scholarly journals Climate dynamics during the penultimate glacial period recorded in a speleothem from Kanaan Cave, Lebanon (central Levant)

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Nehme ◽  
Sophie Verheyden ◽  
Sebastian F.M. Breitenbach ◽  
David P. Gillikin ◽  
Anouk Verheyden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Climate Dynamics ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Oxygen And Carbon Isotope ◽  
The Mediterranean

AbstractLittle is known about terrestrial climate dynamics in the Levant during the penultimate interglacial-glacial period. To decipher the palaeoclimatic history of the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 glacial period, a well-dated stalagmite (~194 to ~154 ka) from Kanaan Cave on the Mediterranean coast in Lebanon was analyzed for its petrography, growth history, and stable isotope geochemistry. A resolved climate record has been recovered from this precisely U–Th dated speleothem, spanning the late MIS 7 and early MIS 6 at low resolution and the mid–MIS 6 at higher resolution. The stalagmite grew discontinuously from ~194 to ~163 ka. More consistent growth and higher growth rates between ~163 and ~154 ka are most probably linked to increased water recharge and thus more humid conditions. More distinct layering in the upper part of the speleothem suggests strong seasonality from ~163 ka to ~154 ka. Short-term oxygen and carbon isotope excursions were found between ~155 and ~163 ka. The inferred Kanaan Cave humid intervals during the mid–MIS 6 follow variations of pollen records in the Mediterranean basins and correlate well with the synthetic Greenland record and East Asian summer monsoon interstadial periods, indicating short warm/wet periods similar to the Dansgaard-Oeschger events during MIS 4–3 in the eastern Mediterranean region.

scholarly journals Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance and Control in the Mediterranean Region: report of the ARMed Consensus Conference

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (09) ◽  
pp. 654-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Borg ◽  
Barry D. Cookson ◽  
Peter Zarb ◽  
Elizabeth A. Scicluna ◽  
ARMed Steering Group & Collaborators *
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Consensus Conference ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
And Control

Antimicrobial resistance has become a global threat to effective health care delivery. This is particularly the case within the Mediterranean region, where data from recent studies suggests the situation to be particularly acute. A better knowledge base, as well as a collaborative effort, is therefore required to address this ever increasing challenge to effective patient care. Over its four-year period, the Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance and Control in the Mediterranean Region (ARMed) project investigated the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance, as well as its contributory factors, in a number of countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region through the collection of comparable and validated data. The project culminated in a consensus conference held in Malta in November 2006. The conference provided a forum for expert delegates to agree on a number of priority strategic recommendations that would be relevant to resistance containment efforts in the region. There was general agreement on the need for surveillance and audit to underpin any intervention to tackle antimicrobial resistance, both to monitor changing epidemiological trends in critical pathogens as well as to identify antibiotic consumption practices and effectiveness of prevention and control of health care associated infections. In addition, the importance to convey these data to key users was also stressed in all workshops, as was better education and training of health care workers. The recommendations also made it clear that ownership of the problem needs to be improved throughout the region and that resources, both financial as well as human, must be allocated by the respective policy makers in order to combat it.

Developing a multi-methods dating framework for the Eastern Mediterranean region over the Late Quaternary

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Zhang ◽  
Christina Manning ◽  
Christopher Satow ◽  
Simon J Armitage ◽  
Simon Blockley
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
The Mediterranean

<p>The Eastern Mediterranean is an important region for understanding the late Quaternary, as there is evidence for a complex pattern of climatic and environmental change, influenced by orbital forcing and complex feedback mechanisms (Rohling et al., 2013). It is also a key region for examining the dispersal of humans out of Africa. Consequently, it is important to develop robust chronologies for palaeoclimatic, environmental and archaeological records in the region, to allow synchronisation, comparison and hypothesis testing. Tephrochronology is a vital tool for correlating such records, but the fine detail of the Eastern Mediterranean tephra depositional history is not yet well defined. Part of the problem relates to a lack of cryptotephra (non-visible ash) studies on long stratigraphic records. It is well known from the Atlantic and Central Mediterranean that cryptotephra studies can significantly improve tephra inventories, and constrain the relationship between key tephra markers and important environmental transitions. Another key problem for the region is that for distal tephra there is a relatively limited geochemical database from different volcanic centres, especially in terms of trace element compositions. One important method for addressing this problem is to develop detailed tephrostratigraphic records and tephra geochemical inventories from long sediment sequences (e.g. Bourne et al., 2010; Satow et al., 2015).</p><p>Here we present the first marine crypto-tephrostratigraphy from the Levantine Sea, covering approximately the last ~200,000 years, from a long marine core (MD81-LC31). The new data for the core include tephra shard concentrations, major and trace element geochemistry, correlations to the eruptive record of the Aegean and Anatolian volcanic centres, and new radiometric age information. Our new data is compared to existing chronological information from LC-31, including sedimentological, geochemical, paleomagnetic and radiocarbon evidence. Our data helps to refine the chronology for this important record and will underpin ongoing studies into the detail of palaeoceanographic and environmental change in the region.</p><p> </p><p>Bourne, A.J., Lowe, J.J., Trincardi, F. et al. 2010. Distal tephra record for the last ca 105,000 years from core PRAD 1-2 in the central Adriatic Sea: implications for marine tephrostratigraphy. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(23-24), 3079-3094.</p><p>Rohling, E.J., Grant, K.M., Roberts, A.P. et al. 2013. Paleoclimate variability in the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions during the last 500,000 years: implications for hominin migrations. Current Anthropology, 54(S8), S183-S201.</p><p>Satow, C., Tomlinson, E.L., Grant, K.M. et al. 2015. A new contribution to the Late Quaternary tephrostratigraphy of the Mediterranean: Aegean Sea core LC21. Quaternary Science Reviews, 117, 96-112.</p>

