The Western Mediterranean is a key location for the recognition and investigation of rapid climate events, such as those recorded during the last glacial within ice and marine core records, including cores from within the Mediterranean basin (Cacho et al. 1999, Moreno et al. 2002). However due to a lack of long, continuous terrestrial sequences, the impact of such climate events on the terrestrial environment of the region is poorly understood. Mediterranean marine cores have been used to infer the nature of terrestrial response, with loess deposition correlated with enhanced cold episodes. However, there are currently no terrestrial records in the region to support this model.
This study focuses on three loess deposits within Southern Spain which have been dated using OSL and together provide evidence (albeit fragmentary) of loess deposition and landscape stability over the last ~125ka. We present findings from a multi-proxy analysis of the three sites, using sedimentology, isotopic geochemistry, heavy mineral content and micromorphology. By using a wide range of techniques, it is hoped that an accurate picture of sediment processes, geomorphology and relative climatic shifts within the region can be deduced.
Active tectonism and high erosion rates make preservation of extensive loess deposits unlikely. Loess in the region is often relatively thin, interbedded with fluvial or slope material, and locally reworked. Despite the nature of the deposits, all three sites contain evidence for rapid climate fluctuations through the presence of incipient palaeosol horizons. Importantly, OSL dating of the three sites reveals they were deposited at different stages during the Quaternary, and are associated with both warm and cold periods. This study highlights the potential for application of a multi proxy approach to fragmented terrestrial archives, thereby providing evidence for climatic influence on landscape stability in regions where long terrestrial sequences are rare.