Scientific Reports · 7 authors, 5 centres
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Multi-proxy terrestrial and marine records from the Middle Pleistocene MIS 17 interglacial in Southern Italy show that central Mediterranean precipitation varied independently of African monsoon timing, with extreme summer precipitation events driven by regional insolation and extratropical cyclones.
The study reconstructed hydroclimate variability during the Marine Isotope Stage 17 interglacial using stable isotopes from planktonic and benthic foraminifera and terrestrial proxies from the Blatta section in Southern Italy. Suborbital climatic oscillations were identified that are consistent with North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation variability reconstructed at the Iberian Margin. Local summer precipitation rates increased dramatically by the end of sapropel S16 deposition as Mediterranean thermohaline circulation recovered. Increased summer precipitation is attributed to development of convective summer local events and extratropical cyclones under combined effects of increased evaporation, stronger convection, and southward Polar Jet shifts during stadials. These findings complement previous analyses on storm track displacement toward southern Europe.
