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A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean

June 30, 2023

Records of relative sea-level rise for the last deglaciation are mostly limited to coral reef records and geophysical model estimates, but observational data from regions with temperate climates is sparse. We present a new relative climatic and regional sea-level rise record for glacial Termination 1 (Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 2–1) based on ostracode paleoecology from the upper 8 m of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site M0080 collected on Expedition 381, in the Gulf of Alkyonides, eastern Corinth basin of the Mediterranean Sea. Results show a series of major faunal transitions from lacustrine (Ponto-Caspian, Lake Corinth) glacial-age assemblages to fully marine (Mediterranean) interglacial assemblages between 20 and 8 ka. During glacial and early deglacial intervals, the Gulf of Alkyonides was characterized by non-marine lacustrine conditions with episodic sediment input from coastal, saline lake environments. Relatively stable lake shoreline conditions marked by the distinctive Tuberoloxoconcha sp. Existed from ∼17.5 to 15 ka. During the peak deglacial interval, the BØlling-AllerØd (B-A, ∼15–13.5 ka), rapid sea-level rise is indicated by a fully marine ostracode fauna colonization, which persisted from 13.5 to 7.5 ka (Late Pleistocene-Early to Middle Holocene).

Publication Year 2023
Title A new deglacial climate and sea-level record from 20 to 8 ka from IODP381 site M0080, Alkyonides Gulf, eastern Mediterranean
DOI 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108192
Authors Ilaria Mazzini, Thomas M. Cronin, Robert Gawthorpe, Richard S. Collier, Gino De Gelder, Anna Golub, Michael Toomey, Robert Poirier, Huai-Hsuan May Huang, Marcie Turkey, Lisa McNeill, Donna J. Shillington
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Quaternary Science Reviews
Index ID 70251410
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center; Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
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