Late Holocene productivity and hydrographic variability in the eastern Mediterranean inferred from benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes

Abstract

The paleoproductivity, paleo‐oxygenation, and paleohydrographic configuration of the southeastern Mediterranean during the late Holocene was reconstructed on the basis of the isotopic composition of the epibenthic Heterolepa floridana, shallow‐endobenthic Uvigerina mediterranea, and the deeper endobenthic Bulimina inflata from two high‐resolution cores GA‐112 (470 m) and GA‐110 (670 m). The Δδ13C between H. floridana and U. mediterranea reveals four intervals of enhanced productivity, from 3.3–2.6, 2.3–1.9, 1.5–1.1, and 0.8–0.4 kyr BP, coinciding with increased nutrient supply by the Nile River. The entire basin was well aerated, with oxygen consumption varying between 1.0 and 3.5 mL O2/L. Oxygen consumption increases toward present day, probably because of higher accumulation of total organic carbon at 1.7 kyr BP, coinciding with the appearance of the mesotropic benthic species. The hydrographic configuration of the basin has changed during the course of the last 3.75 kyr. The Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) deepens below 470 m between 3.3 and 2.0 kyr, and especially between 2.5 and 2.0 kyr. During the last 1.5 kyr, the LIW becomes shallower than 470 m, similar to the present day. The change in the hydrographic configuration reflects changes in evaporation/precipitation ratio and in temperature.