Vegetation dynamics in the Northeastern Mediterranean region during the past 23 000 yr: insights from a new pollen record from the Sea of Marmara

• Published in: Climate of the Past
• Main Authors: Valsecchi, V., Sanchez Goñi, M., Londeix, L.
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CNRS-INSU
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03474018; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03474018/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03474018/file/cp-8-1941-2012.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-1941-2012

International audience Abstract. High-resolution pollen analysis of core MD01-2430 from the Sea of Marmara (40°47.81' N, 27°43.51' E) allows us to reconstruct the vegetation response to climatic changes during the past 23 cal ka in the Northeastern Mediterranean. Variation in mesic/temperate forest cover indicates major climatic shifts connected to Heinrich Stadial 1, Bölling-Allerød, Younger Dryas and to the onset of the Holocene. Pollen–anthropogenic indicator approach was used to recognize human-induced landscape changes in the Sea of Marmara. The pollen-inferred onset of the Holocene occurs at ca. 11.5 cal ka, indicating that the Northeastern Mediterranean region represents a transitional zone where higher moisture availability supported an earlier forest expansion than the borderlands of the Aegean Sea and Black Sea. Two major forest retreats occurred during the Holocene at ca. 5.5 and 2.1 cal ka. The Holocene forest setbacks are in phase with previously published alkenone-inferred sea-surface temperature decreases in the Sea of Marmara reconstructed from the same core. Our new pollen record testifies the sensitivity of Mediterranean forests to changes in moisture availability, which is driven by changes in high-latitude atmospheric processes (North Atlantic Oscillations and/or Siberian High).