intervals identified in this study fall within the same Marine Isotopic Stages as the Atlantic Ocean…

Primary productivity variability on the Atlantic Iberian Margin over the last 70,000 years: evidence from coccolithophores and fossil organic compounds

This study analyzes coccolithophore abundance fluctuations (e.g., Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa specimens, and Florisphaera profunda) in core MD01-2444 sediment strata retrieved at the Iberian Margin, northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Coccolithophores are calcareous nannofossils, a major component of the oceanic phytoplankton, which provide information about past ecological and climatological variability. Results are supported by data on fossil organic compounds (sea surface temperatures, alkenones, and n-hexacosan-1-ol index) and geochemical analyses (benthic δ13Ccc and planktonic δ18Occ isotopes). Three scenarios are taken into account for this location at centennial-scale resolution over th…

Calcareous nannofossil palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and preservation in sapropel S1 at the Eratosthenes Seamount (Eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract The most recent organic carbon-enriched layer (sapropel S1) deposited at the Eratosthenes Seamount has unique features, such as an early lithological interruption, fine light silt laminae and an exceptional vertical extent that is over 25 cm thick. Here we investigate calcareous nannofossil assemblages to reconstruct very high-resolution palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic variations recorded before, during and after the perturbation episode that involved the eastern Mediterranean Sea, due to the massive freshwater discharge via Nile River. Our results show that the deep chlorophyll maximum development, observed in all micropalaeontological groups from previous studies, is a…

Suborbital climatic instability during the last 130 kyr in the Sicly Channel

Living Coccolithophores from the Gulf of Sirte (Southern Mediterranean Sea) during the summer of 2008

The Gulf of Sirte is a largely unexplored area in the southernmost Mediterranean Sea.We are presenting here 2008 summer data on the distribution pattern of living coccolithophores, a main phytoplankton calcifying group, in 105 samples from 20 stations. The survey includes coastal and offshore stations, enabling us to provide indications on the dynamics of phytoplankton productivity in relation to oceanographic processes. The total coccosphere concentrations show higher values in the offshore stations and lower ones for coastal sites. Umbellosphaera tenuis, Emiliania huxleyi, Florisphaera profunda, Syracosphaera pulchra HOL (Calyptrosphaera oblonga) and Rhabdosphaera spp. dominate the assemb…

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of sediment drift accumulation in the Malta Graben (central Mediterranean Sea)

The Malta Graben is a deep tectonic depression in the Sicily Channel, bounded by NW-SE normal faults and filled by thick Pliocene-Quaternary deposits. A previous analysis of a giant piston core (LC09) from the Malta Graben had revealed a wide range of sedimentary features (carbonate turbidites, bioturbated mud and scours), although the chronostratigraphic constraint of the stacking pattern has remained elusive. After establishing a reliable chronological framework based on seven radiocarbon dates for a shorter core from the Malta Graben (ANSIC03-735), a down-core analysis of planktonic foraminifer and coccolith abundance, stable isotopes and sediment grain size was carried out. Since the la…

Eustatic and oceanographic control on sedimentary evolution of middle-late Quaternary shelf margin-to-upper slope deposits on the Egadi Islands offshore (Italy)

During the past decades a number of sequence stratigraphy studies illustrated how, during Quaternary, interaction between sea level changes and sediment supply controlled the depositional evolution along continental margins, giving a cyclic signature to the sedimentary infilling. However, as both deposition and erosion are processes ultimately controlled by balance between environmental energy and sedimentary influx, also the oceanographic regime takes part in controlling the sedimentary growth along the continental margin. This is exactly what occurs on physiographic settings as islands offshore areas, where bottom currents can be very energetic. In the western Sicily offshore, southwards …

Evoluzione di sistemi deposizionali di piattaforma continentale durante il Pleistocene superiore - Olocene: analisi sedimentologica di due carote prelevate nel Mar Tirreno Meridionale

