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The International Union of Geological Sciences Executive Committee (IUGS EC) voted on 13 October 2021 to ratify a proposal for the Neogene subseries/subepochs to have formal status. They are now incorporated into a six-tiered chronostratigraphic hierarchy within the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (ICC). The Lower/Early Miocene Subseries/Subepoch comprises the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages/ages, the Middle Miocene Subseries/Subepoch comprises the Langhian and Serravallian stages/ages, the Upper/Late Miocene Subseries/Subepoch comprises the Tortonian and Messinian stages/ages, the Lower/Early Pliocene Subseries/Subepoch comprises the Zanclean Stage/Age and the Upper/Late Pliocene Subseries/Subepoch comprises the Piacenzian Stage/Age. This ratification is an important move towards both a common language in the wider Earth Sciences community and a step forward in the unification of Cenozoic chronostratigraphy, with Neogene and Quaternary subseries/subepochs now formalized.

This study presents the first Late Holocene marine pollen record (core ND2) from SE Sicily. It encompasses the last 3000 years and is one of the most detailed records of the south-central Mediterranean region in terms of time resolution. The combined approach of marine palynology and historical ecology, supported by independent palaeoclimate proxies, provides an integrated regional reconstruction of past vegetational dynamics in relation to rapid climatic fluctuations, historical socio-economic processes, and past land-use practices, offering new insights into the vegetation history of SE Sicily. Short-term variations of sparse tree cover in persistently open landscapes reflect rapid hydroclimatic changes and historical land-use practices. Four main phases of forest reduction are found in relation to the 2.8 ka BP event, including the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and the Little Ice Age, respectively. Forest recovery is recorded during the Hellenistic and Roman Republican Periods, the Early Middle Ages, and the last century. Agricultural and silvicultural practices, as well as stock-breeding activities, had a primary role in shaping the current vegetational landscape of SE Sicily.

A tephrochronological investigation was carried out at site ND14Q (1013 m of water depth), located in the southern Adriatic Sea, offshore the Gargano promontory. It was drilled in the frame of The NextData Project (www.nextdataproject.it, 2011-2013), focused on paleoclimate research. To obtain a composite and well preserved deep marine record, three cores were raised at the study site. Twelve primary cryptotephra and one tephra were analysed in terms of major-element content and correlated with a total of sixteen eruptive events. The studied materials display K-alkaline and subalkaline features pointing to a correlation with the Somma-Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Lipari Island (Aeolian Arc) volcanic activity occurred during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene. In detail, major marker tephra of the central Mediterranean have been recognized, among which the Phlegraean Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (ca. 15 ka), Pomici Principali (ca. 12 ka BP) and Astroni-Agnano-Monte Spina (ca. 4.2 ka - 4.4 ka BP) eruptions and, for the first time in this area, the Vesuvian 79 CE event. The very well preserved Mercato (ca. 9 ka BP) and Fiumebianco-Gabellotto (ca. 8.4 ka BP) cryptotephra have also been found in the sapropel S1 interval of the succession, which definitely records the last ca. 22 kyr (Pomici di Base tephra). A number of other Plinian and sub-Plinian events also occur and the availability of multiple cores provided new insights into their temporal relation such as between AP2 and Astroni 6 eruptions. The identification of tephra sourced by well-dated volcanic events, along with several AMS 14C age results, allowed an accurate chronological framework for the composite tephrostratigraphic record, thus providing accurate ages for those deposits with an uncertain correlative event. In addition, stratigraphic evidences in the core replicates at ND14Q site showed that several intervening factors affect preservation and traceability of cryptotephra deposits in the marine realm posing main critical issues on volcanological and paleoclimate research.

A detailed quantitative, statistical and isotopic study on benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the upper Burdigalian - lower Langhian of Malta Island (St. Peter's Pool section) was carried out in order to gain more insights on paleoenvironmental changes that affected the central part of the Mediterranean Basin during the early-middle Miocene. The most abundant and/or palaecologically significant taxa were grouped into Group A (oxic/oligotrophic and oxic/oligo-mesotrophic opportunistic behaving) and Group B (hypoxic/eutrophic) and, on the base of their microhabitat in superficial microhabitat taxa (epifaunal + epifaunal to shallow infaunal taxa), intermediate microhabitat taxa (shallow infaunal + shallow to intermediate infaunal taxa) and deep microhabitat taxa (deep infaunal species). The changes in the structure of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages, together with isotopic data and statistical analysis results, identify five main intervals SPP1-SPP5, testifying the evolution of bottom water conditions between 16.12 and 15.36 Ma, corresponding to warm climate conditions due to the onset of the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). The main benthic foraminiferal turnover occurred between 16.01 and 15.91 Ma. It has been recorded in both the palaecological and geochemical data and can be related to the Miller's Mi2 cooling event. This turnover correlates to a sea level falling that we believe caused an increase of the primary productivity due to runoff intensification. We suggest that the fluctuations of superficial microhabitat oxic/oligo/oligo-mesotrophic Group A, opposite to those of intermediate and deep microhabitat hypoxic/eutrophic Group B, and the occurrence of the superficial microhabitat, oxic/oligo-mesothrophic opportunistic behaving species are indicative of increased seasonality, which in turn affect food flux and oxygenation at the sea-floor. Moreover, the calculation of %P and the well-defined depth distribution range of some significant species allowed us to estimate a middle bathyal paleodepth, ranging from 600 m to 1000 m for the entire composite section.

