Clay minerals in late glacial and Holocene sediments of the northern and southern Aegean Sea

Abstract

Different source areas, oceanography and climate regimes influenced the clay mineral assemblages and grain size distribution of two sediment cores from the North and South Aegean Sea during the last glacial and the Holocene. In the North Aegean Sea, clay mineral composition is mainly controlled by sea level evolution, melting of southeastern European glaciers, and establishment of the connection between the Black Sea and Aegean Sea. The long-term development of clay mineral assemblages in the South Aegean Sea reflects changes in the Nile discharge and African dust input. At this site, the establishment of pluvial conditions in the Nile catchment during the early to middle Holocene resulted in a substantial rise in smectite/illite ratios. In the late Holocene, stepwise aridification of the southern borderlands caused an increase in windblown sediment material and a decrease in Nile suspended material. The clay mineral records exhibit periodic millennial-scale fluctuations. In the North Aegean Sea, the changes are centred at a period of 1.3–1.8 ka and can be attributed to short-term climate and weathering changes in the northern borderlands. The changes in the South Aegean Sea are centred at periods of 3.2–4.3, 1.9–2.4 and 1.3–1.7 ka reflecting short-term changes in wind strength and Northeast African hydrology.