Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years

Wagner, Bernd; Vogel, Hendrik; Francke, Alexander; Friedrich, Tobias; Donders, Timme H.; Lacey, Jack H.; Leng, Melanie J.; Regattieri, Eleonora; Sadori, Laura; Wilke, Thomas; Zanchetta, Giovanni; Albrecht, Christian; Bertini, Adèle; Nebout, Nathalie Combourieu; Cvetkoska, Aleksandra; Giaccio, Biagio; Grazhdani, Andon; Hauffe, Torsten; Holtvoeth, Jens; Joannin, Sébastien; Jovanovska, Elena; Just, J.; Kouli, Katerina; Kousis, Ilias; Koutsodendris, Andreas; Krastel, Sebastian; Lagos, M.; Leicher, Niklas; Levkov, Zlatko; Lindhorst, Katja; Masi, Alessia; Melles, Martin; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Nomade, Sébastien; Nowaczyk, Norbert; Panagiotopoulos, Konstantinos; Peyron, Odile; Reed, Jane M.; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Sinopoli, Gaia; Stelbrink, Björn; Sulpizio, Roberto; Timmermann, Axel; Tofilovska, Slavica; Torri, Paola; Wagner-Cremer, Friederike; Wonik, Thomas; Zhang, Xiaosen

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1529-0

Cited by 148 publications

(225 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Therefore, during periods like MIS 12 and MIS 6, favourable climatic conditions for the formation of glaciers must have prevailed. However, this correlation does not apply during colder and drier glacial periods with increased global ice volume (Wagner et al 2019) such as the later parts of these two severe stages. The extensive MIS 12 and MIS 6 glaciers were, therefore, most probably formed during the early and relatively wet parts of these severe cold stages, as reduced precipitation during the later arid parts would have inhibited glacier build-up (Hughes et al 2003).…”

Section: Middle Pleistocene Glaciations (Skamnellian-vlasian Stages)mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Recently, the analysis of the time proxy series of Lake Ohrid for the last 1.36 Ma and model data has shown that winter precipitation appears increased during periods of low Northern Hemisphere winter insolation due to orbital forcing on changes in precipitation variability (Wagner et al 2019). Therefore, during periods like MIS 12 and MIS 6, favourable climatic conditions for the formation of glaciers must have prevailed.…”

Section: Middle Pleistocene Glaciations (Skamnellian-vlasian Stages)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As regards precipitation and palaeoatmospheric circulation patterns across the central-eastern Mediterranean, the underlying mechanisms of change and their persistence are poorly elucidated (Kuhlemann et al 2008). Thus, a proxy record that covers multiple glacial-interglacial cycles and is sensitive to changes in the Mediterranean hydroclimate is key to addressing long-standing questions regarding the underlying mechanisms, such as timing and amplitude of precipitation variability under different climate boundary conditions (Wagner et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The glacial records of the Balkans, and Greece in particular, could prove very useful in answering these questions; both due to their geographical position and the availability of numerous well-dated proxies in the region (Fig. 2), such as the LC21 marine sediment core from the Aegean Sea (Grant et al 2012) and the lacustrine pollen records from Tenaghi Philippon (Wulf et al 2018), Lake Ioannina (Tzedakis et al 2002), Lake Ohrid (Sadori et al 2016;Wagner et al 2019), and Lake Prespa (Panagiotopoulos et al 2014). For example, changes in the regime of westerly atmospheric depressions generated both in the North Atlantic and in central Mediterranean along with southward outbreaks of the polar front (Florineth and Schlüchter 2000;Lionello et al 2006;Kuhlemann et al 2008) and the consequent southerly track of atmospheric depressions through the Mediterranean (Florineth and Schlüchter 2000;Luetscher et al 2015;Oliva et al 2019) could have affected glacier viability on the mountains of Greece.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The glacial history of Greece: a comprehensive review

2020

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This paper reviews the glacial history of the mountains of Greece at the southernmost tip of the Balkans, providing a new synthesis of our current understanding of glaciations. The ice cover during the largest Middle Pleistocene glaciations (MIS 12/MIS 6) was more extensive than previously thought. Latest evidence from Mt Chelmos suggests that valley glaciers radiated from a central plateau ice field, whereas the findings of other glacial studies in western Balkans further indicate that extensive ice field/ice caps formed on mountains throughout this region during the Middle Pleistocene glaciations. Ice extent was considerably smaller during the Tymphian Stage (MIS 5d-MIS 2) and this has been confirmed by cosmogenic exposure ages in recent studies on Mt Olympus and Mt Chelmos. During the Holocene, only very small glaciers formed in some deep cirques where they survived because of strong local topoclimatic controls. A comparative analysis with the findings of other glacial and palaeoclimatic studies in the Balkans is also presented to highlight correlations between them. Moisture supply seems to have been the most critical factor for the formation of glaciers in the mountains of Greece. The comparison of Late Pleistocene Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs) across the Balkans indicates a wetter climate in southern Greece that can be attributed to different palaeoatmospheric circulation mechanisms and precipitation regime in central Mediterranean. Conclusively, whilst important information has been added in the last 2 decades, this paper highlights the need for further research in Greece and the wider Balkans to establish the timing and extent of glaciations.

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Section: Middle Pleistocene Glaciations (Skamnellian-vlasian Stages)mentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Middle Pleistocene Glaciations (Skamnellian-vlasian Stages)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The glacial history of Greece: a comprehensive review

2020

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“…It is one of the highest resolved records of the MB boundary with a mean sedimentation rate of 25 cm/kyr. It has an excellent tephrochronological record of distal volcanic deposits from the Italian volcanic provinces providing a robust independent age control (Leicher et al, , 2019Wagner et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recordings of Fast Paleomagnetic Reversals in a 1.2 Ma Greigite‐Rich Sediment Archive From Lake Ohrid, Balkans

et al. 2019

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State‐of‐the‐art paleoclimate research strongly depends on the availability of time‐equivalent markers as chronological control to disentangle interrelationships in the climate system from regional to global scale. Geomagnetic reversals are regarded as excellent age constraints because they are global events and independent from climatic conditions. However, spatial variations of timing and internal dynamics of reversals may limit their precision. Our 1.2 Ma high‐resolution (~25 cm/kyr) sediment record from Lake Ohrid is promising to precisely depict the Matuyama‐Brunhes (MB) reversal and the Jaramillo subchron. Two generations of diagenetic ferrimagnetic minerals are present in glacial intervals of the Lake Ohrid record. Early diagenetic greigite acquired a quasi synsedimentary chemical magnetization, while a late diagenetic greigite formation, triggered by the upward diffusion of H2S‐rich waters, obscures the polarity record at the top of the Jaramillo. Interglacial intervals are unaffected by greigite formation, likely due to low iron concentrations. Based on an orbitally tuned age model with tephrostratigraphic markers, the base of Jaramillo can be precisely dated to 1072.4 ka, and the MB reversal to 778.5 ka. Both polarity reversals occurred very rapidly in our record, lasting 2.3 and 1 kyr, respectively. Our results reveal that the dipole component of the Earth's magnetic field fell below the nondipole components only for a short duration in the Mediterranean region. The comparison of the timing of the MB boundary across different archives implies that the onset of the reversal provides a more synchronous age marker compared to often used midpoint ages.

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