Marine sediment cores have already highlighted the response of Holocene Mediterranean paleoenvironments face to the successive rapid climate changes with palynological proxies (e.g. Fletcher et Sanchez Goñi, 2008; Combourieu-Nebout et al., 2009; Fletcher et al., 2010, 2013;Chabaud et al., 2014). Here, this study is focused on two sequences from the Western Mediterranean Sea, retrieved 12 km and 20 km from the coast along a South (Algerian coast) – North (Gulf of Lion margin) transect. Inedit core MD04-2801 (36°30.99' N, 0°30.03' W, 2067 m water depth, Algerian coast) covers the last 14 ky on a 9 m-long sediment section. Core KSGC 31 (66.55°N, 17.7°W; 470 m water depth, Gulf of Lion; Bassetti et al., 2016) covers the Holocene on a 7 m-long sediment section. Both cores allows a pluridecadal resolution.
Thanks to the identification of continental (pollen, spores, and other continental non-pollen palynomorphs) and marine (dinoflagellates, other marine micro-algae) palynological tracers, we respectively discuss past continental climate and hydrological conditions. We will especially focus on the 4.2 ka event that has been a key-period for the establishment of the Mediterranean climate regime. The comparison between both cores will allow to understand the different patterns in the hydrological and climatic conditions across the South-North gradient.
These results are part of the PhD project « From western to eastern Mediterranean Basin: Marine palynological evidences for understanding Holocene gradients in climatical and paleohydrological processes » (October 2018-October 2021, Univ. Brest, Brittany Council, France). It is also funded by the CNRS (INSU EC2CO (DRIL) – LEFE (IMAGO), Mistrals-PaleoMex) and the EUR-Isblue (Brest).