A radiometrically-constrained reference record of Last Interglacial climate and vegetation changes from the Fucino Basin, Central Italy

作者：Carole Roberts, Giovanni Zanchetta, B. Giaccio, Sébastien Nomade, Giorgio Mannella, Laura Sadori, Russell N. Drysdale, Mark Maslin, Paul G. Albert, C. Smidt, Vicki Smith, M. Flynn, Gianluca Sottili, Bernd Wagner, Polychronis C. Tzedakis · 发表于：Quaternary Science Reviews · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109377 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Geology and Paleoclimatology Research、Landslides and related hazards、Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

The Last Interglacial (LIG) was characterised by a global mean temperature ∼1 °C warmer than the pre-industrial, a pronounced Arctic warming and an elevated sea level. Exploring the nature of LIG environmental changes in local contexts can improve understanding of regional responses to a warmer background state. However, a lack of high-resolution palaeoclimatic archives underpinned by an independent and robust chronological framework remains a primary limitation in investigating climate variability and relating it to changes in other records. This paper presents a detailed palynological, charcoal and bulk carbonate oxygen isotope record of a thick lacustrine sedimentary sequence retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Italy, covering the period ∼139 to 107 ka at sub-centennial to centennial resolution. A key aspect of the record is its independent chronology based on direct 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating and geochemical fingerprinting of several tephra layers. The highly-resolved multiproxy record reveals substantial environmental variability on long- and short-term timescales. The pollen sequence documents a succession of arboreal phases interrupted by centennial-to millennial-scale contractions in temperate vegetation. Comparisons between δ 18 O records from the Fucino Basin and a speleothem stack from Corchia Cave (northern Italy) suggest a strong hydrological seasonal contrast during the early LIG, corroborated by increased Mediterranean taxa abundance and elevated fire activity. T...