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Heterogenous late Holocene climate in the Eastern Mediterranean - the Kocain Cave record from SW Turkey
  • +6
  • Matthew James Jacobson,
  • Pascal Flohr,
  • Alison Gascoigne,
  • Melanie J. J Leng,
  • Aleksey Sadekov,
  • Hai Cheng,
  • Larry L. Edwards,
  • Okan Tüysüz,
  • Dominik Fleitmann
Matthew James Jacobson
University of Reading

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Pascal Flohr
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
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Alison Gascoigne
University of Southampton
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Melanie J. J Leng
British Geological Survey
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Aleksey Sadekov
University of Western Australia
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Hai Cheng
Xi'an Jiaotong University
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Larry L. Edwards
U. Minnesota
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Okan Tüysüz
Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
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Dominik Fleitmann
University of Basel
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Abstract

Palaeoclimate variability must be constrained to predict the nature and impacts of future climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean. Here, we present a high-resolution multiproxy dataset from Kocain Cave, the first of its kind from SW Turkey. Regional fluctuations in effective-moisture are recorded by variations in magnesium, strontium, phosphorous and carbon isotopes, with oxygen isotopes reacting to changes in precipitation amount and temperature. Important are: a double-peak of arid conditions at 1150 and 800 BCE, a wet period 330-460 CE followed by a rapid shift to dry conditions 460-830 CE, and a distinct dry/wet Medieval Climate Anomaly/Little Ice Age pattern. There are large discrepancies between Turkish records and the Kocain record, which shares more similarities with other Eastern Mediterranean coastal records. Heterogeneity of regional climate and palaeoclimate proxy records are emphasised.
28 Oct 2021Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 48 issue 20. 10.1029/2021GL094733