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Western Mediterranean climate and environment since Marine Isotope Stage 3: a 50,000-year record from Lake Banyoles, Spain

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Abstract

We present new stable isotope (δ18Ocalcite and δ13Ccalcite) and diatom data from a 67-m sediment core (BAN II) from Lake Banyoles, northeastern Spain. We reassessed the chronology of the sequence by correlating stable isotope data with a shorter U-series-dated record from the lake, confirming a sedimentological offset between the two cores and demonstrating that BAN II spans Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3–1. Through comparison with previous records, the multi-proxy data are used to improve understanding of palaeolimnological dynamics and, by inference, western Mediterranean climate and environmental change during the past ca. 50,000 years. Three main zones, defined by isotope and diatom data, correspond to the MIS. The basal zone (MIS 3) is characterised by fluctuating δ18Ocalcite and benthic diatom abundance, indicating a high degree of environmental and climate variability, concomitant with large lake-level changes. During the full glacial (MIS 2), relatively constant δ18Ocalcite and a poorly preserved planktonic-dominated diatom assemblage suggest stability, and intermittently, unusually high lake level. In MIS 1, δ18Ocalcite and δ13Ccalcite initially transition to lower values, recording a pattern of Late Glacial to Holocene change that is similar to other Mediterranean records. This study suggests that Lake Banyoles responds limnologically to changes in the North Atlantic ocean–atmosphere system and provides an important dataset from the Iberian Peninsula, a region in need of longer-term records that can be used to correlate between marine and terrestrial archives, and between the western and eastern Mediterranean.

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Acknowledgments

This paper contributes to the CRC 806 (University of Cologne)—Our Way to Europe. The paper forms part of the PhD research of JHL funded by the British Geological Survey University Funding Initiative (BUFI) and also the PhD of NH at RWTH Aachen University. Thanks go to Andrea Snelling (NIGL) for assistance with the isotope work and Cheryl Haidon (University of Leicester) for providing mineralogy data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK

    Jack H. Lacey & Melanie J. Leng

  2. Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Jack H. Lacey & Melanie J. Leng

  3. Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße 4-20, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Nicole Höbig & Klaus Reicherter

  4. Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    Jane M. Reed

  5. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC, Avda Montañana 1005, Apdo 13034, 50080, Saragossa, Spain

    Blas Valero-Garcés

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  1. Jack H. Lacey
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Correspondence to Jack H. Lacey.

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Lacey, J.H., Leng, M.J., Höbig, N. et al. Western Mediterranean climate and environment since Marine Isotope Stage 3: a 50,000-year record from Lake Banyoles, Spain. J Paleolimnol 55, 113–128 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-015-9868-9

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