E’ stato condotto uno studio sedimentologico di due carote prelevate nell’offshore della Sicilia settentrionale allo scopo di analizzare i cambiamenti di regime deposizionale verificatisi nel Pleistocene superiore - Olocene. Sulle due carote, provenienti dal Golfo di Termini Imerese (2,74 m di lunghezza, profondità -126 m) e dalla Baia di Carini (1,35 m di lunghezza, profondità -194 m), sono state anche eseguite analisi geochimiche e micropaleontologiche. Da un punto di vista granulometrico in entrambe le carote si può notare che la parte inferiore è principalmente costituita da una granulometria grossolana (ghiaia, ghiaia sabbiosa) che passa ad una granulometria di tipo argillo-siltosa nel…

Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence in Mediterranean coastal environments: an isotopic study of the diets of earliest directlyt-dated humans from Sicily

Abstract The subsistence of hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean Basin has been the object of few studies, which have not fully clarified the role of aquatic resources in their diets. Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating and of isotope analyses on the earliest directly-dated human remains from Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The radiocarbon determinations show that the Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) humans from Grotta di San Teodoro (15 232–14 126 cal. BP) and Grotta Addaura Caprara (16 060–15 007 cal. BP) date to the Late-glacial and were possibly contemporary. The diets of these individuals were dominated by the protein of large terrestrial mamma…

Conflicting coccolithophore and geochemical evidence for productivity levels in the Eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1

Abstract The cyclic development of anoxic conditions in the eastern Mediterranean deep sea waters is one of the most fascinating research topics in paleoceanographic studies. In combination with bottom water stagnation, enhanced primary production is a common explanation for the deposition of organic-rich layers (sapropels). This is supported by extensive evidence from both geochemical and micropaleontological studies. The correspondence of recent sapropel layers with peaks of the lower photic zone coccolithophore species Florisphaera profunda has been interpreted as a proxy for the development of a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), due to the pycnocline/nutricline shallowing into the lower p…

Yttrium and REE signature recognized in Central Mediterranean Sea (ODP Site 963) during the MIS 6–MIS 5 transition

Abstract The Mediterranean Sea acts as a miniature ocean with the development of its own conveyor belt. It constitutes an ideal location to study and forecast how the marine environment responds to rapid climatic change. Here we present a palaeoenvironmental study carried out on the sediments of ODP Site 963, recovered in the Sicily Channel, the sill which divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean basin. We focused on the transition between the penultimate glacial (MIS 6) and the last interglacial (MIS 5), between approximately 130 and 115 kyr BP. A novel approach is proposed, taking into account centennial-scale geochemical data on major elements, selected trace elements, and yttr…

A high-resolution record of the last deglaciation in the Sicily Channel based on foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil quantitative distribution

Abstract Relative abundance fluctuations in planktic foraminiferal and calcareous nannofossil assemblages are reported on the basis of a high-resolution study of ODP Leg 160 Hole 963D, drilled in the Sicily Strait, near Capo Rossello (southern Sicily). With its 8 m of undisturbed sediments, the core covers the interval from 1.5 to 23 kyr, allowing a 50–100-yr sampling resolution. All the short warm and cold events and sub-events recorded in this time interval in the GRIP Greenland ice core and at several Mediterranean sites were recognized. On this basis, a total number of nine ecozones based on planktic foraminifera and seven ecozones based on calcareous nannofossils were identified. A sho…

Calcareous Nannofossil Assemblages from the Central Mediterranean over the last Four Centuries.

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

Abstract 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 Mediterran…

Orbital variations in planktonic foraminifera assemblages from the Ionian Sea during the Middle Pleistocene Transition

Abstract The Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.2–0.7 Ma) is the most recent re-organization of the global climate system which includes variations in the frequency and amplitude of glacial/interglacial cycles, increased ice sheet volume, sea surface temperature cooling and a significant drop in the CO 2 atmospheric levels. Here we present high-resolution planktonic foraminifera data (mean sampling resolution of about 780 years) from core LC10 recovered in the Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean), between 1.2 and 0.9 Ma. Selected taxa, among them G. ruber , T. quinqueloba and G. bulloides , show significant periodicities that can be associated to orbital cycles, mainly precession and obliquity.…

Ten Years of Paleoceanographic Studies at ODP Site 963 (Central Mediterranean Sea)

