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The study of Pleistocene climates and environments on a local and regional scales and the analysis of archaeological settlements are both complementary and dependent on each other. Whether we want to establish a dynamic cartography of the first settlements of Europe, to understand the ways of life of human groups from a technical, cognitive and economic point of view, to observe human adaptations to the environment or to identify the possible effects of glaciations and climatic warming on populations, we need to ensure the physical context of their appearance. As a corollary, in continental areas, it is mainly in the context of archaeological investigations that environmental studies are carried out with maximum resolution. Focusing on the local effects of climate change, instead of being satisfied with global data, is the only solution both for describing the reality of climatic effects on environments and for freeing the knowledge of ancient societies from a certain inertia and poor palaeo-sociological content, which are nevertheless generally accepted because of the scarcity of sites. In this search for any clue, although fragmentary, that could complete the framework of the History of Middle Pleistocene European societies, we carried out fieldworks (archaeological excavations and off-site palaeoenvironmental studies) from 2012 to 2020 at Valle Giumentina (Abbateggio, Abruzzo) in Central Italy. Discovered and briefly excavated in the 1950s, this site with its thick stratigraphic sequence (45 m) and 13 archaeological levels is getting well known. Multidisciplinary studies indicate a setting from MIS 16 to MIS 12, and each of the archaeological levels can be attributed to an isotopic sub-stage. The remains (lithic industries, faunal remains) reveal the territorial organization of human groups beyond typology and technology., L’étude, à l’échelle locale et régionale, des climats et des environnements du Pléistocène et l’analyse des niveaux d’occupations archéologiques sont tout à la fois complémentaires et tributaires l’une de l’autre. Que l’on veuille établir une cartographie dynamique des premiers peuplements de l’Europe, appréhender les modes de vie des groupes humains, tant d’un point de vue technique, cognitif qu’économique, observer les adaptations humaines au milieu et cerner les éventuels effet des glaciations et réchauffements climatiques sur les populations, il convient de s’assurer du contexte physique de leurs apparitions. En corolaire, en milieu continental, c’est surtout dans le cadre des opérations archéologiques que les études environnementales sont réalisées avec une résolution maximale. Se pencher sur les effets locaux des changements climatiques, et ne pas se satisfaire des données globales, est l’unique solution tant pour décrire la réalité des effets climatiques sur les environnements que pour extirper la connaissance des sociétés anciennes d’une certaine inertie et d’une piètre teneur paléo-sociologique, toutefois généralement acceptées en raison de la rareté des gisements. Dans cette recherche de tout indice, certes fragmentaire, mais susceptible de compléter le canevas de l’histoire des sociétés du Pléistocène moyen européen, nous avons entrepris de 2012 à 2020 des travaux de terrain (fouilles archéologiques et études paléoenvironnementales hors-site) à Valle Giumentina (Abbateggio, Abruzzes) en Italie centrale. Découvert et brièvement fouillé dans les années 1950, ce site à la puissante stratigraphie (45 m) et aux 13 niveaux archéologiques devient bien connu. Les études pluridisciplinaires indiquent une mise en place du MIS 16 au MIS 12, et chacun des niveaux archéologiques peut être attribué à un sous-stade isotopique. Les vestiges (industries lithiques, restes fauniques) font part de l’organisation territoriale des groupes humains par-delà la typologie et la technologie.

Since the Pleistocene, the Mediterranean is a hot spot for climate change and human migrations, thus offering the opportunity to investigate how human populations have responded to environmental changes and sea level variations. This is the main topic of the SPHeritage Project (MUR grant: FIRS2019_00040, P.I.: M. Pappalardo) that proposes an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the human-environment interaction (in particular sea level variations) over the last 400,000 years using a combination of micro-invasive methods. The Project is re-investigating the well-known archaeological area of ​​the Balzi Rossi (Ventimiglia, at the border between Italy and France), which represents a unique assemblage of archaeological sites dating to the Palaeolithic, distributed in a geomorphological setting rich of markers of past sea level changes. As most of the local archaeological sequences have been extensively investigated at the beginning of the last century and large part of the deposits removed, we will combine the analyses of materials preserved in museums (including strips of sediments) and the remnants still preserved inside many rockshelters and caves of the archaeological complex. Moreover, our geomorphological survey identified new sedimentary sequences preserving information on relative sea level changes. This approach will permit to obtain innovative data submitting small samples to state-of-the-art methods for dating and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, thus offering the opportunity to better constrain the time and steps of climate change, sea level oscillations, and human settlements. Moreover, data will converge into geoheritage analyses aimed at finding the best practices for promoting and protecting the site. Here, we present an overview of the project and preliminary results from some of the major archaeological sites.

International audience; The Fucino Basin, central Italy, with its long and continuous history of Quaternary sediment accumulation, is one of the richest Mediterranean Middle Pleistocene tephra records. Here, we present a new detailed investigation of tephra layers (tephras) of the 250-170 thousand years before present (ka) interval, corresponding to the entire Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 and parts of the MIS 8 and MIS 6. The investigated tephras have been characterised in terms of major, minor and trace elements, Sr-Nd isotopic compositions and 40Ar/39Ar ages. For correlation purposes, glass compositions and several new 40Ar/39Ar ages of selected proximal pyroclastic units spanning the same temporal interval from Vulsini (Latera Volcanic Complex), Sabatini, and Vico volcanic systems, central Italy, were measured. The late MIS 8-early MIS 6 Fucino tephras were backtracked to their corresponding volcanic sources, which include the Vulsini, Vico, Sabatini, Roccamonfina, Ischia and Campi Flegrei volcanic systems. While some of these tephras have been correlated to specific eruption units, other layers are currently not documented or described in near-vent sections, thus highlighting previously unrecognised events generated by these volcanic systems. Furthermore, the new high precision 40Ar/39Ar ages provide improved temporal constraints for Fucino making it one of the most detailed and chronologically best constrained tephra records for central Mediterranean MIS 7 tephrochronology. The Fucino record thus provides new integrative information for reconstructing the explosive history of Italian volcanoes during the investigated time interval. Furthermore, the geochronological constraints provide the basis for future paleoclimatic investigations at local and regional scale.