scholarly journals Epidémiologie moléculaire du sérotype 9 du virus de la fièvre catarrhale ovine en région méditerranéenne

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
K. Nomikou ◽  
S. Maan ◽  
N. S. Maan ◽  
P. P.C. Mertens
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Reference Strain ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
First Time

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is the prototype species of the genus Orbivirus within the family Reoviridae. There are 24 (possibly 25) distinct serotypes of BTV, eleven of which have entered, or have been identified in Europe and the Mediterranean region since 1998 (types 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 24 and 25). The first BTV to arrive in Greece during 1998 was serotype 9 (iso­late GRE1998/01), followed by BTV-16 (GRE1999/13) during 1999. BTV-9 spread to mainland Greece, South-Eastern Bulgaria and European Turkey during 1999, to Italy during 2000, then to Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, mainland Italy and Sicily in 2001. In 2002, BTV-9 was again identified in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Yugoslavia and Albania, and was identified in Libya for the first time in 2008. The whole genome was sequenced for representative field and vaccine strains of BTV-9 and 16 from the Mediterranean region, identifying the levels of genetic heterogeneity in each genome segment. The early European isolates of BTV-9 (1998 onwards) were identified as ‘eastern’ strains related to those from India, Indonesia and Australia. BTV-16 isolates are also eastern strains that are most closely related to strains from Turkey and the South African reference strain of type 16 (originally from Pakistan). Analyses of the more conserved genome segments coding for structural and non-structural proteins of BTV-9 (from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey) and BTV-16 (from Greece and Turkey) show that the Eastern European isolates of these two serotypes have the remaining eight genome segments (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10) with more than 99% similarity, in each case belonging to the same eastern lineage. These data show that the BTV-9 and 16 isolates that were circulating in the Mediterranean region are reassortants, with the majority of their genome seg­ments derived from a single parental lineage. However, the BTV-9 isolate from Libya (LIB2008/08) is more closely related to the western BTV-9 reference strain from South Africa than to the earlier BTV-9 isolates from Eastern Europe. Analysis of the more conserved segments of LIB2008/08 showed only 79.8–80.2% similarity with the eastern European BTV-9 isolates from the Eastern Mediterranean region, but 89–93.5% similarity with the BTV-9 reference and vaccine strains from South Africa. BTV-9 from Libya belongs to a distinct western lineage of viruses and represents both a new introduction to the Mediterranean region and a new threat to Europe.

scholarly journals New information on distribution of a marine leech, Pontobdella muricata (Linnaeus, 1758), from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey

Check List ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saadet Yağmur Bulguroğlu ◽  
Jale Korun ◽  
Mehmet Gökoğlu
Keyword(s):  
New Record ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
New Information ◽  
Thornback Ray ◽  
Raja Clavata ◽  
The Mediterranean

New information on distribution of marine leech, Pontobdella muricata (Linnaeus, 1758) is given here. One leech was observed on the dorsal surface of Thornback Ray, Raja clavata (Linnaeus, 1758) that was caught in 2013 in the Antalya, Turkey. This is a new record for the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

