Rapid environmental changes in southern Europe during the last glacial period

Oxygen-isotope records from Greenland ice cores(1,2) indicate numerous rapi d climate fluctuations during the last glacial period. North Atlantic marin e sediment cores show comparable variability in sea surface temperature and the deposition of ice-rafted debris(3-5). In contrast, very few continenta l records of this time period provide the temporal resolution and environme ntal sensitivity necessary to reveal the extent and effects of these enviro nmental fluctuations on the continents. Here we present high-resolution geo chemical, physical and pollen data from lake sediments in Italy and from a Mediterranean sediment core, linked by a common tephrochronology. Our lacus trine sequence extends to the past 102,000 years. Many of its features corr elate well with the Greenland ice-core records, demonstrating that the clos ely coupled ocean-atmosphere system of the Northern Hemisphere during the l ast glacial(4) extended its influence at least as far as the central Medite rranean region. Numerous vegetation changes were rapid, frequently occurrin g in less than 200 years, showing that the terrestrial biosphere participat ed fully in last-glacial climate variability. Earlier than 65,000 years ago , our record shows more climate fluctuations than are apparent in the Green land ice cores. Together, the multi-proxy data from the continental and mar ine records reveal differences in the seasonal character of climate during successive interstadials, and provide a step towards determining the underl ying mechanisms of the centennial-millennial-scale variability.