The trace-element geochemistry of speleothems is becoming increasingly used for reconstructing palaeoclimate, with a particular emphasis on elements whose concentrations vary according to hydrological conditions at the cave site (e.g. Mg, Sr, Ba and U). An important step in interpreting trace-element abundances is understanding the underlying processes of their incorporation. This includes quantifying the fractionation between the solution and speleothem carbonate via partition coefficients (where the partitioning (D) of element X (D-X) is the molar ratio [X/Ca] in the calcite divided by the molar ratio [X/Ca] in the parent water) and evaluating the degree of spatial variability across time-constant speleothem layers. Previous studies of how these elements are incorporated into speleothems have focused primarily on stalagmites and their source waters in natural cave settings, or have used synthetic solutions under cave-analogue laboratory conditions to produce similar dripstones. However, dripstones are not the only speleothem types capable of yielding useful palaeoclimate information. In this study, we investigate the incorporation of Mg, Sr, Ba and U into a subaqueous calcite speleothem (CD3) growing in a natural cave pool in Italy. Pool-water measurements extending back 15 years reveal a remarkably stable geochemical environment owing to the deep cave setting, enabling the calculation of precise solution [X/Ca]. We determine the trace element variability of 'modern' subaqueous calcite from a drill core taken through CD3 to derive D-Mg, D-Sr, D-Ba and D-U then compare these with published cave, cave-analogue and seawater-analogue studies. The D-Mg for CD3 is anomalously high (0.042 +/- 0.002) compared to previous estimates at similar temperatures (similar to 8 degrees C). The D-Sr (0.100 +/- 0.007) is similar to previously reported values, but data from this study as well as those from Tremaine and Froelich (2013) and Day and Henderson (2013) suggest that [ Na/Sr] might play an important role in Sr incorporation through the potential for Na to outcompete Sr for calcite non-lattice sites. DBa in CD3 (0.086 +/- 0.008) is similar to values derived by Day and Henderson (2013) under cave-analogue conditions, whilst DU (0.013 +/- 0.002) is almost an order of magnitude lower, possibly due to the unusually slow speleothem growth rates (

The original article has been corrected. During proof correction of the article, mistakes in the author affiliations of Petra Bajo, John C. Hellstrom, Robert Wiśniewski, Anthony E. Fallick, Stefano Natali, and Marco Luppichini were introduced. Please find the correct affiliations here as well.

Located along the Tigris River in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the Mosul Dam reservoir is the second biggest dam of the Near East, and represents an important water storage for local human activities. The Dam was built between 1981 and 1988 north of the village of Eski Mosul; along this part of the Tigris River several archaeological sites were inundated. Analysis of historical images derived from Declassified Corona satellite acquired between December 1967 and August 1968 reveals seasonal changes of the Tigris riverbed, shifting across the hydrological year from meandering to anastomosing. The geomorphological mapping was carried out on the December 1967 and. in August 1968, Corona images were taken, in order to estimate the modification of several fluvial geomorphological elements such as floodplain and point, middle and longitudinal bars. Here, such evidence is compared with Landsat data collected between the 1990ies and today, in order to detect the first phases of filling of the basin and the control of inherited Tigris channel belt over the reservoir. Moreover, we also noticed an influence of the ancient Tigris course on is recent insertion into the lake. Our work permitted to reconstruct the ancient fluvial landscape below the Mosul Dam Lake, and its evolution in response to seasonal variation of the discharge.

During the late Quaternary, Iraqi Kurdistan was the scenario of several fundamental human-relatedevents including the dispersion of Homo in Asia and Europe, the origin of agriculture, the beginningof urbanization, and the formation of the first state entities. We present the initial results of ageoarchaeological investigation in this area, which aims to reconstruct a detailed framework of therelationship between climatic changes, landscape responses, human adaptation, and settlementdistribution during the Late Quaternary. Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic data were collectedfrom two key areas: the territory of the Navkur and Faideh plains, in northern Kurdistan, and a portionof the Erbil plain, in southern Kurdistan. In the two regions, the Land of Niniveh and MAIPEarchaeological missions are operating. Remote sensing, GIS analyses, and geomorphological surveyare the tools used for the geomorphological reconstruction of ancient hydrology (fluvial pattern) andthe evolution of distinct landforms. Geochemical and geochronological analyses on speleothems fromthe Zagros piedmont caves of same region provide information on Holocene climatic variability inthe area. Whereas environmental settings and human land use are investigated on the basis ofsedimentological, palynological, micropaleontological, and geochemical analyses of a fluvio-lacustrine sequences preliminary dated between 40 and 9 ka BP. The lacustrine sequence is composedby clayey and silt-sandy sediments alternating calcareous and organic matter-rich layers.Environmental and geomorphological data have been compared with archaeological information(mostly the chronological distribution of the archaeological sites) to interpret exploitation of naturalresources, the settlement dynamics and shift in land use.

