Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Western Mediterranean during the Late Early Pleistocene
Abstract
The major climate change recorded during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.4–0.4 Ma) is characterized by an increase in the length of climatic cycles from 41 to 100 ka. During this period, the Mediterranean climate underwent aridification associated with a drop in temperatures. This period also corresponds to the arrival of the first hominins in Western Europe. This study aims to establish the climatic framework at the end of the Early Pleistocene between MIS 37-31 (∼ 1.25 to 1.06 Ma). To this end, a multiproxy approach was applied to assemblages of planktonic foraminifera, pollen and clay mineralogy, constituting a multi-method approach to climate reconstruction. Comparisons with other sequences from the Central and Western Mediterranean show major differences between the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. Indeed, the MIS 31 appears cooler and dryer in the south of the Iberian Peninsula than in central Mediterranean. Clay mineralogy analysis highlights a sudden change in oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Alboran Basin around 1140 ka. Climate reconstructions follow climatic cycles, with temperatures that appear to be underestimated compared to temperature reconstructions based on fauna from southern Spain. Precipitation reconstructions, on the other hand, are more consistent, suggesting that the climate and vegetation of this region are more likely to be influenced by variations in precipitation. These new data enhance our understanding of the climate of the South-western Mediterranean at the beginning of the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition.
Related
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- Episodic isolation of the Arctic Mediterranean from the North Atlantic during late Pleistocene glacials
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- Late-glacial marker beds of various origins - megaturbidite, sapropel, tephra - exhibit lateral variability enhanced by tectonics in the Western Ionian Basin (central Mediterranean)
- Efficient ensemble estimation using an MCMC sampler: a reconstruction of the Mediterranean low-frequency variability combining observed and simulated sea level
BibTeX
@article{catrain2026paleoenvironmental,
title = {{Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Western Mediterranean during the Late Early Pleistocene}},
author = {Maé Catrain and Séverine Fauquette and Odile Peyron and Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout and Vincent Lebreton and Morgane Fischer-Fries and Mary Robles and Viviane Bout-Roumazeilles and Patricia Richard and Marion Delattre and Lionel Dubost and Sébastien Joannin and Amandine Viala and Yul Altolaguirre and Jean-Pierre Suc and Jeanne Lepelletier and Marie-Hélène Moncel},
journal = {Climate of the Past},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.5194/cp-22-1631-2026},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05735812v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Western Mediterranean during the Late Early Pleistocene
AU - Maé Catrain
AU - Séverine Fauquette
AU - Odile Peyron
AU - Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout
AU - Vincent Lebreton
AU - Morgane Fischer-Fries
AU - Mary Robles
AU - Viviane Bout-Roumazeilles
AU - Patricia Richard
AU - Marion Delattre
AU - Lionel Dubost
AU - Sébastien Joannin
AU - Amandine Viala
AU - Yul Altolaguirre
AU - Jean-Pierre Suc
AU - Jeanne Lepelletier
AU - Marie-Hélène Moncel
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - Climate of the Past
DO - 10.5194/cp-22-1631-2026
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05735812v1
AB - The major climate change recorded during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition (1.4–0.4 Ma) is characterized by an increase in the length of climatic cycles from 41 to 100 ka. During this period, the Mediterranean climate underwent aridification associated with a drop in temperatures. This period also corresponds to the arrival of the first hominins in Western Europe. This study aims to establish the climatic framework at the end of the Early Pleistocene between MIS 37-31 (∼ 1.25 to 1.06 Ma). To this end, a multiproxy approach was applied to assemblages of planktonic foraminifera, pollen and clay mineralogy, constituting a multi-method approach to climate reconstruction. Comparisons with other sequences from the Central and Western Mediterranean show major differences between the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. Indeed, the MIS 31 appears cooler and dryer in the south of the Iberian Peninsula than in central Mediterranean. Clay mineralogy analysis highlights a sudden change in oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Alboran Basin around 1140 ka. Climate reconstructions follow climatic cycles, with temperatures that appear to be underestimated compared to temperature reconstructions based on fauna from southern Spain. Precipitation reconstructions, on the other hand, are more consistent, suggesting that the climate and vegetation of this region are more likely to be influenced by variations in precipitation. These new data enhance our understanding of the climate of the South-western Mediterranean at the beginning of the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition.
SN - 1814-9324
SN - 1814-9332
ER -