Sea-surface temperature and salinity reconstruction for sediment core GeoB5844-2

Paleoceanographic records in the restricted desert-surrounded northern Red Sea are strongly affected by the stepwise sea level rise and appear to record and amplify well-known millennial-scale climate events from the North Atlantic realm.

During the last glacial maximum (LGM), sea surface temperatures were about 4°C cooler than the late Holocene. Pronounced coolings associated with Heinrich event 1 (~2°C below the LGM level) and the Younger Dryas imply strong atmospheric teleconnections to the North Atlantic. Owing to the restricted exchange with the Indian Ocean, Red Sea salinity is particularly sensitive to changes in global sea level.