Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Western Mediterranean during the Late Early Pleistocene

Abstract

Abstract. The major climate change recorded during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.4–0.4 Ma) is characterized by an increase in the length of climatic cycles from 41 to 100 ka. During this period, the Mediterranean climate underwent aridification associated with a drop in temperatures. This period also corresponds to the arrival of the first hominins in Western Europe. This study aims to establish the climatic framework at the end of the Early Pleistocene between MIS 37-31 (∼ 1.25 to 1.06 Ma). To this end, a multiproxy approach was applied to assemblages of planktonic foraminifera, pollen and clay mineralogy, constituting a multi-method approach to climate reconstruction. Comparisons with other sequences from the Central and Western Mediterranean show major differences between the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. Indeed, the MIS 31 appears cooler and dryer in the south of the Iberian Peninsula than in central Mediterranean. Clay mineralogy analysis highlights a sudden change in oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Alboran Basin around 1140 ka. Climate reconstructions follow climatic cycles, with temperatures that appear to be underestimated compared to temperature reconstructions based on fauna from southern Spain. Precipitation reconstructions, on the other hand, are more consistent, suggesting that the climate and vegetation of this region are more likely to be influenced by variations in precipitation. These new data enhance our understanding of the climate of the South-western Mediterranean at the beginning of the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition.