Hydrological variability over the Apennines during the Early Last Glacial precession minimum, as revealed by a stable isotope record from Sulmona basin, Central Italy

A multi-proxy record was acquired from a Late Pleistocene lacustrine succession in the Sulmona basin, central Italy. Previous and new tephrostratigraphic analyses of six volcanic ash layers constrain the investigated interval to between 92.3 and 115.0 ka. The d18O composition is interpreted as a proxy for precipitation amount in the high-altitude catchment of the karst recharge system. The oxygen record shows millennial variability that is consistent with Greenland Interstadials GI25–GI23 and North Atlantic cold events C24–C22, indicating a strong Mediterranean–North Atlantic climate teleconnection. However, while no appreciable isotopic difference between the three interstadials is revealed by the Greenland record, the Sulmona section reveals a wetter climate during GI24 compared with GI23 and GI25. Comparison of our record with speleothem and pollen data from central and southern Italy suggests higher seasonality of the precipitation (wet winter–dry summer) for GI24, which matches a precession minimum. The wettest period recorded at Sulmona is also coincident with the deposition of Sapropel S4 in the Tyrrhenian Sea, suggesting a teleconnection between a higher seasonality in the western Mediterranean and strengthening of the boreal monsoon system.