Similar response to climate stage 3 (20–62 ky BP) in Mediterranean and Bahama carbonate records

Summary

In this paper, we compare the carbonate record obtained by us (Cini-Castagnoliet al., Nuovo Cimento C,15 (1992) 547) in the CT85-5 Tyrrhenian deep-sea core with that obtained by Kegwin and Jones (J. Geophys. Res. C,99 (1994) 12397) in the western North Atlantic GPC-9 Bahama core, during the period of climate stage 3 (20–62 ky BP). Both time series are radiocarbon tested. An overall similarity between the two carbonate profiles is observed. The Tyrrhenian and the Bahama records show a maximum correlation coefficientr ²=0.6 for a time shift of 900 y, the latter preceding the former. By using the method of superposition of epochs, we show that the two series display a similar variability on the time scale between 2000 and 5000 y. Periods and phases of the oscillations agree within experimental errors. We have recently found in CT85-5 the¹⁰Be peak discovered in Vostok ice core at about 35 ky BP; so this marker could be searched in GPC-9 in order to synchronize in absolute way the past ocean conditions.