The δ ¹⁸O‐inferred thermal reconstruction for the Pleistocene based on the modification of existing glacial and interglacial paleoclimatic models

Abstract

The determination of the climatic factors related to the Paleolithic archaeological, or fossils sites of the late Neogene and Quaternary periods would require the knowledge of all the fossil specimen's age-site-related paleoclimatic factors. Because the necessary high-temporal resolution georeferenced, paleoclimatic models do not exist for most of the periods of the Pliocene and Pleistocene epoch, at the first step, the former climatic conditions should be reconstructed according to the age-site pair data. The idea of the developed method is, that using the foraminiferal oxygen isotope (δ ¹⁸O) ratio values, the available Pleistocene glacial and interglacial paleoclimatic model pairs can provide the bases for the reconstruction of the former thermal conditions for any period during the Pleistocene epoch. In a technical sense, the approach is based on the observation that the changes in the Cenozoic δ ¹⁸O record can correspond with the global mean temperature alterations. Determining the cold and warm periods-related δ ¹⁸O ratio values, new, georeferenced paleoclimatic models can be produced.

The main steps of the developed method are as follows:

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  Determination of the oxygen isotope ratio (δ ¹⁸O) which corresponds to the former thermal conditions of a site.

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  Using a scaling technique to create new, approximate climate maps by changing glacial and interglacial maps.

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  Reconstruction of the monthly mean temperature values based on the thermal conditions of the warmest and the coldest quarters.

Graphical abstract