The Fucino Basin is the largest and probably the only Central Apennine basin hosting a thick, continuous lacustrine sediment succession documenting the environmental history from the Early Pleistocene to recent historical times. The basin is located downwind of the Italian volcanic districts (< 150 km), which makes it the best candidate available in the central Mediterranean to construct a long and continuous tephrostratigraphic and tephrochronological record. Tephrostratigraphic investigations conducted on a first core (F1-F3) revealed 21 tephra layers of different Italian volcaoes. Among them several widespread and well-dated key Mediterranean marker tephra layers (e.g., Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, Y-1, Campanian Ignimbrite, Y-7, X-5, X-6, and Taurano Ignimbrite) were recognized and allowed to date, together with 40Ar/39Ar ages directly obtained from the Fucino tephra layers, the record back to 190 ka.Based on these promising results, a new drilling site with a lower sedimentation rate was targeted, bringing forth the ~98 m long F4-F5 record. In addition to the already recognised tephra layers occurring in the section that overlaps with core F1-F3, ~110 additional tephra and cryptotephra horizons were identified in the composite sediment succession of the F4-F5 record, providing new insights into the Italian volcanic history for the poorly explored interval beyond 200 ka.Here we present the first tephrostratigraphic and tephrochronological results for this interval, which is dominated by eruptions from the Sabatini, Vulsini, Vico, and Colli Albani volcanoes. Several important known eruptions were identified and dated for the first time in distal settings: e.g., Canino (256.8 ± 1.1 ka), Tufo Giallo di Sacrofano (288.0 ± 2.0 ka), Magliano Romano Plinian Fall (315.0 ± 2.0 ka), Orvieto-Bagnoregio Ignimbrite (335.8 ± 1.4 ka), Villa Senni (367.5 ± 1.6 ka), Pozzolane Nere and its precursor (408.5 ± 1.3 ka, and 407.1 ± 4.2 ka, respectively). Finally, a tephra located at the base of the succession was directly dated by 40Ar/39Ar at 424.3 ± 3.2 ka, thus extending the record back to the MIS 12/11 transition (~430 ka).Ongoing geochemical analysis, including trace elements, Sr and Nd isotopes, and 40Ar/39Ar dating of both Fucino tephra layers and potential proximal counterparts will help to reveal their volcanic sources and enable further tephrostratigraphic correlations supported by independent age determinations. These results will contribute towards an improved MIS 11-MIS 7 Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, which is still poorly characterized and exploited.The recognition and dating of the numerous tephra layers from the F4-F5 record can be directly combined to construct a comprehensive age-depth series of biogeochemical proxies and geomagnetic excursions derived from the lacustrine sediments, forming the backbone for an independent, radioisotopically anchored chronology for the F4-F5 multi-proxy record. Through paleoclimatic alignments and geomagnetic excursion synchronizations, the independent Fucino chronology can be propagated to the North Atlantic records, and possibly on a global scale, setting the framework for a better understanding of the spatio-temporal variability, magnitude, and different expressions of Quaternary orbital and millennial-scale paleoclimatic changes.

The Terramare civilization included hundreds of banked and moated villages, located in the alluvial plain of the Po River of northern Italy, and developed between the Middle and the Recent Bronze Ages (XVI-XII cent. BC). This civilization lasted for over 500 years, collapsing at around 1150 years BC, in a period marked by a great societal disruptionin the Mediterranean area. The timing and modalities of the collapse of the Terramare Bronze Age culture are widely debated, and a combined geoarchaeological and palaeoclimatic investigation – the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project –is shading new light on this enigma. The Terramare economy was based upon cereal farming, herding, and metallurgy; settlements were also sustained by a well-developed system for the management of water and abundant wood resources. They also established a wide network of commercial exchange between continental Europe and the Mediterranean region.The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project investigated two main Bronze Age sites in Northern Italy:(i) the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio, and (ii) the San Michele di Valestra site, which is a coeval settlement outside the Terramare territory, but in the adjoining Apennine range. Human occupation at San Michele di Valestra persisted after the Terramare crisis and the site was settled with continuity throughout the whole Bronze Ages, up to the Iron Age. The combined geoarchaeological, palaeoclimatic, and archaeobotanical investigation on different archaeological sites and on independent archives for climatic proxies (offsite cores and speleothems) highlights the existence of both climatic and anthropic critical factors triggering a dramatic shift of the landuse of the Terramare civilization. The overexploitation of natural resources became excessive in the late period of the Terramare trajectory, when also a climatic change occurred. A fresh speleothem record for the same region suggests the occurrence of a short-lived period of climatic instability followed by a marked peak of aridity. The unfavourable concomitance between human overgrazing and climatic-triggered environmental pressure, amplified the on-going societal crisis, likely leading to the breakdown of the Terramare civilization in the turn of a generation.

In this paper, we describe the first finding of the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra layer in a subaerial succession in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The tephra is interbedded within slope deposits mixed with colluvial loess. The identification of this fundamental stratigraphic marker is based on major elements. The investigated succession is correlated to lacustrine records from Ohrid and Prespa lakes, several archives of the central and eastern Mediterranean, and mainland Ukraine and Russia. Field observations and correlation with lacustrine records (i.e. pollen) indicate that accumulation of the volcanic ash occurred in a dry environment characterized by low vegetation cover and important wind activity, which promoted loess deposition. The recognition of the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra allows the correlation of the loess sediments to the H4 event, as defined in the North Atlantic event climatic stratigraphy.

Here we present a multiproxy record (?13C, ?18O, major and minor element composition, mineralogy, and low-resolution biogenic silica content) from a lacustrine succession in the Sulmona Basin, central Italy. Based on previous tephrochronological constraints and a new 40Ar/39Ar dating of a tephra matching the widespread X-6 tephra, the record spans the ca. 129-92 ka period and documents at sub-orbital scale the climatic and environmental changes over the Last Interglacial and its transition to the Last Glacial period. The ?18O composition is interpreted as a proxy for the amount and seasonality of local precipitation, whereas variations in elemental and mineralogical composition are inferred to reflect climatic-driven changes in clastic sediment input. The observed variations are consistent among the different proxies, and indicate that periods of reduced precipitation were marked by enhanced catchment erosion, probably due to a reduction in vegetation cover. The first part of the Last Interglacial shows the most negative ?18O values. Comparison with pollen records from the Mediterranean suggests a greater seasonality of the precipitation at this time. At millennial-to-centennial time scales, comparison of the Sulmona record with speleothem ?18O records from central Italy highlights a highly coherent pattern of hydrological evolution, with enhanced variability and similar events of reduced precipitation consistently recorded by each isotope record. The observed intra-interglacial variability can potentially be linked, within the uncertainties associated with each age model, to similar variations observed in sea-surface temperature records from the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, suggesting a link between Mediterranean hydrology and North Atlantic temperature and circulation patterns that persists during periods of low ice volume.

