Articles | Volume 22, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1631-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1631-2026
Research article
 | 
02 Sep 2026
Research article |  | 02 Sep 2026

Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the Western Mediterranean during the Late Early Pleistocene

Maé Catrain, Séverine Fauquette, Odile Peyron, Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout, Vincent Lebreton, Morgane Fischer-Fries, Mary Robles, Viviane Bout-Roumazeilles, Patricia Richard, Marion Delattre, Lionel Dubost, Sébastien Joannin, Amandine Viala, Yul Altolaguirre, Jean-Pierre Suc, Jeanne Lepelletier, and Marie-Hélène Moncel

Related authors

Using data and models to infer climate and environmental changes during the Little Ice Age in tropical West Africa
Anne-Marie Lézine, Maé Catrain, Julián Villamayor, and Myriam Khodri
Clim. Past, 19, 277–292, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-277-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-277-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Abbate, E. and Sagri, M.: Early to Middle Pleistocene Homo dispersals from Africa to Eurasia: Geological, climatic and environmental constraints, Quatern. Int., 267, 3–19, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.043, 2012. 
Agustí, J., Blain, H.-A., Cuenca-Bescós, G., and Bailon, S.: Climate forcing of first hominid dispersal in Western Europe, J. Hum. Evol., 57, 815–821, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.06.005, 2009. 
Alonso, B. and Maldonado, A.: Late Quaternary sedimentation patterns of the Ebro turbidite systems (northwestern Mediterranean): Two styles of deep-sea deposition, Mar. Geol., 95, 353–377, https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(90)90124-3, 1990. 
Alonso, B., Ercilla, G., Martínez-Ruíz, F., Baraza, J., and Galimont, A.: Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary facies at site 976: Depositional history in the northwestern Alboran sea, in: Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, 161 Scientific Results, vol. 161, edited by: Zahn, R., Comas, M. C., and Klaus, A., Ocean Drilling Program, https://doi.org/10.2973/odp.proc.sr.161.1999, 1999. 
Altolaguirre, Y., Bruch, A. A., and Gibert, L.: A long Early Pleistocene pollen record from Baza Basin (SE Spain): Major contributions to the palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation of Southern Europe, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 231, 106199, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106199, 2020. 
Download
Short summary
This multiproxy study investigates changes in climate cyclicity at Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition. Clay mineralogy analysis highlights a sudden change in oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Alboran Basin around 1140 ka. Pollen, foraminifera and faunal data suggest that the climate and vegetation of this region are more likely to be influenced by variations in precipitation, hinting at major differences between the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy.
Share