A 1‐Million‐Year Record of Environmental Change in the Central Mediterranean Sea From Organic Molecular Proxies

The Mediterranean Sea is particularly sensitive to climate oscillations and represents a key location study past climatic oceanographic changes. One valuable source of paleoceanographic information through molecular biomarkers in deep sea sediments. This approach has been applied number studies this basin, but only covering the most recent glacial/interglacial cycles. Here we present, for first time Sea, biomarker record from Strait Sicily that covers last million years until almost continuously. We present data on alkenone derived index surface temperatures (SST) provide insights evolution phytoplankton community composition terrestrial inputs analysis concentrations alkenones, brassicasterol long-chain alcohols. -SST followed modulated by cycles with marked increase 100 kyr-amplitude glacial at ∼430 ka, coincident Mid-Brunhes transition. In addition, SSTs were consistently higher compared other records western Mediterranean, indicative progressive warming waters experience along their transit Gibraltar Central Mediterranean. Regarding alkenones brassicasterol, they displayed distinct alternate peaks, some them coeval deposition sapropels. suggests different environmental conditions characterized each sapropel which, together changes degree oligotrophy, induced proliferation coccolithophores diatoms.