@article {1174,
	title = {Evidence for a warm and humid Mid-Holocene episode in the Aegean and northern Levantine Seas (Greece, NE Mediterranean)},
	journal = {Regional Environmental Change},
	volume = {14},
	year = {2014},
	note = {Export Date: 22 October 2014},
	month = {2013},
	pages = {1697 - 1712},
	abstract = {<p>Marine and terrestrial biological and biogeochemical\&nbsp;proxies in three sediment cores from North and SE\&nbsp;Aegean and northern Levantine Seas record continuous\&nbsp;warm and humid conditions between 5.5 and 4.0 ka BP\&nbsp;related to the establishment of relatively stratified conditions\&nbsp;in the upper water column. These conditions may have\&nbsp;resulted from the concordant albeit weak Mid-Holocene\&nbsp;South Asian monsoon forcing, combined with lighter Etesian\&nbsp;winds. During this interval, sea surface temperatures\&nbsp;fluctuate in the Aegean Sea, although exhibiting a strong\&nbsp;positive shift at*4.8 ka BP. The warm and humid climatic\&nbsp;conditions triggered upper water column stratification and\&nbsp;enhancement of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM),\&nbsp;leading to dysoxic conditions and the deposition of a sapropel-like layer, but only in the SE Aegean site. In contrast\&nbsp;to the shallow water SE Aegean, the deeper North Aegean\&nbsp;and the northern Levantine sites, although experiencing\&nbsp;stratification in the upper parts of the water column, did not\&nbsp;achieve bottom-water dysoxia. Thus, a top{\textendash}bottom mechanism\&nbsp;of stratification{\textendash}DCM development accompanied by\&nbsp;fast transport and burial of organic matter is a likely\&nbsp;explanation for the preservation of productivity signal in the\&nbsp;shallow sites of the SE Aegean and establishment of sapropelic conditions during the warm and humid Mid-Holocene. The termination of the Mid-Holocene warm and\&nbsp;humid phase coincides with the {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}4.2 ka{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} climate event. Our\&nbsp;data exhibit an N{\textendash}S time transgressive aridification gradient\&nbsp;around the Aegean Sea, most probably associated with the\&nbsp;reorganization of the general atmospheric circulation during\&nbsp;the Mid-Holocene.</p>},
	url = {http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007\%2Fs10113-013-0495-6$\#$page-1},
	author = {Triantaphyllou, M.V. and Gogou, A. and Bouloubassi, I. and Dimiza, M. and Kouli, K. and Rousakis, G. and Kotthoff, U. and Emeis, K.-C. and Papanikolaou, M. and Athanasiou, M. and Parinos, C. and Ioakim, C. and Lykousis, V.}
}