A Sicilian–Cretan biogeographical disjunction in the land snail genus Cornu (Gastropoda: Helicidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Hausdorf ◽  
Sonja Bamberger ◽  
Frank Walther
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Land Snail ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Western Africa ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract We report an unusual biogeographical disjunction between the western and the eastern Mediterranean region. Cornu (Gastropoda: Helicidae) is a western Mediterranean land snail genus. It includes Cornu (Cornu) aspersum, which originated in north-western Africa and was distributed by humans for food or accidentally, first throughout the Mediterranean region and, subsequently, to all continents except Antarctica. It also includes three species belonging to the subgenus Erctella, which are all endemic to Sicily. We discovered a new species of Cornu on the Greek island of Crete. The morphological and molecular genetic analyses showed that the species from Crete is a disjunct representative of the subgenus Erctella. We hypothesize that the disjunction originated by a long-distance dispersal event of the ancestors of the Cretan species from Sicily by birds or by sea currents, perhaps facilitated by a tsunami or a similar event. The Cretan lineage separated from the Sicilian species in the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene. This divergence time is compatible with the hypothesis that the ancestor of Cornu cretense sp. nov. was washed from Sicily to Crete by the Zanclean flood that refilled the Mediterranean basin after it had dried up during the Messinian salinity crisis.

scholarly journals Synoptic climatology of winter intense precipitation events along the Mediterranean coasts

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1707-1722 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Reale ◽  
P. Lionello
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Teleconnection Pattern ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Synoptic Climatology ◽  
Precipitation Event ◽  
Intense Precipitation ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Precipitation Events

Abstract. The link between winter (December-January-February) precipitation events at 15 Mediterranean coastal locations and synoptic features (cyclones and Northern Hemisphere teleconnection patterns) is analyzed. A list of precipitation events has been produced; q percentile thresholds (Thq) and corresponding frequency Nq (for q equal to 25, 50, 90 and 98) have been considered. A negative trend has been detected in total precipitation and N50 at many locations, while no significant trend in N25, N90 and N98 has been found. The negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the East Atlantic/West Russia pattern (EAWR) compete for exerting the largest influence on the frequency of the 25th, 50th and 90th percentiles, with EAWR and NAO exerting their largest influence in the central and western Mediterranean areas, respectively. All percentiles show a similar behavior except for the 98th percentile, which shows no convincing link to any teleconnection pattern. The cyclone tracks that are associated with precipitation events have been selected using the ERA-40 reanalysis data, and a strong link between intense precipitation and cyclones is shown for all stations. In general, the probability of detecting a cyclone within a distance of 20° from each station increases with the intensity of the precipitation event and decreases with the duration of a dry period. The origin and track of cyclones producing intense precipitation differ among different areas. When precipitation occurs in the northwestern Mediterranean, cyclones are generally either of Atlantic origin or secondary cyclones associated with the passage of major cyclones north of the Mediterranean Basin, while they are mostly generated inside the region itself for events at the eastern Mediterranean coast. An important fraction of intense events in the southern areas is produced by cyclones that are generated over northern Africa. The analysis of sea level pressure and geopotential height at 500 hPa highlights the important role of cyclone depth, circulation strength, surrounding synoptic condition, and of slow speed of the cyclone center for producing intense precipitation events.

scholarly journals On the occurrence and health risks of the Silver-cheeked Toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus Gmelin, 1789) in the marine ecosystem of the Gaza Strip, Palestine

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
ABDEL FATTAH N. ABD RABOU
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Lagocephalus Sceleratus

Abstract. Abd Rabou AFN. 2019. On the occurrence and health risks of the Silver-cheeked Toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus Gmelin, 1789) in the marine ecosystem of the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Biodiversitas 20: 2620-2627. The Silver-cheeked Toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus Gmelin, 1789) is one of the most recent invaders into the Mediterranean Sea. It represents a serious ecological risk to Mediterranean biodiversity and fisheries resources and a health risk to public health. The current study comes to handle the occurrence and health risks of the species in the Eastern Mediterranean of the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Frequent visits to local fish markets, meetings, and discussions with stakeholders, and chasing of local media reports were the main tools involved to satisfy the goals of the study, which extended from 2010 to 2019. The first record of the Silver-cheeked Toadfish in the Mediterranean coast of the Gaza Strip was in 2006 as claimed by fisheries parties. The by-catch of the species by fishing gear extended over the entire length of the Mediterranean coast of the Gaza Strip (42 km). The species was said to damage fishing nets, lines and hooks by its strong teeth. Prior to its banning in early 2010s, all pufferfishes including the species in question were sold freely in Gaza fish markets. Several cases of hospitalization have been reported in the Gaza Strip after consumption of the Silver-cheeked Toadfish. The symptoms of TTX intoxication included nausea and vomiting, dizziness, headache, abdominal pain, perioral paraesthesia, and tingling over the entire body. No death cases were reported locally. Many awareness campaigns have been conducted by fisheries parties to warn both fishermen and local people from the ecological and health risks associated with the Silver-cheeked Toadfish and TTX intoxication. Finally, the threats imposed by the Silver-cheeked Toadfish on the Eastern Mediterranean countries including Palestine indicate that potential solutions to the problem should be explored.

