Chronological control and centennial-scale climatic subdivisions of the Last Glacial Termination in the western Mediterranean region

The Last Glacial Termination is marked by changing environmental conditions affected by abrupt and rapid climate oscillations, such as Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), which is characterized by extremely low sea surface temperatures (SST) and significant changes in northern hemisphere terrestrial landscape (e.g., vegetation) and human dispersion. Previous studies show that overall cold/dry conditions occurred during HS1, but the lack of high-resolution records precludes whether climate was stable or instead characterized by instability. A high-resolution paleoclimatic record from the Padul wetland (southern Iberian Peninsula), supported by a high-resolution chronology and contrasted with other records from southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, shows 1) that the age boundaries of HS1 in this area occurred at similar to 18.0 kyr BP (median age = 17,970 cal yr BP; mean age = 18,030 +/- 330 cal yr BP) and similar to 15.2 kyr BP (median age = 15,210 cal yr BP; mean age = 15,200 +/- 420 cal yr BP) and 2) that climate during HS1 was non-stationary and centennial-scale variability in moisture is superimposed on this overall cold climatic period. In this study, we improve the pollen sampling resolution with respect to previous studies on the same Padul-15-05 sedimentary core and suggest a novel subdivision of HS1 in 7 sub-phases, including: i) 3 sub-phases (a.1-a.3) during an arid early phase (HS1a; similar to 18.4-17.2 kyr BP), ii) a relatively humid middle phase (HS1b; similar to 17.2-16.9 kyr BP), and iii) 3 sub-phases (c.1-c.3) during an arid late phase (HS1c; similar to 16.9-15.7 kyr BP). This climatic subdivision is regionally supported by SST oscillations from the Mediterranean Sea, suggesting a strong land-sea coupling. A cyclostratigraphic analysis of pollen data between 20 and 11 kyr BP indicates that the climate variability and the proposed subdivisions characterized by similar to 2000 and similar to 800-yr periodicities could be related to solar forcing controlling climate in this area. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Ten years since the introduction of therapeutic hypothermia in neonates with perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in Spain

More than a decade has passed since therapeutic hypothermia (TH) was introduced in Spain; this is the only neuroprotective intervention that has become standard practice in the treatment of perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE). This article aims to provide a current picture of the technique and to address the controversies surrounding its use. In the last 10 years, TH has been successfully implemented in the vast majority of tertiary hospitals in Spain, and more than 85% of newborns with moderate or severe HIE currently receive the treatment. The factors that can improve the efficacy of TH include early treatment onset (first 6 hours of life) and the control of comorbid factors associated with perinatal asphyxia. In patients with moderate HIE, treatment onset after 6 hours seems to have some neuroprotective efficacy. TH duration longer than 72 hours or deeper hypothermia do not offer greater neuroprotective efficacy, but instead increase the risk of adverse effects. Unclarified aspects are the sedation of patients during TH, the application of the treatment in infants with mild HIE, and its application in other scenarios. Prognostic information and time frame are one of the most challenging aspects. TH is universal in countries with sufficient economic resources, although certain unresolved controversies remain. While the treatment is widespread in Spain, there is a need for cooling devices for the transfer of these patients and their centralisationSe cumple ahora más de una década del inicio de la hipotermia terapéutica (HT) en España, la única intervención neuroprotectora que ha venido a ser práctica estándar en el tratamiento de la encefalopatía hipóxico-isquémica perinatal (EHI). El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer un panorama actual y presentar las controversias surgidas alrededor de la aplicación de esta terapia. En esta década se ha implantado con éxito la HT en la gran mayoría de los hospitales terciarios de España y más del 85% de los recién nacidos con EHI moderada-grave reciben esta terapia. Entre los aspectos que pueden mejorar la eficacia de la HT están su inicio precoz dentro de las primeras 6 horas de vida y el control de factores comórbidos asociados a la asfixia perinatal. En los pacientes con EHI moderada el inicio después de las 6 horas parece mantener cierta eficacia neuroprotectora. Una duración de la HT mayor de 72 horas o un enfriamiento más profundo no ofrecen mayor eficacia neuroprotectora y aumentan el riesgo de efectos adversos. Persiste la controversia acerca de la sedación durante la HT, la aplicación de esta intervención a los neonatos con EHI leve y en otros escenarios. La información pronóstica y su marco temporal es uno de los aspectos más desafiantes. La HT es universal en países con recursos económicos, aunque existen puntos de controversia no resueltos. Si bien es un tratamiento generalizado en nuestro país, falta disponer de dispositivos para el traslado de estos pacientes y su centralizació

