GLACIAL DRAINAGE TOWARDS THE MEDITERRANEAN DURING THE MIDDLE AND LATEPLEISTOCENE

To a varying degree the Middle and Late Pleistocene ice sheets in nort hern Eurasia redirected the drainage of major catchments in Europe and western Siberia from the North Sea and Arctic Ocean south to the Casp ian, Black Sea, and ultimately the Mediterranean. During the Late Weic hselian, glacial meltwater reached the Mediterranean through the Dniep r and Don catchments and to a minor extent through the Danube. During the Warthe Substage of the Saalian, meltwater from the Volga was most likely added. During the Drenthe Substage of the Saalian the watershed shifted far to the east, and meltwater reached the Mediterranean also from the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, and Tunguska catchments in Siberia. Dep ending on the extent of the ice sheets, the increase in freshwater sup ply during deglaciations resulted in reductions of Mediterranean overf low into the North Atlantic. Such overflow reductions may have reduced vapour transport to the ice sheets and thus accelerated wastage.