The Early–Middle Miocene climate as reflected by a mid-latitude lacustrine record in the Ebro Basin, north-east Iberia

Abstract

This contribution examines the climate variations reflected by a mainly lacustrine succession spanning from 17.73 to 14.0 Ma in north-east Iberia, thus encompassing the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). The study is based on the δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O composition of an array of carbonate facies and marl samples, complemented with sedimentological analysis, illite crystallinity index and magnetic susceptibility data. The onset and ending of the MCO have been detected at ca 17.10-17.06 Ma and 14.56 Ma, roughly equivalent to the boundaries in the marine record, although with relatively short lags. The variability of the data series evidenced changes in humidity and air temperature through the MCO, some of which coincided with similar variations in other records. Specifically, an evolving positive shift in δ¹³C values, from 16.5 to 14.5 Ma, seems to fit the Monterey excursion observed in marine records. Likewise, increases in δ¹⁸O values between 16.8 and 16.5 Ma and between 14.85 and 14.56 Ma in the study succession concurred with warming intervals recorded in palaeosols of Central Europe, emphasising the coincidence with the temperature maximum at ca 16.6 Ma. A general decline in temperature and an increase in humidity are detected from 14.56 Ma, both with steeper trends until 14.41 Ma then more gradual onwards, indicating the beginning of the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition. These results shed light upon the tightly coincidental features between terrestrial and marine records over those time intervals and, more importantly, highlight the earlier warming and the faster cooling experienced by the lake system as compared with the marine record. These findings provide further evidence to help infer palaeoclimate conditions on a much broader reach than the regional context.