Publication Date:
2019
abstract:
Seasurfacetemperaturereconstruction(SST)overthelastmillenniaintheMediterraneanarea representanimportantchallengestodocumentthepossiblelinkofpastclimatevariabilityon theriseandfallofancientcivilizations.Inaddition,thelastreportoftheIntergovernmental PanelonClimateChange(IPCC2018)underlinestherequirementtoassessclimatefeedbacks duringpastepisodesofmoderatelywarmer(1.5ºC-2°C)conditions.Withinthisframework,we presentthereconstructionoftheSSTanomalyoverthelastfivemillenniabasedontheMg/Ca ratiosmeasuredintheplanktonicforaminiferGlobigerinoidesruberfromthesedimentcore SW104-ND11extractedinthewesternpartofSicilyChannel(waterdepth475m,central MediterraneanSea).ThisnewgeneratedSSTrecordiscomparedwithpreviouspublishedSST recordsreconstructedfromAlboranSea,MinorcaBasin,AegeanSeaandfromanorth Hemispheretemperaturereconstruction.Thisexercisebringsthebassestodiscusstheregional impactofthemostrecentepisodeofapparentlywarmerconditionsthanpresentinthesocialeconomicaldevelopmentoftheMediterraneanregion. AccordingtotheMg/CaG.ruberSSTrecord,theLateHolocenemaximumtemperatures(22.7°C) werereachedatca.424CEduringtheRomanperiod,afteranoverallwarmingtrendthat startedatca.3300BCEandwaspunctuatedbyseveralabruptshorttermoscillation.Afterthe Romanperiod,theMg/CaG.ruberSSTrecordshowsacoolingtrendreachingtheminimum temperature(18.2°C)atca.1673CE,duringtheLittleIceAge.Duringthelastthreecenturies theMg/CaG.ruberSSTrecordshowswarmingtrendtopresentday(20.3°C).Thecomparisonof thestudiedrecordwithotherSSTrecords,basedinbothMg/Caandalkenoneproxiesfrom severalareasoftheMediterraneanbasin,supportshomogeneouswarmconditionsatregional scalebetweenfrom100BCEto500CE,anddocumentstheoccurrenceofadistinctwarming phaseofca.2°CatthebeginningoftheRomanPeriodthatledtothesocalled"RomanClimatic Optimum".ThisperiodcorrespondedtoanimportantdemographicincreaseduringtheRoman Empire.Atca.600CEacoolingphaseisrecorded,whichagecorrespondstotheLateAntique LittleIceAge(LALIA)event;afterthisevent,theSSTMg/CaG.ruberreconstructiondocumentsthe onset,atca.1180CE,ofthewell-knownMedievalWarmPeriod.Thecoolingassociatedtothe LittleIceAgeeventoccurredbetween1320CEandca.1850CEwithananomalyofca.2°Cvs negativevalues.ThestudiedrecordofSicilyChannelendswithaturnoverfromca.1850CEto 2014CEvsawarmingphaseofca.1°CprobablyassociatedtotheonsetoftheIndustrial Period/ModernWarmPeriod.ThisresearchwasfinanciallysupportedbyNEXTDATAandERCTIMED525(683237)projects
Iris type:
04.02 Abstract in Atti di convegno
Keywords:
SST; Mediterranean Sea; Roman Period
List of contributors: