oa Coupling and Comparing GDGT- and Δ47-Based Temperature Reconstructions (Central Mediterranean, Holocene)

In 2024, global temperatures reached record highs, surpassing the critical 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. This warming has intensified extreme climate events, with regions like the Mediterranean facing heightened risks due to faster-than-average warming. Climate models for this region predict declining precipitation, coastal damage, and ecosystem disruptions if global temperatures continue to increase.

To better understand past and future climate changes, this study reconstructs Holocene temperature trends in the Central Mediterranean—an under-sampled region—using two independent paleotemperature proxies: GDGT biomarkers and carbonate clumped isotopes (?47). GDGTs, microbial membrane lipids, reflect past environmental temperatures and other environmental parameters, while carbonate clumped isotopes measure temperature-dependent isotope clustering in carbonate minerals. By the end of this study, we will analyze Holocene more than 100 terrestrial and marine sediment samples recovered from the Central Mediterranean for GDGTs and a subset for carbonate-clumped isotopes to reconstruct regional temperature changes.

By integrating these methods, we will refine Central Mediterranean temperature records, enhancing climate models and mitigation strategies. This research will also validate these proxies against existing regional datasets, improving their reliability for future applications.