Holocene geochemical footprint from Semiarid alpine wetlands in southern Spain

Here we provide the geochemical dataset that our research group has collected after 10 years of investigation in the Sierra Nevada National Park in southern Spain. These data come from Holocene sedimentary records from four alpine sites (ranging from ∼2500 to ∼3000 masl): two peatlands and two shallow lakes. Different kinds of organic and inorganic analyses have been conducted. The organic matter in the bulk sediment was characterised using elemental measurements and isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS). Leaf waxes in the sediment were investigated by means of chromatography with flame-ionization detection and mass spectrometry (GC-FID, GC-MS). Major, minor and trace elements of the sediments were analysed with atomic absorption (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), as well as X-ray scanning fluorescence. These data can be reused by environmental researchers and soil and land managers of the Sierra Nevada National Park and similar regions to identify the effect of natural climate change, overprinted by human impact, as well as to project new management policies in similar protected areas.Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaJunta de Andalucía: Grupos de investigación RNM190 y RNM309Junta de Andalucía: Proyecto P11-RNM-7332España, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad: Proyecto CGL2013-47038-RRamón y Cajal Fellowship: RYC-2015-18966Small Research Grant by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of ScotlandMarie Curie Intra-European Fellowship of the 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration of the European Commission: NAOSIPUK. Grant Number: PIEF-GA-2012-62302

Past 200 kyr hydroclimate variability in the western Mediterranean and its connection to the African Humid Periods

The Iberian Peninsula is located at the intersection between the subtropical and temperate climate zones and the paleoclimate records from this region are key to elucidate the varying humidity and changing dominance of atmospheric circulation patterns in the Mediterranean-North African region in the past. Here we present a quantitative hydroclimate reconstruction for the last ca. 200 kyr from southern Iberian Peninsula based on pollen data from the Padul lake sediment record. We use the newly developed Scale-normalized Significant Zero crossing (SnSiZer) method to detect not only the statistically significant precipitation changes but also to estimate the relative magnitude of these oscillations in our reconstruction. We identify six statistically significant main humid phases, termed West Mediterranean Humid Periods (WMHP 1-6). These humid periods correlate with other West/Central Mediterranean paleohydrological records, suggesting that similar climatic factors affected different areas of the Mediterranean. In addition, the WMPHs are roughly coeval with the African Humid Periods (AHPs) during high seasonality, suggesting the same North Atlantic ocean-atmospheric dynamics and orbital forcing as main drivers of both areas. In contrast, during low seasonality periods, the West Mediterranean still appears to be affected by the westerlies and the local Mediterranean rainfall systems with moderate-to-high precipitation, whereas West Africa was characterized by droughts.Peer reviewe

The Holocene Cedrus pollen record from Sierra Nevada (S Spain), a proxy for climate change in N Africa

Comprehending the effects of climate variability and disturbance on forested ecosystems is paramount to successfully managing forest environments under future climate scenarios (e.g., global warming, aridi-fication increase). Changes in fossil pollen abundance in sedimentary archives record past vegetation dynamics at regional scales, mainly related to climate changes and, in the last few millennia, to human impact. Pollen records can thus provide long databases with information on how the environment reacted to climate change before the historical record. In this study, we synthesized fossil pollen data from seven sites from the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain to investigate the response of forests in the western Mediterranean area to millennial-scale climate changes and to human impact during the Holocene. In particular, here we focused on Cedrus pollen abundances, which most-likely originated from Northern Africa and were carried to Sierra Nevada by wind. Cedrus pollen has received little attention in the Iberian Peninsula palynological records, for it occurs in low concentrations and has an African source, and thus this article explores the potential to reconstruct its past history and climate. Although Cedrus abundances are generally lower than 1% in the studied pollen samples, a comparison with North African (Moroccan) Cedrus pollen records shows similar trends at long- and short-term time-scales. Therefore, this record could be used as a proxy for changes in this forest species in North Africa. As observed in the Sierra Nevada synthetic record, the increasing trend of Cedrus pollen during the Middle and Late Holocene closely correlates with decreasing summer insolation. This would have produced overall cooler annual temperatures in Northern Africa (Middle Atlas and Rif Mountains) as well as lower summer evaporation, benefiting the growth of this cool-adapted montane tree species while increasing available moisture during the summer, which is critical for this water-demanding species. Millennial-scale variability also characterizes the Sierra Nevada Cedrus synthetic pollen record. Cedrus abundance oscillations co-vary with well-known millennial-scale climatic variability that controlled cedar abundance and altitudinal distribution in montane areas of N Africa. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Millennial-scale cyclical environment and climate variability during the Holocene in the western Mediterranean region deduced from a new multi-proxy analysis from the Padul record (Sierra Nevada, Spain)

