Vegetation changes during the late Early Pleistocene at Montalbano Jonico (Province of Matera, southern Italy) based on pollen analysis

Pollen analysis of the Early Pleistocene Montalbano Jonico section in southern Italy reveals cyclic changes driven by climate and eustasy, as illustrated by mesothermic vs. steppe elements for climate, and Pinus vs. Caryophyllaceae, Amaranthaceae–Chenopodiaceae and Ephedra for eustasy. These results are directly compared with oxygen isotope data on Globigerina bulloides constrained within a biostratigraphic framework based on nannofossils and foraminifers, facilitating a new age calibration for the section. Marine isotopic stages 37 to 23 (1.250–0.900 Ma) are recorded, and compared with global and Mediterranean oxygen isotope curves. High-frequency changes in pollen are related to the Mediterranean curve (Globigerinoides ruber) from ODP Site 967, and superimposed the LR04 stack curve. During the Early Pleistocene, pollen recorded global and regional climate changes related to obliquity and precession, respectively, and regional tectonic evolution. Precession forcing was caused by Mediterranean wetness related to precession. The intensified precession effect over climatic cycles, that is expected during the Middle Pleistocene Transition, is not recorded in the Montalbano Jonico interval A vegetation changes.