Pollen records and climatic cycles in the North Mediterranean region since 2.7 Ma

Abstract

Abstract This synthesis incorporates the 16 most important pollen records available across the North Mediterranean region sensu lato for the last 2.7 Ma. Their location is discussed with respect to the present-day bioclimatic Mediterranean realm. A special effort has been made to redraw, where necessary, the pollen records in terms of modern cyclostratigraphy. The complexity of the evolution of the Mediterranean flora and vegetation as forced by the climatic cycles is evident. The influence of the latitudinal thermic (and xeric) gradient is confirmed, and the superimposition of a longitudinal gradient, forced by the Asian monsoon, is considered. The Mediterranean flora and vegetation were not altered by any important event during the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition between 1.2 and 0.7 Ma.