High-resolution foraminifer stable isotope record of MIS 19 at Montalbano Jonico, southern Italy: A window into Mediterranean climatic variability during a low-eccentricity interglacial

Abstract Understanding millennial and sub-millennial climate variability during past low eccentricity interglacials similar to the Holocene is important for forecasting the evolution of climate and natural variability. The Ideale section (Montalbano Jonico, Southern Italy) studied here provides one of the best records of MIS 19c, the closest orbital analog to the Holocene. This exposed marine series covers Termination IX to the inception of MIS 18 with very high sedimentation rates (i.e. 90–200 cm/ka). We present 1) benthic δ 18 O and δ 13 C records at 90–200 year time-resolution, 2) a new 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 774.1 ± 0.9 ka for tephra layer V4 (Matuyama-Brunhes transitional period) and 3) new calcareous plankton, palynological and authigenic 10 Be/ 9 Be data. Our new Bayesian depth-age model suggests a 11.5 ± 3.4 ka (95% confidence) duration for the climatic optimum. The δ 18 O series reveals millennial-scale oscillations (with sharp transitions