International audience; A multiproxy study combining calcareous plankton assemblages (coccolithophore and planktonic foraminifera), terrestrial (n-alkanes) and marine (alkenones) biomarkers was carried out in a sediment core (ND14Q-AR2) from the South Adriatic Sea. The focus of the study is to investigate millennial-to-centennial scale climate variability in the Eastern Mediterranean during the last deglaciation, between 20 and 11 ka BP. The high-resolution reconstruction allows for the characterization of the impact of the Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1, here identified between 17.1 and 14.9 ka BP) at a centennial/multi-decadal time scale resolution. Based on terrestrial proxies, the HS1 interval has a two-fold partition: HS1a (17.1–15.9 ka BP), characterized by decreasing temperatures and relative high humidity, and HS1b (15.9–14.9 ka BP), characterized by the coldest temperatures and drier conditions on land. Terrestrial proxies suggest changes in moisture availability on land and ice melting delivery from the Alps during HS1. This period is followed by the Bølling-Allerød record (B-A, 14.9–12.3 ka BP) indicating ameliorated climate conditions and distinct local hydrological signals, related to global melt events similar to the Melt Water Pulse-1A. Finally, the comparison of our results with other Northern Hemisphere climatic records shows a good correspondence between the temperature variations in the South Adriatic Sea and the Greenland ice core oxygen isotope record, highlighting the climatic response of the South Adriatic to global climate variations. Comparison with other Mediterranean paleoclimatic records suggests a two-steps reorganization of the ocean/atmospheric circulation during the HS1 in the mid- and low-latitudes during the HS1 interval, but also a connection with the tropical Northern Hemisphere climate.

The Contessa Section is a reference section for the early Miocene in the Mediterranean. Along this 36 m thick section 115 samples were collected and analysed for an integrated bio-magnetostratigraphic study through the Scaglia Cinerea and Bisciaro formations. Planktonic foraminifera were analysed semi-quantitatively, while calcareous nannofossils were examined using the standard quantitative method. A reliable biozonation for both fossil groups was then accomplished. The paleomagnetic analyses identified a sequence of magnetozones, then correlated with the ATNTS using the calcareous plankton bioevents. The investigated interval extends from foraminiferal Zone P22 (Chattian) to MMi2c (Burdigalian) and from calcareous nannofossils Zone MNP25a to MNN3a, thus from Chron C7An to C5En. Therefore, the section chronologically spans from 24.80 Ma to 18.10 Ma. Three hiatuses were recognised along the section: H1 at 0.63 m from the base (comprising a minimum time interval from 24.36 Ma to 23.38 Ma), H2 at 12.33 m (between 21.80 Ma and 21.35 Ma) and H3 at 34.03 (between 19.21 Ma and 18.40 Ma). All three hiatuses were correlated with regional megahiatuses identified in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Paratethys area. Furthermore, the First Occurrence of the calcareous nannofossil Helicosphera ampliaperta is recognised within Chron C6An.2n at 19.77 m from the base (6 m above the volcaniclastic Raffaello Level). This event provisionally defines the Aquitanian/Burdigalian boundary according to the literature. Thus, the Contessa Section is a possible candidate for the definition of the Burdigalian Global Stratigraphic Section and Point. Finally, the age of the Raffaello Level (a regional marker horizon for the early Miocene) is discussed in this new integrated stratigraphic framework, falling in Chron C6AAn and dated between 21.09 Ma and 21.08 Ma.

A high resolution study of calcareous nannofossils has been performed on samples from the Sapropel S1interval deposited in the North Ionian Sea, with the aim to assess the paleoenvironmental changes in the photic zone during this crucial interval in Mediterranean circulation. Calcareous nannofossil data have been integrated with planktonic foraminiferal data recently published from which the paleoclimatic curve has been constructed. Placoliths (namely Emiliania huxleyi) and Florisphaera profunda distributions, along with that of planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber white, evidence that, after a progressive weakening of surface water mixing, a deep chlorophyll maximum developed just prior to the sapropel deposition. We suggest that these changes took place as a response to enhanced precipitation conditions and riverine discharge as testified by increasing trend of reworked coccoliths and the occurrence of lower salinity taxon Braarudosphaera bigelowii. Calcareous nannofossils also point out that the oceanographic (water column stratification, reduced bottom water ventilation) and biogeochemical (increased primary production) processes that occurred during the S1 formation were particularly dominant during the earliest part of the older S1 warm phase (S1a). Our results support than some re-ventilation events of the shallow depth of studied site (665 m) occurred to some extent, particularly during the final phases of S1a. The distribution of holococcoliths, more abundant during the cold interruption phase S1i, seems confirm that the preservation of these tiny and delicate coccoliths, highly susceptible to dissolution, is enhanced under seafloor re-ventilation conditions. Finally, we tentatively suggest that preservation also plays a significant role in the distribution of the warm upper photic zone taxa, particularly during the warm S1b interval.

Coccolithophores were collected at 21 stations during summer 2016, from coastal and offshore areas of the Central Mediterranean Sea, to describe the ecology of the coccolithophore community integrating information on their abundance, environmental parameters (salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and fluorescence) and oceanographic data. Emiliania huxleyi dominated the assemblage from surface to intermediate layers, while Florisphaera profunda was more abundant in the deep photic zone. Principal Component Analysis revealed that the distribution of coccolithophore taxa was influenced by environmental parameters: K-strategist taxa were related to warm surface waters, whereas lower photic zone taxa were influenced by the development of a Deep Chlorophyll Maximum and high salinity values, well below the thermocline. These results confirmed that a vertical species zonation, as a typical feature of low-middle latitude, characterizes the Central Mediterranean during summer. The distribution of F. profunda once again confirmed its use as a proxy of Deep Chlorophyll Maximum development and paleoproductivity estimates. Gephyrocapsa spp. (=total Gephyrocapsa), and in particular G. oceanica, were more abundant along the Atlantic Water pathway. Finally, the high concentration value of Helicosphaera carteri, recorded in the Ligurian Sea at an offshore station, suggested an expansion of the opportunist nature of this taxon from coastal environments to the offshore areas characterized by high turbidity and high productivity.

