Punctuated evolution of global climate cooling during the late Middle to early Late Miocene: High-resolution planktonic foraminiferal and oxygen isotope records from the Mediterranean

High-resolution planktonic foraminiferal and oxygen isotope records are pre sented from a Mediterranean deep marine succession, dated astronomically be tween 12.12 and 9.78 Ma. Planktonic and benthic oxygen isotope records are punctuated by two episodes of delta O-18 increase, which have astronomical ages of 11.4 and 10.4 Ma and correspond to the Mi5 and Mi6 events of Miller et al. [1991a]. These ice growth events coincide with low-amplitude variat ions in the 1.2 Myr obliquity cycle and are accompanied by significant faun al changes in the Mediterranean, such as the arrival of neogloboquadrinids, the increase in abundance of the G. apertura-G. obliquus group, and the ar eal differentiation between N, atlantica and N. acostaensis. Short-term var iations in the planktonic foraminiferal and oxygen isotope records correspo nd to dominantly precession-controlled sedimentary cycles. Features of the sapropel/grey marl layers indicate that the short-term astronomically contr olled circum-Mediterranean climate changes remained basically the same over the last 12 Myr.