RATIONALE: The suitability of organic matter (OM) removal pre-treatments in isotopic studies of lacustrine carbonates is currently under debate. Naturally occurring OM seems to have a negligible effect on the bulk isotopic composition of carbonates compared with changes induced by pre-treatments. This study provides further insights into the possible effects induced by commonly used pre-treatments on natural lacustrine carbonates. METHODS: Sixteen samples from the Fucino F1-F3 lacustrine succession (Abruzzo, central Italy) were characterised for their mineralogical and geochemical composition and each was split into three identical aliquots. One aliquot was left untreated while the remaining two were treated with NaOCl and H2 O2 dilutions. The same treatment was applied to an internal standard consisting of pure Carrara marble. The treated and untreated samples were analysed for their carbon (δ13 C values) and oxygen (δ18 O values) isotope compositions using an Analytical Precision AP2003 isotope ratio mass spectrometer. RESULTS: The samples had variable proportions of endogenic and detrital components, the detrital portion being more (less) abundant during colder (warmer) climate phases. We observed that neither the NaOCl nor the H2 O2 treatment was able to completely remove OM and therefore there was selective removal of compounds within the OM pool. A possible effect of pre-treatment is the loss of carbonates intimately interspersed within the OM, as suggested by the evolution of isotopic ratios towards the local detrital array. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights sample-specific changes in geochemistry associated with sample pre-treatments; however, such changes do not seem to lead to either systematic and/or predictable isotopic shifts. We suggest that the suitability of NaOCl or H2 O2 pre-treatments for OM removal should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In the specific case of lacustrine marls from palaeo-lake Fucino containing relatively low amounts of OM and in which both detrital and endogenic carbonates occur, both pre-treatments should be avoided.

Few palaeoclimate archives beyond the polar regions preserve continuous and datable palaeotemperature proxy time series over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. This hampers efforts to develop a more coherent picture of global patterns of past temperatures. Here we show that Mg concentrations in a subaqueous speleothem from an Italian cave track regional sea-surface temperatures over the last 350,000 years. The Mg shows higher values during warm climate intervals and converse patterns during cold climate stages. In contrast to previous studies, this implicates temperature, not rainfall, as the principal driver of Mg variability. The depositional setting of the speleothem gives rise to Mg partition coefficients that are more temperature dependent than other calcites, enabling the effect of temperature change on Mg partitioning to greatly exceed the effects of changes in source-water Mg/Ca. Subaqueous speleothems from similar deep-cave environments should be capable of providing palaeotemperature information over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles., Few palaeoclimate archives beyond the polar regions preserve continuous and datable paleotemperature proxy time series over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Here, the authors show that Mg concentrations in a subaqueous speleothem from an Italian cave track regional sea-surface temperatures over the last 350,000 years.

Here we present the first tephrostratigraphic, palaeomagnetic, and multiproxy data from a new ∼98 m-deep sediment core retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Italy, spanning the last ∼430 kyr. Palaeoenvironmental proxy data (Ca-XRF, gamma ray and magnetic susceptibility) show a cyclical variability related to interglacial-glacial cycles since the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12-MIS 11 transition. More than 130 tephra layers are visible to the naked eye, 11 of which were analysed (glass-WDS) and successfully correlated to known eruptions and/or other equivalent tephra. In addition to tephra already recognised in the previously investigated cores spanning the last 190 kyr, we identified for the first time tephra from the eruptions of: Tufo Giallo di Sacrofano, Sabatini (288.0 ± 2.0 ka); Villa Senni, Colli Albani (367.5 ± 1.6 ka); Pozzolane Nere and its precursor, Colli Albani (405.0 ± 2.0 ka, and 407.1 ± 4.2 ka, respectively) and Castel Broco, Vulsini (419–490 ka). The latter occurs at the bottom of the core and has been 40Ar/39Ar dated at 424.3 ± 3.2 ka, thus providing a robust chronological constrain for both the eruption itself and the base of the investigated succession. Direct 40Ar/39Ar dating and tephra geochemical fingerprinting provide a preliminary radioisotopic-based chronological framework for the MIS 11-MIS 7 interval, which represent a foundation for the forthcoming multiproxy studies and for investigating the remaining ∼110 tephra layers that are recorded within this interval. Such future developments will contribute towards an improved MIS 11-MIS 7 Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy, which is still poorly explored and exploited.

Mediterranean climates are characterized by strong seasonal contrasts between dry summers and wet winters. Changes in winter rainfall are critical for regional socioeconomic development, but are difficult to simulate accurately1 and reconstruct on Quaternary timescales. This is partly because regional hydroclimate records that cover multiple glacial–interglacial cycles2,3 with different orbital geometries, global ice volume and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are scarce. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms of change and their persistence remain unexplored. Here we show that, over the past 1.36 million years, wet winters in the northcentral Mediterranean tend to occur with high contrasts in local, seasonal insolation and a vigorous African summer monsoon. Our proxy time series from Lake Ohrid on the Balkan Peninsula, together with a 784,000-year transient climate model hindcast, suggest that increased sea surface temperatures amplify local cyclone development and refuel North Atlantic low-pressure systems that enter the Mediterranean during phases of low continental ice volume and high concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases. A comparison with modern reanalysis data shows that current drivers of the amount of rainfall in the Mediterranean share some similarities to those that drive the reconstructed increases in precipitation. Our data cover multiple insolation maxima and are therefore an important benchmark for testing climate model performance.