The middle Miocene is marked by a changeover from a warm climatic period (Miocene Climatic Optimum, ~17-14.7 Ma), to a transitional phase (Middle Miocene Climatic Transition), culminating in a cold stage (Icehouse Mode, ~13.8 Ma). This period is associated with a positive excursion of δ13C (“Monterey Excursion”), showing a series of δ13C maxima (CM events) highlighted by cooling peaks in the δ18O values (Mi events). DSDP Site 372 obtained a high-resolution record of the middle Miocene of the western Mediterranean (Balearic Islands), and represents one of the best marine sedimentary records for the considered time interval. In this study, high-resolution stable isotope and quantitative calcareous plankton records for the Langhian to the early Serravallian time interval are presented. The stable oxygen and carbon isotope records allowed us to recognize and chronologically frame the Mi and CM events falling between 15.82 and 13.04 Ma. Furthermore, by integrating the stable isotope data with those obtained by the quantitative analyses of the calcareous plankton content, the three-folded climatic and environmental evolution was outlined for the considered time interval in the Mediterranean region. During the first stage (Miocene Climatic Optimum = MCO; from 17 up to 14.55 Ma), an initial warm-surface-water, oligotrophic, high salinity and restricted environment is followed by an open marine setting (starting from 15.18 Ma) within still warm-surface-water and oligotrophic conditions. The re-opening of the connections between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean would have likely triggered this latter environmental change. From 14.55 to 13.75 Ma (second stage; Middle Miocene Climatic Transition; MMCT) an initial (up to 14.05 Ma) temperate-warm-surface-water and eutrophic environment occurred, followed by the onset of warm-surface-water, oligotrophic and slightly restricted marine conditions. The third stage (Icehouse Mode = IHM; from 13.75 Ma onwards) points to the development of a cold-water, eutrophic, high salinity environment in an open-marine setting.

Planktonic foraminifer oxygen isotopes through MIS 12 were analysed from Ocean Drilling Program Site 977 in the Alboran Sea. After the correction of the sea surface temperature (SST) effect on the δ18O composition of foraminiferal calcite, the resulting seawater δ18O (δ18Ow) was used to reconstruct variations in the δ18Ow of the Atlantic inflow into the Mediterranean. A synchronous record from the KC01B core, in the Ionian Sea, was used to evaluate changes in the oxygen isotope gradient within the Mediterranean due to hydrological variations during MIS 12. Instead of the glacial δ18Ow enrichment expected for the Mediterranean, lower values than today have been observed both in the Alboran and the Ionian seas, especially between 455 ka and the end of MIS 12 (424 ka). These negative oxygen isotope anomalies must have been caused by a flux of freshwater to the Mediterranean during MIS 12. Although the largest fraction of the freshwater anomalies entered the Mediterranean through the Atlantic inflow, especially during Heinrich stadials, the Mediterranean δ18Ow gradient allowed us to identify other sources of freshwater to the eastern basin. One of these sources was probably the meltwater generated at the southern margin of the Fennoscandian ice-sheet that entered via the Caspian and Black seas. However, the proximity of core KC01B to the Adriatic Sea points to meltwater delivered from the Alpine ice-sheet and transported through the Po river into the Mediterranean as the main cause of the Ionian Sea 18O depletions., This work was funded by the FPU contract of the Ministry of Education and Professional Formation FPU2015/03283 awarded to Lucia A. Azibeiro and project RTI 2018-099489-B-100 of the Ministry of Science, innovation and Universities of the Spain government granted to the Grupo de Geociencias Oceánicas (GGO) of the University of Salamanca. The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Severo Ochoa Project CEX2018-000794-S is likewise acknowledged. We are very grateful to IODP for providing the samples used in this study and appreciate the work of Jose Ignacio Martin Cruz in the picking of planktonic foraminifers for isotope analyses and Marta Casado, Yolanda Gonzalez-Quinteiro, Bibiano Hortelano, Walter Hale and Inma Fernandez for laboratory assistance. We thank the scientific data provided by Samuel Toucanne. The authors thank Philip Hughes and other anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments and suggestions.

In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the early Holocene was characterized by major climatic and oceanographic changes that led to the formation of the last sapropel (S1) between 10.8 and 6.1 kyr cal. BP. These hydrographic changes might have altered the water exchange between the eastern and western Mediterranean sub-basins through the Strait of Sicily, but the existing evidences are inconclusive. In the present study we show new evidence from sediment core NDT-6-2016 located at the western flank of the Sicily channel, a key location to monitor the surface/intermediate water exchange between the two Mediterranean sub-basins. We perform paleo-hydrographic reconstructions based on planktic foraminifera ecology for the last 15 kyr cal. BP, including the S1 deposition interval. In addition, δ18O measurements in both Globigerina bulloides and Globigerinoides ruber and also major elements analyses in bulk sediment are presented. Our results show that significant changes in surface water properties occurred in W-Sicily characterized by a strong contrast in the seasonal hydrographic conditions during the S1 interval. This study proposes that the oceanographic changes in the eastern Mediterranean associated with the surface freshening promoted by the African monsoon likely triggered a restricted water exchange through the Strait of Sicily. This situation led to limited influence of the surface Atlantic waters into the studied area that favored the development of intense summer stratification and vertical winter mixing. This situation changed at about 7 kyr cal. BP when a decrease in the summer stratification probably reflected the influence of the eastward path of the surface Atlantic Waters. This situation would suggest a reinforcement of the water exchange through the Strait of Sicily that marked the end of the extreme conditions that prevailed in the eastern Mediterranean during the S1 formation.