The geographical location, the shape and the circulation pattern makes the Mediterranean Sea an ideal laboratory to study the interplay between different climatic systems, abrupt climate changes and the response of marine ecosystems. The Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 was drilled in the Northwestern part of the Sicily Channel, the sill that divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Numerous papers have been published on Site 963 sediments in the last decade, investigating Mediterranean paleoceanographic themes. Here we offer a synthetic framework of these investigations carried out by sub-centennial resolution. We present the whole sequence of suborbital climatic oscillations…

Calcareous plankton Biostratigraphy and Chronostratigraphy of selected Pliocene and Pleistocene laminites from Southern Italy

Climate oscillations and changes in freshwater budget of the central-eastern Mediterranean between 20,000 and 70,000 years ago

Primary productivity variability on the Atlantic Iberian Margin over the last 70,000 years: Evidence from coccolithophores and fossil organic compounds

[1] This study analyzes coccolithophore abundance fluctuations (e.g., Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa specimens, and Florisphaera profunda) in core MD01-2444 sediment strata retrieved at the Iberian Margin, northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Coccolithophores are calcareous nannofossils, a major component of the oceanic phytoplankton, which provide information about past ecological and climatological variability. Results are supported by data on fossil organic compounds (sea surface temperatures, alkenones, and n-hexacosan-1-ol index) and geochemical analyses (benthic δ13Ccc and planktonic δ18Occ isotopes). Three scenarios are taken into account for this location at centennial-scale resolution ove…

Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events over the last five centuries

Emiliania huxleyi calcite mass variability during periods of atmospheric CO2 rising in the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean carbonate system dynamics and planktonic biocalcification during the last 19,000 years

Holocene millennial-scale productivity variations in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea)

This study analyzes coccolithophore abundance fluctuations (e.g., Emiliania huxleyi, Gephyrocapsa specimens, and Florisphaera profunda) in core MD01-2444 sediment strata retrieved at the Iberian Margin, northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Coccolithophores are calcareous nannofossils, a major component of the oceanic phytoplankton, which provide information about past ecological and climatological variability. Results are supported by data on fossil organic compounds (sea surface temperatures, alkenones, and n-hexacosan-1-ol index) and geochemical analyses (benthic ?13Ccc and planktonic ?18Occ isotopes). Three scenarios are taken into account for this location at centennial-scale resolution over th…

Reventilation Episodes During the Sapropel S1 Deposition in the Eastern Mediterranean Based on Holococcolith Preservation

Organic-rich layers (sapropels), preserved in eastern Mediterranean marine sediment records, represent pronounced perturbations to thermohaline circulation and environmental conditions in the basin, in response to enhanced African monsoon activity and subsequent massive freshwater discharge. During the most recent event, Sapropel S1 formed between 10.8 and 6.1 ka, when freshwater-driven stratification caused seafloor anoxia below ~1,800-m depth, as a result of both failure of deep water formation and enhanced productivity. Here we analyze coccolith assemblages from the open eastern Mediterranean that form a west-east transect across the basin and provide insights on past environmental chang…

Productivity modes in the Mediterranean Sea during Dansgaard–Oeschger (20,000–70,000 yr ago) oscillations

The study of planktonic organisms during abrupt climatic variations of the last glacial period (Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillations, D-O) may reveal important insights on climatic, oceanographic and biological interactions. Here we present planktic foraminifera and coccolithophore data collected at the Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 (Sicily Channel), with a mean sampling resolution of respectively 43.5 and 98.9. yr, over the interval between 70,000 and 20,000. yr ago. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction suggests that three different scenarios can be seen across each D-O cycle: 1. oligotrophic surface water and a deep thermocline for the early Interstadials; 2. a Deep Chlorophyll Maximum and …

Correlation between eastern Mediterranean and Greenland climate oscillations of the past 62,000 years

An integrated investigation for core GMS-93/3, NW Sicily offshore (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea): high-resolution seasmic profiles and calcareous plankton biostratigraphy

CONSIDERATIONS ON CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSIL QUANTITATIVE DISTRIBUTION IN CORE LC07 (CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA) DURING THE LATE QUATERNARY

Mediterranean coccolith ecobiostratigraphy since the penultimate Glacial (the last 145,000years) and ecobioevent traceability

The Mediterranean Sea is a miniature ocean ideal to test the response of marine ecosystems to amplified orbital and suborbital climate changes. Here we present coccolith data from a Sardinia Channel gravity core (Arcose C_33) analysed over the last 145,000 years, with a mean resolution of about 900 years. The study highlights that regional phytoplankton assemblages underwent significant modifications between the penultimate glacial and the last interglacial, as well as between the last glacial and the Holocene. The N ratio palaeoproductivity index suggests reduced productivity levels and the development of a deep nutricline during the last interglacial and the Holocene. Within the last glac…

Late Quaternary high uplift rates in northeastern Sicily: evidence from calcareous nannofossils and benthic and planktonic foraminifera

The northeastern part of Sicily is characterized by intense seismic activity. Several systems of faults have been recognized in Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments in the area and, in fact, estimates of uplift rates are among the highest recorded in Sicily and south Italy. We examined calcareous nannofossil and benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages from pelitic sediments of the Contrada Zura section (Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto Basin, Furnari village, Messina). The occurrence of Emiliania huxleyi, a coccolithophore species which appeared in the oceanic record about 270,000 years ago, is witness to the uniqueness of this outcrop, while the planktonic/benthic foraminifera ratio indicat…

Size variations in the genus Gephyrocapsa during the Early Plaeistocene in the eastern Mediterranean

The genus Gephyrocapsa, belonging to coccolithophores, hasoften been used in biostratigraphic and paleoceanographic studies ofthe late Cenozoic. This taxon exhibits a gradual increase in sizeduring the Early Pleistocene which has been ascribed to evolutiveand/or environmental processes and has been used for biostratigraphicpurposes.Here we show both biometric and relative abundance data ofspecimens of this genus between about 2.0 and 0.9 Ma, from sedimentsof the Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean). Measurements onthe long axis of placoliths highlight a gradual size increase betweenthe upper part of MNN 19a and the top of MNN 19d biozones. Onthe basis of the comparison with paleoenvironmental…

First data on oceanography, phytoplankton density and nutrient distribution of the western Libyan sea area (August, 2006)

Mediterranean calcareous plankton stratigraphy of the last 10 kyr

Integrated micropaleontological and stratigraphical study of the Late Quaternary Arcose C_33 core (offshore SW Sardinia)

Planktonic foraminifera in ODP Hole 160-963A

New faunal and floral records from Ocean Drilling Project Hole 963A, resolved at ?80-year spacing, provide evidence of suborbital scale climate variability in the central Mediterranean Sea throughout Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Cold events in the central Mediterranean Sea, indicated by low abundances of warm species and high abundances of cold species, are also evident in a planktonic foraminifera paleoclimatic curve. They have been linked to NGRIP Greenland ice core “C” events and appear correlative with similar sub-millennial climate fluctuations identified in the North Atlantic region and in the Alboran Basin (Westernmost Mediterranean). Low-resolution benthic and planktonic Oxygen Iso…

Integrated annual calcium carbonate production of planktic calcifiers in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712

This dataset compiles the estimates of annual CaCO3 production, including the upper and lower limits of the estimates, for the 4 planktic calcifying groups considered in the study, the pteropods (mg/m²/yr), the heteropods (mg/m²/yr), the foraminifers (mg/m²/yr) and the coccolithophores (mg/m²/yr). The estimates derived from the living standing stocks of these 4 groups of organisms collected in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. R code was used to calculate the integrated annual CaCO3 production for the different organisms, including the upper and lower limits (Gray, 2022).