Proxy records of past climate change spanning beyond the radiocarbon range commonly derive their chronologies from orbital tuning strategies, thus bounding our spatio-temporal reconstructions to a priori assumptions that can not be directly tested. Here we present a tephrochronologically constrained framework of past environmental and climatic changes in the central Mediterranean region during the last ca. 190 ka. Our research is based on a high-resolution, multi-proxy study of a sedimentary record (cores F1-F3) retrieved from the Fucino Basin lacustrine succession, central Italy, in 2015. We update the existing tephrostratigraphic framework of the F1-F3 record with the finding of the widespread Campanian Ignimbrite tephra marker layer and produce a robust and independent chronology based on new and published 40Ar/39Ar and 14C dating of 17 tephra layers. Observed palaeoenvironmental changes are tracked in other lacustrine, marine and speleothem records across the Mediterranean and North Atlantic regions via tephrostratigraphic correlations and chronological matching providing a robust assessment of age uncertainties. Results show a complex interplay between local environmental changes and broad-scale climatic processes highlighting a strong orbital forcing on glacial-interglacial changes. Along with these major changes we detect prominent millennial-scale variability. During times of intermediate global ice volumes, Mediterranean mountain ecosystems oscillated around an “interglacial” state suggesting that climatic shifts, although large, did not exceed the local environmental tolerance-resilience threshold. Conversely, during periods of large global ice volume, we observe subdued millennial-scale variability with ecosystems operating in a strictly ruled glacial environment.

International audience; During the Quaternary several glaciations occurred in the mountain regions around the Mediterranean and, in recent years, new ages have better constrained their timing. However, this is not the case for the Apuan Alps, a high-rainfall mountain chain adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Here, in spite of the widespread evidence for glaciers, the complete lack of geochronological information hinders our understanding of glaciation history. In this paper, we utilize speleothem ages to better constrain the timing of these glacial features. We re-examine 293 uranium‑thorium ages from 19 speleothems collected in five caves at different elevations. After a period of very low growth between 160 and 132 ka, the analysed speleothems grew almost continuously to ~75 ka, this period was followed by intermittent growth with lower deposition rate and presence of hiatuses until ~12.5/12 ka. This is consistent with an ice coverage persisting over the Apuan Alps, inhibiting or interrupting the growth of speleothems via the limited availability of groundwater and the scarcity/absence of soils. This interval is much greater than the time interval that has previously been attributed to the existence of glaciers on the Apuan Alps, which has been assumed to be restricted to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. Instead, ice cover probably also appeared in the Apuan Alps during MIS 4. The phase of restarting of growth, which may implies the definitive or substantial glacier melts seem to predate the Holocene.

A multiproxy analysis (sedimentology, geochemistry and pollen) of sediments recovered in the Butrint lagoon (Albania) allows us to reconstruct the environmental changes that occurred in the area during the 1st millenniumAD. In this paper, we compare these analytical results with the evidence provided by archaeological investigations carried out at the site of the Roman city of Butrint (surrounded by these lagoon waters) and in the city’s hinterlands. From this, we can say that different periods of farming and siltation (AD400–600 and 700–900) were accompanied by increased run-off and wetter conditions in the region. This coincided with the territorial and economic expansion of the Byzantine empire, suggesting the key role of trade in the profound land use changes experienced in Butrint.

We present new data on the 4.2 ka event in the central Mediterranean from Corchia Cave (Tuscany, central Italy) stalagmite CC27. The stalagmite was analyzed for stable isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) and trace elements (Mg, U, P, Y), with all proxies showing a coherent phase of reduced cave recharge between ca. 4.5 and 4.1 ka BP. Based on the current climatological data on cyclogenesis, the reduction in cave recharge is considered to be associated with the weakening of the cyclone center located in the Gulf of Genoa in response to reduced advection of air masses from the Atlantic during winter. These conditions, which closely resemble a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) type of configuration, are associated with cooler and wetter summers with reduced sea warming, which reduced the western Mediterranean evaporation during autumn–early winter, further reducing precipitation.

International audience; Among past interglacial periods, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 is particularly interesting because its orbital geometry is very similar to that of the present interglacial. Here we present a high-resolution (sub-centennial) multiproxy record covering the ca. 790-770 ka interval, i.e. the interglacial MIS 19c and the ensuing glacial inception of MIS 19b, from a lacustrine sediment sequence retrieved from the Sulmona Basin (central Italy). The record has an independent chronology based on radiometric dating of six volcanic ash layers, and the resulting age model has a mean associated uncertainty of ±2.6 kyr. Variations in sediment geochemistry and mineralogy are interpreted in terms of past hydrological and temperature changes. Several millennial and sub-millennial events of reduced precipitation are well expressed. Comparisons with continental and marine records from the mid-latitude and sub-polar North Atlantic suggest a broad spatial expression for the observed events. Events occurring within the interglacial are not clearly associated with changes in marine proxies in the Iberian Margin, although similarities with the record from the sub-polar North Atlantic can be recognized and tentatively linked to changes in local hydrography having a downstream effect amplified by changes in atmospheric circulation. During the glacial inception, changes in the Sulmona record are coherent with changes in North Atlantic records, with drier events likely associated with meltwater-induced intervals of AMOC weakening. An event at ca. 785.6 ka may also reflect oceanic changes caused by freshwater discharges from residual ice-sheets and an outburst flood, similar to the 8.2 ka event in the Holocene.

We present new data on the 4.2 ka BP event in the central Mediterranean from Corchia Cave (Tuscany, central Italy) stalagmite CC27. The stalagmite was analysed for stable isotopes (δ13C δ18O) and trace elements (Mg, U, P, Y), with all proxies showing a coherent phase of reduced cave recharge between ca. 4.5 and 4.1 ka. Based on the current climatological data on cyclogenesis, the reduction in cave recharge is considered associated to weakening of the cyclone centre located in the Gulf of Genoa in response to reduced advection of air masses from Atlantic during winter. These conditions, which closely resemble a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)-like configuration, are associated with cooler and wetter summers, with reduced sea warming, which reduced the western Mediterranean evaporation during autumn-early winter further reducing precipitation.

