Paleo-environmental and paleo-climatic changes
The ultimate goal in this research theme is driven by the need to assess the causes and consequences of past climatic changes, how they have affected Mediterranean civilizations and whether those are likely to occur in the future. Detailed investigation of organic biomarkers (alkenones, n-alkanes, n-alkanols, sterols, diols/ ketols, isoprenoid compounds, etc) in selected marine sediment records permitted to:
i) quantify in detail proxy-records for marine and terrestrial environmental changes due to natural climate shifts
ii) determine the sequential structure and timing of environmental responses to rapid climate changes with identification of first (e.g. early warming) responses and recovery times and
iii) distinguish between effects of anthropogenic and natural-induced climatic changes. We focus on the Eastern Mediterranean as a “natural laboratory” for high-resolution geochemical studies of environmental response to natural rapid climate shifts