NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Kanaan Cave, Lebanon MIS 5 Stable Isotope Data

Lying at the transition between the temperate Mediterranean domain and subtropical deserts, the Levant is a key area to study the palaeoclimatic response over glacial-interglacial cycles. This paper presents a precisely dated last interglacial (MIS 5) stalagmite (129-84 ka) from the Kanaan Cave, Lebanon. Variations in growth rate and isotopic records indicate a warm humid phase at the onset of the last interglacial at ~129 ka that lasted until ~125 ka. A gradual shift in speleothem isotopic composition (125-122 ka) is driven mainly by the d18O source effect of the eastern Mediterranean surface waters during sapropel 5 (S5). The onset of glacial inception began after ~122 ka, interrupted by a short wet pulse during the sapropel 4 (S4) event. Low growth rates and enriched oxygen and carbon values until ~84 ka indicate a transition to drier conditions during Northern Hemisphere glaciation.