Calcifying zooplankton standing stocks and in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712

This dataset compiles the standing stocks (ind/m³), the integrated standing stocks (ind/m²) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks (mg/m²) for three groups of zooplanktonic calcifying organisms: pteropods, heteropods and foraminifers. The organisms were collected by oblique towing (Ø 0.5 m, 90 μm mesh size, SeaGear mechanical flowmeter) in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. The sampling strategy was designed to capture an integrated sample of all foraminifers, pteropods and heteropods from juveniles to adults living throughout the upper water column. Pteropods and heteropods were quantified and shell diameter mea…

(Table 1) Geochemistry of ODP Site 160-963 sediments

The Mediterranean Sea acts as a miniature ocean with the development of its own conveyor belt. It constitutes an ideal location to study and forecast how the marine environment responds to rapid climatic change. Here we present a palaeoenvironmental study carried out on the sediments of ODP Site 963, recovered in the Sicily Channel, the sill which divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean basin. We focused on the transition between the penultimate glacial (MIS 6) and the last interglacial (MIS 5), between approximately 130 and 115 kyr BP. A novel approach is proposed, taking into account centennial-scale geochemical data on major elements, selected trace elements, and yttrium and R…

Calcifying phytoplankton standing stocks in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712

This dataset compiles the CaCO3 standing stocks of living coccolithophores (mg/m³), of detached coccoliths (mg/m³) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks of coccolithophores (mg/m²). The samples were collected in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017, with rosette Niskin bottles equiped with CTD (Sea-Bird SBE 9) at different depths throughout the photic zone including the deep chlorophyll maximum. To estimate the CaCO3 contribution by coccolithophore assemblages in each sample, we carried out the transformation of coccospheres in number of coccoliths, following the estimates by Yang and Wei (2003), and then we adopte…

Decline in Coccolithophore Diversity and Impact on Coccolith Morphogenesis Along a Natural CO2 Gradient

A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off Vulcano Island (Italy) was used to assess the effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores, which are abundant planktonic unicellular calcifiers. Such seeps are used as natural laboratories to study the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, since they cause long-term changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and pH, exposing the organisms to elevated CO2 concentrations and therefore mimicking future scenarios. Previous work at CO2 seeps has focused exclusively on benthic organisms. Here we show progressive depletion of 27 coccolithophore species, in terms of cell concentrations and diversity, along a calcite saturation …

Stable isotopic composition of three foraminifera species in ODP Hole 160-963D

Carbon-rich layers exist at both sides of the Mediterranean Sea sedimentary record and are called sapropels and organic rich layers (ORLs), respectively in the eastern and western basins. They have different levels of organic carbon accumulation and seafloor oxygen deprivation. The most recent sapropel and ORL deposition have a different timing, 10.8-6.1 and 14.5-9.0 ka respectively. Here we investigate oxygen isotopic records of three foraminifera species that occupy different habitats within the Sicily Channel water column since ~ 12.0 ka, thus in the sill between the eastern and western Mediterranean basins. These data are ice volume-corrected, to get information on water masses density …

Coccolithophora and geochemistry of sapropel S1 in ODP Hole 160-964B

The cyclic development of anoxic conditions in the eastern Mediterranean deep sea waters is one of the most fascinating research topics in paleoceanographic studies. In combination with bottom water stagnation, enhanced primary production is a common explanation for the deposition of organic-rich layers (sapropels). This is supported by extensive evidence from both geochemical and micropaleontological studies. The correspondence of recent sapropel layers with peaks of the lower photic zone coccolithophore species Florisphaera profunda has been interpreted as a proxy for the development of a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), due to the pycnocline/nutricline shallowing into the lower part of th…

Planktic calcifiers standing stocks and carbonate production in the North Pacific from the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712

The data collection consists of 3 datasets: - Zooplankton standing stocks: this dataset compiles the standing stocks (ind/m³), the integrated standing stocks (ind/m²) and the integrated CaCO3 standing stocks (mg/m²) for three groups of zooplanktonic calcifying organisms, pteropods, heteropods and foraminifers. The organisms were collected by oblique towing (Ø 0.5 m, 90 μm mesh size, SeaGear mechanical flowmeter) in the North Pacific between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska during the R/V Kilo Moana cruise KM1712 in August 2017. The sampling strategy was designed to capture an integrated sample of all foraminifers, pteropods and heteropods from juveniles to adults living throughout the upper wa…

Chemistry of Globigerinoides ruber shells from ODP Site 160-963

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 sedim…