Loess is terrestrial, clastic sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is usually inter–bedded with paleosol horizons, forming loess-paleosol successions (LPS). Due to their characteristics LPS’s represent valuable records of climate changes during Pleistocene. The thickest LPS sections in Croatia are in the Baranja region. Stable oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope analysis were made on loess malacofauna in order to quantify paleo-temperature changes and describe paleo-vegetation in this part of Central Europe. δ18O values show significant paleotemperature changes during the Upper Pleistocene (130 ky - 20 ky) in Baranja region. Average growing season (AGS) temperature varied 13.2 °C or 9.5 °C during that time period, depending on which formula is applied for calculations. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements show strong peaks in the paleosol horizons pointing to more humid climate. The overall climate was much cooler then present. Stable carbon isotope values point to dominance of C3 vegetation type during the Late Pleistocene in southern part of Central Europe. Climate change in the Late Pleistocene is very likely a significant but not the only factor that influenced the extinction of Neanderthal population which paved the way for the dominance of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Central Europe.

High-resolution paleoceanographic reconstruction of surface water properties during the most recent Sapropel event (S1) has been carried out by means of quantitative analyses of planktonic foraminiferal assemblages, planktonic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes (δ18O) and XRF elemental data from a 655 m depth core recovered in the North Ionian Sea. The results show that the S1 interval presents two distinctive warm phases (S1a and S1b), separated by a cold interruption event (S1i). High resolution faunal and geochemical analyses allow to identify two sub-phases within S1a interval, the oldest one has similar characteristics to S1b interval while the youngest sub-phase has less stratified surface waters with relatively lower nutrient content. The high abundance of Globigerinoides ruber white variety opposite to the low percentages of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma during the pre-S1 phase suggests that the onset of surface waters stratification occurred prior to the beginning of Sapropel deposition, acting as a pre-conditioning phase. Paleo-productivity proxies indicate that the deposition of S1 initiated after an increase in nutrient content, potentially related to increased fluvial inputs. Based on the integrated ecological interpretation of our records we argue that S1a and S1b are characterized as warm, stratified and nutrient rich surface waters in the Ionian Sea, while proxies related to oxygen content indicate dysoxic deep waters linked to a combination of the high nutrient content and stratified water column. The S1 interruption phase is characterized by the entrance of colder waters that caused mixing of the stratified water column and re-ventilation of the deep dysoxic waters.

Reconstruction of last millennia Sea Surface Temperature (SST) evolution is challenging due to the difficulty retrieving good resolution marine records and to the several uncertainties in the available proxy tools. In this regard, the Roman Period (1 CE to 500 CE) was particularly relevant in the socio-cultural development of the Mediterranean region while its climatic characteristics remain uncertain. Here we present a new SST reconstruction from the Sicily Channel based in Mg/Ca ratios measured on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber. This new record is framed in the context of other previously published Mediterranean SST records from the Alboran Sea, Minorca Basin and Aegean Sea and also compared to a north Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. The most solid image that emerges of this trans-Mediterranean comparison is the persistent regional occurrence of a distinct warm phase during the Roman Period. This record comparison consistently shows the Roman as the warmest period of the last 2 kyr, about 2 °C warmer than average values for the late centuries for the Sicily and Western Mediterranean regions. After the Roman Period a general cooling trend developed in the region with several minor oscillations. We hypothesis the potential link between this Roman Climatic Optimum and the expansion and subsequent decline of the Roman Empire.

Severe changes in the western Mediterranean (WMed) thermohaline circulation occurred during the last major glacial-interglacial transition, mostly due to oceanographic and atmospheric re-adjustments. Changes in water column stratification or deep water convection are controlled by the evaporation-precipitation balance of the basin but also by temperature and the intensity of local winds.A general freshening of the inflowing Atlantic waters through the Strait of Gibraltar during the central phase of the Heinrich Stadial (HS) 1 due to the intense iceberg melting favoured increased water column stratification in the WMed and reduced deep convection, as observed by synchronous depletions in both the benthic δ13C and grain-size signals from a location close to the deep convection source. Post-glacial sea level rise further enhanced stratification of the WMed, with minimum deep convection achieved at a later time, and leading to the formation of the last Organic Rich Layer (ORL) in the Alboran Sea. These stratified conditions in the surface WMed were also favoured by more stable atmospheric conditions related to summer insolation maxima.The integrated study of benthic foraminifera assemblages and TOC records from three sediment cores distributed between 900 m to 2400 m water depths in the basin corroborate the deterioration of deep water ventilation conditions during this period but also provide a first glimpse on an earlier re-ventilation of the intermediate layer. However, the Deep Western Mediterranean Waters did not re-ventilated until the early Holocene, when deep water convection in the Gulf of Lion was resumed by a major cold event with intensified north-westerly winds.We review these key changes in the western Mediterranean thermohaline system by means of neodymium isotopic ratios (εNd) measurements on Fe-Mn encrusted planktonic foraminifera from 4 sediment cores covering a depth profile from 650 mwd to 2400 mwd. Neodymium isotope ratios are used here as a conservative water mass mixing proxy thus allowing to investigate changes of the western Mediterranean thermohaline circulation during the last 22 kyr. Validation of Fe-Mn encrusted foraminifera εNd as tracer of deep water masses in the Mediterranean has been carried out by means of analysis in core-top samples from depths representing main Mediterranean water masses and comparison with published seawater εNd values.Our results show a quite homogeneous εNd signal for intermediate and deep waters during the end of the last glacial period, prior to the deposition of the ORL, likely suggesting a very well homogenized water column. However, significant differences can be observed between the deepest record and those of intermediate depths during the ORL time interval and the early Holocene (14-6 kyr), pointing to important changes in the western Mediterranean thermohaline circulation and likely suggesting different waters mass sources for deep and intermediate levels.

