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Geology; December 2001; v. 29; no. 12; p. 1099-1102; DOI: 10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<1099:LASTCF>2.0.CO;2
© 2001 Geological Society of America
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Long- and short-term carbon fluctuations in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Holocene

Bettina Schilman1, Ahuva Almogi-Labin1, Miryam Bar-Matthews1, Laurent Labeyrie2, Martine Paterne2 and Boaz Luz3

1 Geological Survey, 30 Malkhei Israel, Jerusalem 95501, Israel
2 Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (CEA-CNRS), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
3 Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

A high-resolution record of carbon isotope changes during the late Holocene was obtained in core GA-112 from the easternmost Mediterranean. Over the past 3600 yr, a gradual 13C-depletion trend shown by both planktonic and benthic foraminifera corresponds to a global rise in atmospheric CO2. The global and local trends suggest that aridification and biomass destruction in the Nile basin played a major role in the global CO2 rise in the late Holocene. Superimposed on the general {delta}13C trend are four mirror- image cycles in {delta}13C of planktonic and benthic foraminifera. Higher planktonic {delta}13C values reflect periods of high productivity off the coast of Israel. Simultaneously, decrease in the benthic {delta}13C values occurred because of degradation of higher organic-matter fluxes to the sediment. Therefore, large differences between the two records indicate periods of high productivity. The Eastern Mediterranean productivity fluctuations respond to a periodical replenishment of nutrients to the mixed layer via Nile runoff. Historical data of the Nile flood fluctuations for the past ~1400 yr show a remarkable coincidence between high and low Nile floods and high and low Eastern Mediterranean productivity levels, which are correlated with the periodic monsoonal activity over the Nile headwaters.

Key Words: Eastern Mediterranean • foraminiferal {delta}13C • Nile-derived nutrients • productivity cycles • late Holocene






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