A high-resolution multi-proxy approach, integrating pollen, inorganic and organic geochemical and sedimentological analyses, has been carried out on the Holocene section of the Padul sedimentary record in the southern Iberian Peninsula reconstructing vegetation, environment and climate throughout the last ~ 11.6 cal kyr BP in the western Mediterranean. The study of the entire Holocene allows us to determine the significant climate shift that occurred during the middle-to-late Holocene transition. The highest occurrence of deciduous forest in the Padul area from ~ 9.5 to 7.6 cal kyr BP represents the Holocene humidity optimum probably due to enhanced winter precipitation during a phase of highest seasonal anomaly and maximum summer insolation. Locally, insolation maxima induced high evaporation, counterbalancing the effect of relatively high precipitation, and triggered very low water table in Padul and the deposition of peat sediments. A transitional environmental change towards more regional aridity occurred from ~ 7.6 to 4.7 cal kyr BP and then aridification enhanced in the late Holocene most likely related to decreasing summer insolation. This translated into higher water levels and a sedimentary change at ~ 4.7 cal kyr BP in the Padul wetland, probably related to reduced evaporation during summer in response to decreased in seasonality. Millennial-scale variability is superimposed on the Holocene long-term trends. The Mediterranean forest regional climate proxy studied here shows significant cold-arid events around ~ 9.6, 8.5, 7.5, 6.5 and 5.4 cal kyr BP with cyclical periodicities (~1100 and 2100 yr) during the early and middle Holocene. A change is observed in the periodicity of these cold-arid events towards ~1430 yr in the late Holocene, with forest declines around ~ 4.7–4, 2.7 and 1.3 cal kyr BP. The comparison between the Padul-15-05 data with published North Atlantic and Mediterranean paleoclimate records suggests common triggers for the observed climate variability, with the early and middle Holocene forest declines at least partially controlled by external forcing (i.e. solar activity) and the late Holocene variability associated with internal mechanisms (oceanic-atmospheric)

Paleoenvironmental evolution of Laguna Seca lake (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberia) since the Late Glacial

Comunicación oral en XXI INQUA Congress. Rome (Italy). 14-20th july 2023Laguna Seca lake at 2259 masl has provided the longest alpine sedimentary record in southern Iberia, registering the last ~18 kyr in a ~14-meter-long sediment core. The oldest part of the sedimentary record represents a phase of subaerial debris flows and a small glacier/nivation hollow. The sediment characteristics abruptly changed at ~15.7 cal kyr BP, when a lake environment was established. A multi-proxy approach (magnetic susceptibility, organic geochemical analyses in bulk sediment, XRF core scanner data, and algae identification) has allowed the characterization of three different environmental phases in this lake. Deep lake conditions are identified from ~15.7 to ~10.6 cal kyr BP, agreeing with overall increasing precipitation in southern Iberia coinciding with augmenting summer insolation. This part of the record is characterized by grey lutites with high total organic carbon (TOC) content, high algae productivity, high vascular plant inputs (high C/N ratio) from the catchment and low Fe/S ratio, suggesting low oxygen conditions in the water-sediment interphase. Between ~10.6 and 8.2-8.0 cal kyr BP higher TOC and low Fe/S ratio are also recorded as well as higher algae content and low C/N ratio suggesting high aquatic production and more algae contribution to the local organic matter pool. This period registered the highest lake levels agreeing with summer insolation maximum and highest precipitation in southern Iberia. An abrupt lowering of the lake level is recorded after 8.0 cal kyr BP in the area. This is deduced by the decrease in TOC and algae in the sediments and more siliciclastic contribution from the catchment basin, evidenced by a high increase in siliciclastic elements (Si, Al, K, Ti, among others), with increased oxic conditions in the water-sediment interphase pointed out by the high increase in Fe/S ratio. Additionally, a potential increase in north African aeolian inputs (rich in Fe cations and Fe compounds) can be interpreted for the Middle and Late Holocene, evidenced by high Fe/Al values. This environmental change agrees with an aridification trend previously observed in the southern Iberian Peninsula

Algal lipids reveal unprecedented warming rates in alpine areas of SW Europe during the industrial period