A new marine pollen record from SE Sicily is presented. The pollen study was done at a sub-decadal resolution to assess the role and extent of human impact in driving regional environmental and land cover changes over the last four hundred years. The combination of palaeoecological evidence and historical documents provides a detailed report of the main ecological dynamics in relation to socio-economic events, past land use, and land management regulations in Sicily. Our palaeovegetational reconstruction reveals a remarkably stable landscape, preserved by traditional land use practices that have persisted through the long-lasting feudal history of Sicily. After centuries of human-induced environmental stability, an abrupt change in vegetation structure occurred around 1950 AD, reflecting the modern land use policies and agricultural reforms following the Second World War. This vegetational breakpoint in SE Sicily corresponds to a suggested date for the onset of the Anthropocene. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An association between climatic conditions and asthma mortality has been widely assumed. However, it is unclear whether climatic variations have a fingerprint on asthma dynamics over long time intervals. The aim of this study is to detect a possible correlation between climatic indices, namely the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and asthma mortality rates over the period from 1950 to 2015 in the contiguous US. To this aim, an analysis of non-stationary and non-linear signals was performed on time series of US annual asthma mortality rates, AMO and PDO indices to search for characteristic periodicities. Results revealed that asthma death rates evaluated for four different age groups (5–14 yr; 15–24 yr; 25–34 yr; 35–44 yr) share the same pattern of fluctuation throughout the 1950–2015 time interval, but different trends, i.e. a positive (negative) trend for the two youngest (oldest) categories. Annual asthma death rates turned out to be correlated with the dynamics of the AMO, and also modulated by the PDO, sharing the same averaged ∼44 year-periodicity. The results of the current study suggest that, since climate patterns have proved to influence asthma mortality rates, they could be advisable in future studies aimed at elucidating the complex relationships between climate and asthma mortality.

12 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102340, Seawater rare earth element (REE) concentrations and Nd isotopic composition (εNd) are increasingly applied as valuable tracers of oceanographic processes such as water mass mixing and lithogenic inputs to seawater. However, their measurements are basically lacking in the Mediterranean Sea water column. This study analyzes 9 seawater stations around the central Mediterranean Sea to clarify the relative importance of external sources, vertical (biogeochemical) processes and lateral water mass transport in controlling REE and εNd distributions. Concentrations of REE do not show nutrient-like profiles with depth, likely indicative of relatively young waters with limited accumulation of remineralized REE. Light REE (LREE) present a non-conservative behavior, which largely peak at surface waters and rapidly decrease with depth. The negative correlation of surface LREE enrichment with offshore distance highlights the influence of continental input from the western Italian coast to the Tyrrhenian surface waters. In contrast to other regions with reported boundary exchange, this process does not modify the εNd values here. On the other side, distributions of dissolved heavy REE (HREE) and εNd display a conservative behavior that can be explained by mixing of western- (MAW and WMDW) and eastern- (LIW and EMDW) originated waters. We test this hypothesis with an Optimum Multi-Parameter Analysis (OMPA) including HREE and εNd parameters. Even though the limited data set, consistent results of water mass fractions are obtained for the four main water masses although with some particularities. While LIW takes on major importance when considering HREE in the model, EMDW fractions are preferentially detected with εNd. This latter finding implies a noticeable deep water flux across the Sicily Strait into the Western Mediterranean that was not clearly evidenced before, This research has been financially supported by the TIMED Project funded by the European Commission (ERC Consolidator Grant to I. Cacho; ID: 683237). The authors thank financial support from the CHIMERA Project (CTM2016-75411-R), Generalitat de Catalunya-Grups de Recerca Consolidats (2017 SGR 315) and the Project of Strategic Interest NextData PNR 2011-2013 (www.nextdataproject.it). [...]. E. Garcia-Solsona acknowledges support from a post-doctoral fellowship (FPDI-2013-15660) and L.D. Pena from the Ramón y Cajal program (MINECO, Spain). I. Cacho thanks the ICREA-Academia programme from the Generalitat de Catalunya. J.N. Pérez-Asensio has been funded by a Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral fellowship from AGAUR (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the European Commission (Marie Curie-COFUND), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

Globorotalia truncatulinoides oscillations have been recorded from different marine sediment cores collected in the central and western Mediterranean Sea. The abundances of this species over the last 500 yrs. demonstrates its potential value as bio-indicator of particular oceanographic condition during the Maunder Minimum (MM) event of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The comparison between the G. truncatulinoides abundance patterns of the Balearic Basin, central and south Tyrrhenian Sea and central and eastern Sicily Channel allows to highlight a similar response of this species during the MM event in the central-western Mediterranean Sea. The ecological meanings of this species and its peculiar high abundance percentages in the total assemblages suggest the development of enhanced vertical mixing conditions during MM winter season with a strong advection of nutrients from the nutrient-rich deeper layers and enhances the productivity levels in the mixed layer. The intensified vertical mixing could be linked to persistence of an atmospheric blocking event recorded by several authors during the MM.