scholarly journals Summertime free tropospheric ozone pool over the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 22025-22058 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Zanis ◽  
P. Hadjinicolaou ◽  
A. Pozzer ◽  
E. Tyrlis ◽  
S. Dafka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ozone Data ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. Observations show that the Mediterranean troposphere is characterized by a marked enhancement in summertime ozone with a maximum over the Eastern Mediterranean. This has been linked to enhanced ozone photochemical production and subsidence under cloud-free anticyclonic conditions. The Eastern Mediterranean region has among the highest levels of background tropospheric ozone around the globe and it can be considered as a global air pollution hotspot. A 12 yr climatological analysis (1998–2009) of free tropospheric ozone was carried out over the region based on ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) ERA-interim reanalysis data and simulations with the EMAC (ECHAM5-MESSy for Atmospheric Chemistry) atmospheric chemistry climate model. EMAC is nudged towards the ECMWF analysis data and includes a stratospheric ozone tracer. A characteristic summertime pool with high ozone concentrations is found in the middle troposphere over the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East (EMME) by ERA-interim ozone data, which is supported by Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite ozone data and simulations with EMAC. The enhanced ozone over the EMME is a robust feature, propagating down to lower free tropospheric levels. The investigation of ozone in relation to potential vorticity and water vapour and the stratospheric ozone tracer indicates that the dominant mechanism causing the free tropospheric ozone pool is downward transport from the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere associated with the enhanced subsidence and the limited outflow transport that dominates the summertime EMME circulation. The implications of these summertime high free tropospheric ozone values on the seasonal cycle of near surface ozone over the Mediterranean are discussed.

scholarly journals Bryozoa from the Mediterranean coast of Israel

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 440 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. SOKOLOVER ◽  
P. D. TAYLOR ◽  
M. ILAN
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Higher Temperature ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Non Indigenous Species ◽  
The Impact

The impact of global warming on the composition of marine biotas is increasing, underscoring the need for better baseline information on the species currently present in given areas. Little is known about the bryozoan fauna of Israel; the most recent publication concerning species from the Mediterranean coast was based on samples collected in the 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, not only have the species present in this region changed, but so too has our understanding of bryozoan taxonomy. Here we use samples collected during the last decade to identify 47 bryozoan species, of which 15 are first records for the Levantine basin. These include one new genus and species (Crenulatella levantinensis gen. et. sp. nov.), two new species (Licornia vieirai sp. nov. and Trematooecia mikeli sp. nov.), and two species that may be new but for which available material is inadequate for formal description (Reteporella sp. and Thalamoporella sp.). In addition, Conopeum ponticum is recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea. Non-indigenous species make up almost one-quarter of the 47 species identified. All of the non-indigenous species are native to tropical and subtropical regions, implying a change of the Levant bryozoan biota from a temperate to a more tropical state, probably related to both higher temperature and salinity and to the opening of the Suez Canal connecting the Red Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.  

scholarly journals New records of amphipod crustaceans along the Israeli Mediterranean coast, including a rare Mediterranean endemic species, Maera schieckei Karaman & Ruffo, 1971

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Lo Brutto ◽  
Davide Iaciofano
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean Basin ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Distribution And Ecology

A survey has been carried out at four Israeli rocky sites to evaluate the diversity of the amphipod fauna on various hard substrates, still scarcely monitored, as potential pabulum for amphipod crustacean species. A survey of shallow rocky reefs along the Mediterranean coast of Israel recovered 28 species and integrated the Amphipoda checklist for the country ofIsrael with 12 newly-recorded species. Such renewed national list includes Maera schieckei Karaman & Ruffo, 1971, a rare species endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, recorded here for the first time from the southern Levant Basin. The species, described from specimens collected in the Tyrrhenian Sea in 1970, has been only recorded eight times within the whole Mediterranean Sea. A revision of the bibliography on the distribution and ecology of M. schieckei showed that, although mentioned only for the western Mediterranean basin by some authors, it is listed in the checklist of amphipods of the Aegean Sea and neighbouring seas and has been found in the eastern Mediterranean basin since 1978. Maera schieckei was rarely found in the Mediterranean, one of the most studied marine biogeographic region as concerns the amphipod fauna; and the species seems to prefer bays or gulf areas. The role of updating and monitoring faunal composition should be re-evaluated.

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