Alpine ecosystems of the southern Iberian Peninsula are among the most vulnerable and the first to respond to modern climate change in southwestern Europe. While major environmental shifts have occurred over the last similar to 1500 years in these alpine ecosystems, only changes in the recent centuries have led to abrupt environmental responses, but factors imposing the strongest stress have been unclear until now. To understand these environmental responses, this study, for the first time, has calibrated an algal lipid-derived temperature proxy (based on long-chain alkyl diols) to instrumental historical data extending alpine temperature reconstructions to 1500 years before present. These novel results highlight the enhanced effect of greenhouse gases on alpine temperatures during the last similar to 200 years and the long-term modulating role of solar forcing. This study also shows that the warming rate during the 20th century (similar to 0.18 degrees C per decade) was double that of the last stages of the Little Ice Age (similar to 0.09 degrees C per decade), even exceeding temperature trends of the high-altitude Alps during the 20th century. As a consequence, temperature exceeded the preindustrial record in the 1950s, and it has been one of the major forcing processes of the recent enhanced change in these alpine ecosystems from southern Iberia since then. Nevertheless, other factors reducing the snow and ice albedo (e.g., atmospheric deposition) may have influenced local glacier loss, since almost steady climate conditions predominated from the middle 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century.Peer reviewe

Right Structural and Functional Reorganization in Four-Year-Old Children with Perinatal Arterial Ischemic Stroke Predict Language Production

Brain imaging methods have contributed to shed light on the mechanisms of recovery after early brain insult. The assumption that the unaffected right hemisphere can take over language functions after left perinatal stroke is still under debate. Here, we report how patterns of brain structural and functional reorganization were associated with language outcomes in a group of 4-year-old children with left perinatal arterial ischemic stroke. Specifically, we gathered specific fine-grained developmental measures of receptive and productive aspects of language as well as standardized measures of cognitive development. We also collected structural neuroimaging data as well as functional activations during a passive listening story-telling fMRI task and a resting state session (rs-fMRI). Children with a left perinatal stroke showed larger lateralization indices of both structural and functional connectivity of the dorsal language pathway towards the right hemisphere that, in turn, were associated with better language outcomes. Importantly, the pattern of structural asymmetry was significantly more right-lateralized in children with a left perinatal brain insult than in a group of matched healthy controls. These results strongly suggest that early lesions of the left dorsal pathway and the associated perisylvian regions can induce the inter-hemispheric transfer of language functions to right homolog regions. This study provides combined evidence of structural and functional brain reorganization of language networks after early stroke with strong implications for neurobiological models of language development

Climatic control on the Holocene hydrology of a playa-lake system in the western Mediterranean

Evaporitic lakes such as playa-lakes are characteristic of many arid regions and are unique environments with respect to fauna and flora, while being very vulnerable to climate and environmental fluctuations and threatened by the current global change scenario. Water balance oscillations in these systems can trigger the precipitation or dissolution of different evaporitic minerals, negatively impacting local biodiversity and economic activities. Here, we study the sedimentary record of a small saline pond from a playa-lake complex in southwestern Iberia in order to reconstruct the paleohydrological evolution of this area and assess potential anthropogenic disturbances. The different proxies studied in the-11.9 ky old sedimentary record of the Laguna de la Ballestera suggest that the greatest lake extension and the highest water levels occurred during the Early Holocene, pointing to the wettest period of the record. Climate transitioned towards more arid conditions during the Middle Holocene, and even more dramatically during the Late Holocene. In this last stage the wetland surface and the water level largely diminished and gypsum precipitation gradually increased pointing towards a negative precipitation/ evapotranspiration balance and lowest water levels. Summer desiccation likely occurred under this scenario, especially after-1.0-0.9 cal ky BP coeval with the Medieval Climate Anomaly, when gypsum content started to rise abruptly. However, this significant gypsum precipitation was only associated with a massive drop in the siliciclastic content and scarce carbonates (dolomite and calcite) during the last-400 years. This evidence suggests a shift from a (semi) permanent to a temporal/seasonal hydrological regime. The environmental evolution of this wetland responded to the general climatic evolution of the western Mediterranean during the Holocene, being mostly controlled by changes in insolation. Our data also show that the environmental response of the studied wetland to natural climate variations was only significantly disturbed by human activities since the 20th century, especially in the second half of the century, deduced by abrupt fluctuations in the siliciclastic, gypsum and organic content in the sediments, as well as by the enhanced sedimentary accumulation rates, probably as a response to changes in the hydroperiod of the lake and in the catchment land use.Peer reviewe