Extending coupled cryptotephra and palaeoclimatic analysis of marine cores to the Eastern Mediterranean over the last ~200ka

This study aims to improve the chronological resolution at which we currently understand past climates in the Eastern Mediterranean over the last 200 000 years. Climate records will be created through the geochemical analysis of a marine sediment sequence obtained from the Eastern Mediterranean, 60km south of Cyprus. Tephra (small shards of volcanic glass within the sediment) will be used to date these records of past climate, and develop a timeline of past climate events in the region by correlation with known and dated eruptions. The chemistry of the tephra will be matched to past volcanic eruptions of known ages, giving an age to the point in the climate record in which the tephra is found. Tephra will then be matched by geochemical composition to archaeological sites that show evidence of early modern humans in the Levant and Arabia, in order to determine the climatic conditions under which early humans migrated out of Africa.