New information on palaeoenvironmental conditions over the past ~2700 years in the Central Mediterranean Sea have been acquired through the high-resolution study of calcareous nannofossils preserved in the sediment core SW104-ND14Q recovered in the Southern Adriatic Sea (SAS) at 1013-m water depth. The surface water properties at this open SAS site are sensitive to atmospheric forcing (acting both at local and regional scale) and the North Ionian Sea driven inflowing waters. Our data show a relationship between reworked coccolith abundances, flood frequency across the Southern Alps and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) confirming their value as indicator of runoff/precipitation. Changes in the abundance of the opportunistic (r-strategist) speciesEmiliania huxleyiand deep dweller taxaFlorisphaera profundawere used to reconstruct the upper water column stratification and associated changes in coccolithophorid productivity. The negative correlation between reworked coccoliths and the N-Ratio (r= −0.44;p= 6−7) suggest that fresh water induced stratification is a controlling factor of the SAS coccolithophorid production. High coccolithophorid productivity levels occurred during dry periods and/or time intervals of inflowing salty and nutrient-rich Levantine Intermediate Waters favouring convection while lower levels took place during high freshwater discharge, mainly during the ‘Little Ice Age’ and two centennial scale intervals of weakest NAO around 200 BCE and 500 CE.

When performing oceanography measurements, it is critical to assess the presence of the noise sources that could affect the measured data and lead to wrong interpretation of the results. This paper report the result of an oceanography survey conducted by ISMAR-CNR, Naples, in the north-eastern marine sector of the Ischia Island and assess the influence of EMI on the measured results. The analyzed measurements of the Electric and Magnetic fields showed values of the E up to 0.82 V/m and of B up to 85 μT. By assuming a standard conductor, an inductance L up to 47 Ω on the cable corresponding to an induced electromotive force of 1184 mV was calculated. Also the experimental data show the EMI increase in site where the Pearson index correlation is higher. The results demonstrate that in an oceanographic survey planning, a preliminary electromagnetic screening is advisable to optimize the measurement setup.

International audience; Unravelling the evolution of supradetachment basins developed in the hanging wall of low‐angle detachment faults may be an invaluable tool in reconstructing the tectonic evolution of highly extended terrains. These basins may record major regional tectonic events related to the exhumation of metamorphic core complexes, and the reconstruction of their evolution helps to quantify the amount of extension accommodated by such processes. Here we present stratigraphic and structural field evidence and micropaleontological constraints to the Neogene‐to‐Quaternary evolution of the supradetachment Gediz Graben that developed on top of the exhuming Central Menderes Massif (SW Turkey). This basin displays three different structural styles during its evolution: (i) it initiated as a ramp basin following the activation of the Gediz Detachment in the Middle Miocene; (ii) evolved as a half graben during the Late Miocene following the activation of high‐angle brittle faults at its southern margin; and (iii) reached its final symmetric graben configuration in Late Pliocene (?) – Quaternary times following the activation of its northern margin. New micropaleontological data document a short‐lived upper Tortonian marine episode in the basin, and major along‐strike variations in exhumation are documented on its southern margin. Our reconstruction shows how sedimentary basins originally formed in the hanging‐wall of detachment faults may eventually end up in tectonic contact with the mylonitic footwall. Finally, we highlight the importance of magmatism in localizing the deformation in highly extended terrains and in controlling the evolution of supradetachment systems.

It is well-known that the Holocene exhibits a millennial-scale climate variability. However, its periodicity, spatio-temporal patterns and underlying processes are not fully deciphered yet. Here we focus on the central and western Mediterranean. We show that recurrent forest declines from the Gulf of Gaeta (central Tyrrhenian Sea) reveal a 1860-yr periodicity, consistent with a ca. 1800-yr climate fluctuation induced by large-scale changes in climate modes, linked to solar activity and/or AMOC intensity. We show that recurrent forest declines and dry events are also recorded in several pollen and palaeohydrological proxy-records in the south-central Mediterranean. We found coeval events also in several palaeohydrological records from the south-western Mediterranean, which however show generally wet climate conditions, indicating a spatio-temporal hydrological pattern opposite to the south-central Mediterranean and suggesting that different expressions of climate modes occurred in the two regions at the same time. We propose that these opposite hydroclimate regimes point to a complex interplay of the prevailing or predominant phases of NAO-like circulation, East Atlantic pattern, and extension and location of the North African anticyclone. At a larger geographical scale, displacements of the ITCZ, modulated by solar activity and/or AMOC intensity, may have also indirectly influenced the observed pattern. This research has been financially supported by the Project of Strategic Interest NextData PNR 2011-2013 (www.nextdataproject.it) and by Sapienza University of Rome (project No. RM11715C820D1E6F).

In this paper we report new stratigraphic data related to a new geological map of the Miocene Gorgoglione Basin of southern Italy, traditionally considered as a piggy-back or wedge-top basin filled by a turbidite-like succession. Well exposed outcrops in the study area (eastern sector of the basin) show four unconformities in the Castelmezzano-Pietrapertosa area. Two of these unconformities pass to paraconformities southeastward, in the Cirigliano-Gorgoglione area. Based on new stratigraphic data the succession of the Gorgoglione Flysch can be divided into different informal units: Val Miletta formation and Gorgoglione supersynthem. The latter can be subdivided into the Cirigliano and Castelmezzano synthems. The previously established Cirigliano synthem is here divided into three subsynthems. The lowermost sediments of the Gorgoglione Flysch on the eastern sectors correspond to a complex unit (Val Miletta formation) including Numidian-like quartzarenites, Gorgoglionelike sandstones, and, at the top of the formation, an olistostrome of varicoloured clays, belonging to the Argille Variegate Group. The stratigraphic analyses and the biostratigraphic results based on calcareous plankton assemblage, improve the reconstruction of the geometries of the sedimentary bodies and the time-space facies evolution of the synthems. Sedimentologic and petrographic characters of the upper part of the Castelmezzano synthem show a clear fining and thinning upward trend. Medium- and fine-grained arenites, varying in composition from quartz sandstones to siltstones and shales, are locally marked by abundant planktonic foraminifera and are interpreted as contourites. Moreover, the relationships between tectonics and sedimentation are analyzed. The data are used to propose a scheme of the Burdigalian to Tortonian tectono-stratigrafiphic evolution of the eastern sector of the basin.