International audience; In this work, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used to analyse stable isotope (delta O-18 and delta C-13) time-series from a speleothem from Corchia Cave (Apuan Alps, Tuscany, central Italy). The record spans the ca. 13.3-0.4 ka period. Both proxies are thought to represent changes in the amount of precipitation and in the hydrological recharge over the cave catchment, and to indicate alternating wetter and drier periods.The CWT shows the presence of different dominant frequency components, changing across the Middle-Holocene. This can be interpreted as mostly related to long term variations in summer and winter insolation, resulting from changes in orbital parameters. The lower frequencies (millennial scale) individuated may have different origin, not always obvious, and are rarely reported in others records. Instead, the short period components (multidecadal to centennial scale) could be in the range of frequencies considered as expression of the solar variability. delta O-18 and delta C-13 time-series show very coherent response to lower frequencies, but delta O-18 time-series show the presence of higher frequencies, that are not reported in the delta C-13 record. This can be related to a different response of the soil-karst system compared to variability in the delta O-18 of precipitation and their recharge of the karst. A Matlab (R) code has been implemented to compute the wavelet transform and to generate all the results presented in this work.

We present new data collected at the Fronte composite section near Taranto, where the Upper Pleistocene marine sedimentary succession is continuously exposed. Above a fossiliferous calcarenite yielding the "Senegalese" fauna, and abundant Cladocora, the Th-230/U age of which is consistent with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, a 6.25 m thick pelitic unit is characterized by lithologically homogeneous marine sediments in which stable oxygen isotope, micropaleontological and palynological analyses suggest a long and undisturbed sedimentary interval across the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5 peak (plateau). High sedimentation rates and a successful paleomagnetic pilot study indicate the probability of locating brief chronostratigraphic events useful for correlation with both continental and marine successions elsewhere. These results show the composite section to be a very promising candidate in the search for the Upper Pleistocene global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

In this article, we present new, high-resolution, pollen results obtained from the DEEP site sequence recovered from Lake Ohrid (Albania/FYROM) for the Last Interglacial Complex (LIC), corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5) of the marine isotope stratigraphy. LIC covers the period between 130 and 70 ka and includes the Eemian (Last Interglacial, LI) and the succession of stadial and interstadial phases of the Early Last Glacial. During the LIC, the pollen record shows an alternation of periods characterized by forest and open vegetation, clearly resembling the well-known vegetational succession of other European records. Our results reveal three key phases for the LI: a first period (128-125 ka) with a rapid increase in temperature and precipitation, a central phase (125–118.5 ka) characterized by a slight cooling, and a late phase (118.5–112 ka), with a decline both in temperatures and precipitation. Besides the LI, we identify four more forested periods dominated by mesophilous trees and intercalated by colder and drier steppe phases, during which, however, most arboreal taxa never disappear. During the Early Last Glacial we also identify several abrupt events that can be correlated to the succession of cold events recorded in the Greenland ice core records, associated to a weakening of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The new high-resolution record indicates that Lake Ohrid is an important site to understand the response of vegetation to fluctuations in regional moisture availability and temperature changes, and thus provides new evidence for the connection between the Mediterranean Region and Northern Hemisphere climate oscillations.

International audience; Speleothems are potentially excellent archives of the Earth's magnetic field, capable of recording its past variations. Their characteristics, such as the continuity of the record, the possibility to be easily dated, the almost instantaneous remanence acquisition and the high time-resolution make them potentially unique high-quality Paleosecular Variation (PSV) recorders. Nevertheless, speleothems are commonly characterized by low magnetic intensities, which often limits their resolution. Here we present a paleomagnetic study performed on two cores from a flowstone from the Rio Martino Cave (Western Alps, Italy). U/Th dating indicates that the flowstone's deposition covers almost the entire Holocene, spanning the period ca. 0.5-9.0 Ica, while an estimation of its mean growth rate is around 1 mm per 15 years. The flowstone is composed of columnar calcite, characterized by a highly magnetic detrital content from meta-ophiolites in the cave's catchment. This favorable geological context results in an intense magnetic signal that permits the preparation and measurement of thin (similar to 3 mm depth equivalent) samples, each representing around 45 yr. The Characteristic Remanent Magnetization (ChRM), isolated after systematic stepwise Alternating Field demagnetization, is well defined, with Maximum Angular Deviation (MAD) generally lower than 10 degrees. Paleomagnetic directional data allow the reconstruction of the PSV path during the Holocene for the area. Comparison of the new data with archeomagnetic data from Italian archeological and volcanic records and using the predictions of the SHA.DIF.14k and pfm9k.1 a global geomagnetic field models shows that the Rio Martino flowstone represents an excellent recorder of the Earth's magnetic field during the last 9,000 years. Our high resolution paleomagnetic record, anchored by a high-quality chronology, provides promising data both for the detection of short term geomagnetic field variations and for complementing existing regional PSV curves for the prehistoric period, for which well-dated data are still scarce.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd In the DEEP core from the Lake Ohrid ICDP drilling project, the carbon isotope composition of bulk organic matter (δ 13 C TOC ) over the last 516 ka shows a negative correlation with total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC). This relationship is marked by periods of lower δ 13 C TOC values corresponding to higher TIC and TOC. Along with TOC/TN, the correlation between δ 13 C TOC and δ 13 C TIC suggests that most of the organic matter in the core is from aquatic primary production within the lake. The combination of TOC, TIC, and δ 13 C TOC is able to disentangle long-term glacial/interglacial cycles and, to a lesser extent, millennial scale climate variability. Over the longer term, δ 13 C TOC shows modest variability, indicating that the δ 13 C of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool is stabilised by the supply of karst spring water characterised by δ 13 C DIC influenced by the bedrock δ 13 C value, and the long residence time of the lake water and well mixed upper water column promoting equilibration with atmospheric CO 2 . However, comparison between arboreal pollen (AP%), TIC and TOC data indicates that the δ 13 C TOC signal is modulated by the leaching of soil CO 2 through runoff and spring discharge, changes in primary productivity, and recycling of organic matter within the lake, all affecting δ 13 C DIC . Exceptionally low δ 13 C TOC during some interglacial periods (e.g. MIS7 and MIS9) possibly indicate rapid intensification of organic matter recycling and/or increasing stratification and enhanced methanogenesis, even if the latter process is not supported by the sedimentological data.

A multi-proxy record was acquired from a Late Pleistocene lacustrine succession in the Sulmona basin, central Italy. Previous and new tephrostratigraphic analyses of six volcanic ash layers constrain the investigated interval to between 92.3 and 115.0 ka. The d 18 O composition is interpreted as a proxy for precipitation amount in the high-altitude catchment of the karst recharge system. The oxygen record shows millennial variability that is consistent with Greenland Interstadials GI25-GI23 and North Atlantic cold events C24-C22, indicating a strong Mediterranean-North Atlantic climate teleconnection. However, while no appreciable isotopic difference between the three interstadials is revealed by the Greenland record, the Sulmona section reveals a wetter climate during GI24 compared with GI23 and GI25. Comparison of our record with speleothem and pollen data from central and southern Italy suggests higher seasonality of the precipitation (wet winter-dry summer) for GI24, which matches a precession minimum. The wettest period recorded at Sulmona is also coincident with the deposition of Sapropel S4 in the Tyrrhenian Sea, suggesting a teleconnection between a higher seasonality in the western Mediterranean and strengthening of the boreal monsoon system. Copyright # 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Speleothems are usually considered as one of the most amenable palaeoclimate archives for U-series dating. A number of studies in recent years, however, report cases of diagenetic alteration which compromises the use of U-series systematics in speleothems, resulting in inaccurate U-Th ages. Here we present the results of a high-resolution U-Th dating study of a stalagmite (CC26) from Corchia Cave in Italy where we document a number of departures from an otherwise well-defined age-depth model, and explore potential causes for these outliers. Unlike examples illustrated in previous studies, CC26 contains no visible evidence of neomorphism, and appears, at least superficially, ideally suited to dating. Good reproducibility obtained between multi-aliquot U-Th analyses removes any possibility of analytical issues contributing to these outliers. Furthermore, replicate analyses of samples from the same stratigraphic layer yielded ages in stratigraphic sequence, implying very localized open-system behavior. Uranium loss is suggested as a causative mechanism on account of the fact that all the outliers are older than their assumed true age. A limited number of micro-voids were observed under micro-CT analyses, and it is proposed that these were pathways for U loss. Uranium-loss modelling allows us to constrain the possible timing of diagenetic alteration and indicates that the precursor for the outlier with the largest age discrepancy (309%) must have been aragonite. This study indicates that visibly unaltered speleothems may still contain small domains that have experienced post-depositional alteration. Such “cryptic” diagenesis, as recorded in this stalagmite, has implications for the constancy of accuracy of the U-series dating technique, and suggests a need for careful examination of speleothems prior to dating, particularly in low-resolution U-Th studies.

The DEEP site sediment sequence obtained during the ICDP SCOPSCO project at Lake Ohrid was dated using tephrostratigraphic information, cyclostratigraphy, and orbital tuning through marine isotope record. Although this approach is suitable for the generation of a general chronological framework of the long succession, it is insufficient to resolve more detailed paleoclimatological questions, such as leads and lags of climate events between marine and terrestrial records or between different regions. In this paper, we demonstrate how the use of different tie points can affect cyclostratigraphy and orbital tuning for the period between ca. 140 and 70 ka and how the results can be correlated with directly/indirectly radiometrically-dated Mediterranean marine and continental proxy records. The alternative age model obtained shows consistent differences with that proposed by Francke et al. (2015) for the same interval, in particular at the level of the MIS6-5e transition. According to this age model, different proxies from the DEEP site sediment record support an increase of temperatures between glacial to interglacial conditions, which is almost synchronous with a rapid increase in sea surface temperature observed in the western Mediterranean. The results show how important a detailed study of independent chronological tie points is for synchronizing different records and to highlight asynchronisms of climate events.

Soreq (Israel) and Corchia (central Italy) Caves are located 2500 km far apart along the Mediterranean winter-storm track and are ideally suited for investigating past variations of winter rainfall in the Mediterranean region. Analyses of speleothem δ 18 O records from both caves for the period between ca. 7 to 4 ka BP show some striking similarities for the ca. 6 and 4 ka interval, but lack agreement between ca. 7 to 6 ka BP. Two prominent isotopic excursions, argued to reflect relatively drier conditions, are centred at ca. 5.6 and ca. 5.2 ka. The 5.2 ka event lasts less than a century, whereas the 5.6 ka event extends from ca. 5.7 to 5.4 ka. A period of progressive drying is also apparent from ca. 5 to 4 ka. Another prominent event, reflecting wetter conditions, is recorded in both records at ca. 5.8 ka and seems to last several decades. The 5.6 and 5.2 ka events occurred within a period of higher deposition of haematite-stained grains in cores of the sub-polar North Atlantic, and correlation with the wind strength proxy record from Holmsa loess profile in Iceland suggests that rainfall reduction was related to a reduced vapour advection from Atlantic towards the Mediterranean connected to northward shift in the Westerlies. A comparison with Alpine records, including the Spannagel Cave isotope record, suggests that dry events recorded at Soreq and Corchia caves may correspond to wetter (lake high stands) and cooler (glacier expansion) conditions in the Alpine region, indicating complex regional climate re-organization.

International audience; One of the principal reasons why speleothems are recognised as important palaeoclimate archives is their suitability for accurate and precise uranium-series (U-series) age determination. Sampling speleothem sections for U-series dating is straightforward in most cases because visible growth layers are preserved. However, this is not always the case, and here we describe a sampling strategy whereby growth layers are resolved from trace-element images produced by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). We apply this method to a section of an Italian subaqueous speleothem (CD3) that lacks persistent visible growth layering. Trace-element imaging revealed growth layers that are strongly non-planar in their geometry owing to the speleothem's pronounced euhedral crystal terminations. The most prominent trace-element layers were first digitized as x, y vector contours. We then interpolated these in the growth-axis direction to generate a series of contour lines at ∼250-μm increments. The coordinates of these contours were used to guide the sampling via a computerised micromilling lathe. This produced a total of 22 samples for U-series dating by multi-collector ICP-MS. The dating results returned ages in correct stratigraphic order within error. Close inspection of the U-series data and the derived depth-age model suggests that the main source of model-age uncertainty is unrelated to the contour sampling but instead more associated with how closely spaced the model ages are in time, i.e. the model age density. Comparisons between stable oxygen and carbon isotope profiles derived from aliquots of the dating samples and two other stable isotope profiles from CD3 spanning the same time period compare very favourably. Taken together, this suggests that our trace-element contouring method provides a reliable means for extracting samples for dating (and other geochemical analyses), and can be applied to similar speleothems lacking visible growth layering.

International audience; A stratigraphic and chronological study of the upper level of Renella Cave (Apuan Alps, Central Italy) reveals that two episodes of flowstone accumulation bracket a thick clastic layer deposited between ca 8.2 and 7.1 ka. This layer, which represents a period of enhanced cave flooding, is substantially in phase with an interval of depleted oxygen isotope values previously recorded in a stalagmite from nearby Corchia Cave, interpreted to have resulted from an increase in local precipitation. These data confirm that during this period of time the region experienced relatively wetter conditions, including an increase in high-magnitude events capable of invading the higher passages of Renella Cave. The timing of the clastic phase occurred when the Eastern Mediterranean experienced deposition of sapropel layer S1, which is thought to reflect the stagnation of sea water produced largely by enhanced flood activity along the Nile in response to increased monsoon intensity in northern equatorial Africa. Recent estimates suggest that S1 may have lasted from ca 10.8 to ca 6.1 ka cal BP. Combined evidence from Renella and Corchia Cave indicates that the period corresponding to the wettest phase in the Apuan Alps was much shorter than this, and suggests that there is no straightforward connection between increased advection of water vapour from the Atlantic between 8.2 and 7.1 ka, as recorded in the Corchia and Renella records, and monsoon-driven enhancement of Nile discharge and S1 deposition in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Monte Corchia cave system, one of the most famous and popular caves in Italy, has in recent times been the subject of investigation on its speleothems as paleoclimate archives. This paper describes the geology, geomorphology and water chemistry of the cave system with the aim to elucidate the processes that have generated these speleothems and the properties they contain that are so useful for paleoclimatology. Some general conclusions can be drawn: i) the Corchia system is a cave developed over different altitudes during progressive uplift of the mountain chain in which it is located, probably under drainage conditions very different to those of the present. This has allowed the development of a large (ca. 60 km) and deep (-1187 m) karst system; ii) the dewatering phases have left the deepest chambers far away from clastic input and with long drip pathways; iii) the peculiar geological context has permitted the water to intercept and dissolve a significant source of U (still unknown) that facilitates radiometric dating; iv) in the last 1 Ma at least, no significant changes have occurred in the relief and in the epikarst, in the sense that speleothems have grown under very similar conditions. In addition the extremely low Ca concentration of drip waters have permitted low speleothem growth rates and, at least for the "Galleria delle Stalattiti", the zone under paleoclimate studies, a stable plumbing system (i. e. chemistry and stable isotopes of drip waters) has produced calcite close to isotopic equilibrium.

A trace element record (Mg, Sr, Ba, Al, Si, P, Y, Zn) covering the ca. 133 ka to ca. 124 ka time interval was acquired from a flowstone core from Tana che Urla Cave (central Italy). It was compared with stable isotope data to investigate the environmental evolution in response to regional and extra-regional climate changes in the period corresponding to the latter part of the Penultimate Deglaciation and the first part of the Last Interglacial (Eemian). Trace element geochemical changes on centennial and millennial time scales responded to changes in hydrological input, variations in the supply and transport of catchment erosion products to the cave, including those linked to intense rainfall events, and to the state of the overlying soil and vegetation. Abrupt increases in precipitation and the progressive development of soil and vegetation occurred at ca. 132 ka, in response to the development of the global deglacial phase. The major changes in trace element composition are coherent with the previous hydrological interpretation of speleothem oxygen stable isotope composition (?18O) as predominantly a rainfall-amount proxy. However, reduced growth rate persisted until ca. 130 ka, suggesting still depressed temperatures. An abrupt event of climatic deterioration, with marked decrease in precipitation and soil degradation, is apparent between ca. 131 and 130 ka. Cool-wet conditions between ca. 132 and 131 ka and the subsequent dry period may represent the local hydrological response to an interval of North Atlantic cooling and ice-rafted-debris (IRD) deposition known as Heinrich event 11 (H11). After 129.6 ka there was a rapid recovery according to all of the studied speleothem properties, indicating the onset of full interglacial conditions. A minor amplitude event of reduced precipitation is recorded within the LIG at ca. 127 ka. The record highlights the growing regional evidence for a complex penultimate deglacial climate involving major reorganization of oceanic and atmospheric patterns.