31Here we present stable isotope and geochemical data from Lake Prespa

Abstract.Here we present stable isotope data from three sediment records from lakes that lie along the MacedonianAlbanian border (Lake Prespa: 1 core, and Lake Ohrid: 2 cores). The records only overlap for the last 40 kyr, although the longest record contains the MIS 5/6 transition (Lake Ohrid). The sedimentary characteristics of both lakes differ significantly between the glacial and interglacial phases. At the end of MIS 6 Lake Ohrid's water level was low (high δ 18 O calcite ) and, although productivity was increasing (high calcite content), the carbon supply was mainly from inorganic catchment rock sources (high δ 13 C carb ). During the last interglacial, calcite and TOC production and preservation increased, progressively lower δ 18 O calcite suggest increase in humidity and lake levels until around 115 ka. During ca. 80 ka to 11 ka the lake records suggest cold conditions as indicated by negligible calcite precipitation and low organic matter content. In Lake Ohrid, δ 13 C org are complacent; in contrast, Lake Prespa shows consistently higher δ 13 C org suggesting a low oxidation of 13 C-depleted organic matter in agreement with a general deterioration of climate conditions during the glacial. From 15 ka to the onset of the Holocene, calcite and TOC begin to increase, suggesting lake levels were probably low (high δ 18 O calcite ). In the Holocene (11 ka to present) enhanced productivity is manifested by high calcite and organic matter content. All three cores show an early Holocene characterised by low δ 18 O calcite , apart from the very early Holocene phase in Prespa where the lowest Correspondence to: M. J. Leng (mjl@bgs.ac.uk) δ 18 O calcite occurs at ca. 7.5 ka, suggesting a phase of higher lake level only in (the more sensitive) Lake Prespa. From 6 ka, δ 18 O calcite suggest progressive aridification, in agreement with many other records in the Mediterranean, although the uppermost sediments in one core records low δ 18 O calcite which we interpret as a result of human activity. Overall, the isotope data present here confirm that these two big lakes have captured the large scale, low frequency palaeoclimate variation that is seen in Mediterranean lakes, although in detail there is much palaeoclimate information that could be gained, especially small scale, high frequency differences between this region and the Mediterranean.

A multi-proxy record is presented for approximately the last 4500 cal a BP from Lake Shkodra, Albania/\ud \ud Montenegro. Lithological analyses, C/N ratio and d13C of the organic and inorganic carbon component suggest that\ud \ud organic matter and bulk carbonate are predominantly authigenic. The d18O record of bulk carbonate indicates the\ud \ud presence of two prominent wet periods: one at ca. 4300 cal a BP and one at ca. 2500–2000 cal a BP. The latter phase is\ud \ud also found in southern Spain and Central Italy, and represents a prominent event in the western and central\ud \ud Mediterranean. In the last 2000 years, four relatively wet intervals occurred between ca. 1800 and 1500 cal a BP\ud \ud (150–450 AD), 1350–1250 (600–700 AD), 1100–800 (850–1150 AD), and at ca. 90 cal a BP (1860 AD). Between\ud \ud ca. 4100 and 2500 cal a BP d18O values are relatively high, with three prominent peaks indicating drier conditions at\ud \ud ca. 4100–4000 cal a BP, ca. 3500 and at ca. 3300 cal a BP. Four additional drier events are identified at 1850 (ca. 100\ud \ud AD), 1400 (ca. 550 AD), 1150 (800 AD) and ca.750 cal a BP (1200 AD). The pollen record does not show changes in\ud \ud accordance with these episodes owing to the poor sensitivity of vegetation in this area, which is dominated by an\ud \ud orographic rainfall effect and where changes in altitudinal vegetation belts do not affect the pollen rain in the lake\ud \ud catchment. However, since ca. 900 cal a BP a significant decrease in the percentage arboreal pollen and in pollen\ud \ud concentrations suggest major deforestation produced by human activities

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Abstract. 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.