Living benthic foraminiferal assemblages were investigated at 22 marine stations in front of the Volturno River mouth (Gulf of Gaeta, central Tyrrhenian Sea), during 3-years survey (2012-2014). The results were compared with the oceanographic data recorded at the same sites, to highlight the ecology of the main dominant species and the relationship between the community structures and the environmental variables (turbidity, dissolved oxygen content, salinity, temperature, and runoff). The living assemblage, analyzed in the top 1 cm of sea floor, was characterized by three dominant species (Ammonia tepida, Bulimina elongata, and Rectuvigerina phlegeri ) during all the sampling periods. Correlation analysis identified turbidity, runoff, and oxygen as the main environmental factors influencing living foraminiferal assemblages. Ammonia tepida and Rectuvigerina phlegeri showed opportunistic behaviour in response to turbidity, oxygen, and salinity values. No significant correlation was recorded between Bulimina elongata and the environmental parameters, testifying the capability of this species to adapt to different environmental conditions. The occurrence and distribution of these species provided useful information about coastal dynamics and sediment transport, and our results confirmed them as reliable proxies of coastal water column turbidity and Volturno river basin runoff.

The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the late Pleistocene-Holocene stratigraphy of the Sibari Plain (southern Italy) aimed to obtain information about hydrogeological framework. A multidisciplinary approach combining boreholes data and Electrical Resistivity Tomography, allowed us to recognize three electro-stratigraphic units, which consist of upper Pleistocene fluvial and floodplain-littoral facies (deep aquifer), passing upward to Holocene marine-transitional deposits (aquiclude) evolving toward continental sediments (shallow aquifer) related to the Crati delta progradation. The late Quaternary-Holocene plain evolution took place in a tectonic-controlled setting and was driven by the interaction between sea-level variations and local factors. The presence of a NE-SW fault zone controlled the facies and thickness of Holocene sediments along strike of the fault. This active fault zone contributed to determine the plain stratigraphic architecture, the arrangement of the depositional environments, and consequently the stratigraphic pattern.

The analyses of water and sediment samples, collected at 24 marine stations in a coastal area (Gulf of Gaeta, central Tyrrhenian Sea) during a three year survey (2012–2014), have improved our knowledge of coccolithophore ecology in the Mediterranean neritic domain. A comparison between the results and the oceanographic data has highlighted the ecology of the considered groups, and quantified the relationship between the community structures and the environmental parameters. The coccosphere concentration measured in the Gulf of Gaeta is extremely variable over the sampling periods (min:64 l−1; max:2.4*105 l−1), and comparable with data from other Mediterranean sites. Placolith-bearing taxa are the dominant group of the living communities. The concentration and distribution of Emiliania huxleyi is controlled by the distance from the coast and the Volturno River runoff. The K-strategist taxa are an important component of the summer nannoplankton in the upper 15 m and in the sediment samples. These taxa are also related to summer oligotrophic warm waters and low turbidity as well. The opportunistic behaviour of Helicosphaera carteri is confirmed and is related to moderately elevated nutrient levels and also tolerance to low salinity and terrigenous input. Nevertheless, our findings raise some questions on the reliability of H. carteri as a low salinity proxy. Overall, the sediment assemblages reflect the composition and the temporal distribution of the living communities. The occurrence and distribution of abundant reworked coccoliths, both in water and sediments, provides useful information about coastal dynamics and confirm their use as a reliable runoff proxy.

The climate evolution of the last 2700 years in the central - westernMediterranean Seahas been reconstructed frommarine sedimentrecords by integrating planktonic foraminifera and geochemical signals. The results provide the characterization of six climatic phases: Balearic Bronze Age (BA), Roman Period (RP), Dark Age (DA), Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA),Little Ice Age(LIA) and Industrial Period (IP). Paleoclimatic curve inferred from planktonic foraminifera associated with heavy values in δ18OGlobigerinoides ruberduring the BA document two cold intervals (spanning ca. 200 years) related to the Homeric and Greek solar minima. The dominance ofTurborotalita quinqueloba –Globigerinita glutinatagr. andGlobigerina bulloidesduring the RP suggest high fertility surface waters condition probably triggered by the increase in precipitation. During the DA, changes in the foraminiferalpaleoclimatecurve andoxygen isotopevalues display a cold –dry phase from 700 CE to the end of the DA (ca. 850 CE). This phase corresponds to the cold Roman IV solar minimum and marks the beginning of a long - term cooling interval that terminates during the LIA. The MCA is characterized by mild climatic conditions, interrupted at ca. 1050 CE by a cold - dry event. The gradually increase in abundance ofG. ruberwhite characterize the IP warm period. The reconstructed climate evolution in the Balearic Basin results almost time - equivalent with theMediterranean climatevariability over the last 2700 years.

