Short-term climate changes during the Last Glacial–Holocene transition: comparison between Mediterranean records and the GRIP event stratigraphy

This paper presents biostratigraphical and stable isotope data obtained from core CM92–43, which was recovered from the central Adriatic as part of a comprehensive investigation of the palaeoenvironmental history of the basin. The data span the period of the Last Glacial–Holocene (LG–H) transition (ca. 18000 to 8000 GRIP ice-core yr BP). Regional biozones are defined on the basis of characteristic assemblages of planktic Foraminifera, and these are compared with other foraminiferal biostratigraphical schemes from the southern Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Variations in relative abundance of selected planktic Foraminifera and in selected pollen types are shown alongside variations in δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C obtained from Globigerina bulloides and relative abundance of Globigerinoides ex. gr. ruber. The data are compared with the GRIP ice-core record and the event stratigraphy scheme based on this record, and it is concluded that the climate forcing mechanisms that controlled climate variations in the North Atlantic region during the LG–H transition also extended their influence into the Mediterranean region over the same period. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.