La Campagna Oceanografica Sismica Magnetica Elettrica Ischia (denominata "COSMEI") è nata a seguito dell'evento sismico verificatosi alle 20:57 del 21 agosto 2017 Mw 3.9 con epicentro nell'area di Casamicciola, con lo scopo di fornire ulteriori contributi nell'individuazione di strutture vulcano-tettoniche attive nel settore nord marino dell'isola d'Ischia. Il CNR-DTA nell'ambito di tali attività ed in concomitanza delle attività del Centro per la Microzonazione Sismica e delle sue applicazioni (centro MS), ha disposto un piano di indagini a mare necessarie per la ricostruzione di strutture tettoniche e vulcaniche potenzialmente origine di eventi sismici. La campagna oceanografica COSMEI dell'IAMC-CNR di Napoli, ha predisposto rilievi geofisici di tipo sismico multicanale, magnetico differenziale, di resistività elettrica, Chirp e Multibeam nel settore marino nord-orientale dell'isola d'Ischia. Le attività di acquisizione sono state condotte utilizzando la N/O Minerva Uno del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). L'obiettivo finale di tale studio è quello di fornire nuovi elementi geofisici finalizzati a migliorare la conoscenza dell'evoluzione geologica di questo settore dell'isola. In tale contesto, l'interpretazione geologico-strutturale dei profili sismici multicanale combinata col dato magnetometrico e di resistività elettrica ha lo scopo di migliorare la conoscenza dell'area nord-orientale dell'isola che risulta controllata da complessi vulcano-tettonici.

Quantitative coccolithophore analyses were performed in core MD01-2446, located in the midlatitude North Atlantic, to reconstruct climatically induced sea surface water conditions throughout Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 14-9. The data are compared to new and available paleoenvironmental proxies from the same site as well as other nearby North Atlantic records that support the coccolithophore signature at glacial-interglacial to millennial climate scale. Total coccolithophore absolute abundance increases during interglacials but abruptly drops during the colder glacial phases and deglaciations. Coccolithophore warm water taxa (wwt) indicate that MIS11c and MIS9e experienced warmer and more stable conditions throughout the whole photic zone compared to MIS13. MIS11 was a long-lasting warmer and stable interglacial characterized by a climate optimum during MIS11c when a more prominent influence of the subtropical front at the site is inferred. The wwt pattern also suggests distinct interstadial and stadial events lasting about 4-10 kyr. The glacial increases of Gephyrocapsa margereli-G. muellerae 3-4 mu m along with higher values of C-org, additionally supported by the total alkenone abundance at Site U1313, indicate more productive surface waters, likely reflecting the migration of the polar front into the midlatitude North Atlantic. Distinctive peaks of G. margereli-muellerae (>4 mu m), C. pelagicus pelagicus, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma left coiling, and reworked nannofossils, combined with minima in total nannofossil accumulation rate, are tracers of Heinrich-type events during MIS12 and MIS10. Additional Heinrich-type events are suggested during MIS12 and MIS14 based on biotic proxies, and we discuss possible iceberg sources at these times. Our results improve the understanding of mid-Brunhes paleoclimate and the impact on phytoplankton diversity in the midlatitude North Atlantic region.

The Thetis basin is a deep hypersaline anoxic basin in the western part of the Mediterranean Ridge (eastern Mediterranean Sea). It is characterised by highly sulphidic NaCl-saturated brine with one of the highest values of salinity reported from similar basins (S ~. 348?). The strong pycnocline at the seawater-brine interface induces permanent anoxic bottom conditions driving depositional processes and distribution patterns of redox-sensitive metals in the sediments. This work presents a high-resolution dataset of sedimentological, mineralogical and geochemical features and planktonic foraminifera distribution, derived from the exploration of a 52. cm long box-core sampled in the Thetis sediments. Basing on direct comparisons with available data from other hypersaline records and ancient anoxic organic-rich deep-sea records (sapropels and black shales), we aim to explore the potential of these anoxic basins as natural laboratories to better understand the mechanisms driving geochemical patterns in recent/ancient anoxic sediments. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Marine coastal environments are areas of naturalistic relevance, unfortunately very often modified by the anthropogenic pressure. The investigated coastal-marine area, adjacent to the Volturno River mouth (Gulf of Gaeta - central Tyrrhenian Sea), is characterized by land/sea interacting processes and tangled water column/surface sediment dynamics. The coastline shape as well as the bottom depth, the chemical-physical water column characteristics, the river mouths discharge and the anthropogenic impact, strongly control the marine-coastal zone system. The implementation of a suitable monitoring program is a priority choice in order to obtain a proper development of management policies directed towards conservation and sustainable management of natural system. One of the most interesting challenges is to propose an integrated monitoring plan able to estimate quantitatively, in space and time, by using appropriate environmental proxies, the natural and/or anthropic factors which have significant impact on marine environment. For this purpose, a reliable group of organisms to use must be benthic, abundant, widely distributed, hard shelled (to leave a post-mortem record), short live cycle (to quickly record changes in environmental parameters). Benthic foraminifera perfectly fit all these requirements (Bresler and Yanko, 2000). They are single celled organism living in different marine habitat, from the deep-sea environments to the upper limits of the transitional zones. Recent studies have shown that these organism can be used to identify different ecological provinces, to detect environmental stress conditions and to monitor successfully the health of coastal and deep marine ecosystems (e.g., Mojtahid et al., 2006; Alve et al., 2009; Schönfeld et al., 2012; Barras et al., 2014; Ferraro et al. 2006; Zeppilli et al., 2015; Yanko et al., 2017). We present the first investigations of live benthic foraminiferal assemblages, carried out in a neritic environment adjacent to the Volturno River mouth (Gulf of Gaeta - central Tyrrhenian Sea) during 3-year of monitoring cruises. The aim of this study was to compare the spatial distribution patterns of living faunas with environmental parameters (salinity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity). The research was carried out in the frame of the PONa3_00363 I-AMICA Project (http://www.i-amica.it), an Italian National Operative Program (PON), financed by the Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR).