Chronology and environmental changes from a sediment core spanning the last 485 ka from Lake Acıgöl (SW Anatolia)

This study details the construction of an age-depth model for the uppermost 128 meters of the 600 m long Acıgöl2009-B03 sediment core, retrieved from the hypersaline Lake Acıgöl in southwestern Anatolia. The model aligns the arboreal pollen record from Acıgöl2009-B03 with the LR04 benthic δ18O stack marine oxygen isotope record. Initial correlation was achieved using the Dynamic Time Warping algorithm, which was subsequently refined through manual tuning and finalized with Bayesian age-depth modeling to enhance precision and report the associated uncertainty levels. The model's accuracy incorporates multiple chronological constraints, including three radiocarbon dates, three U/Th dates, and the Kos Plateau Tuff, dated at 161.3 ± 0.1 ka. According to this model, the upper 128 meters of the Acıgöl2009-B03 sequence spans approximately the last 485,000 years, encompassing Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1 to 12 and part of MIS 13. Our model serves as an update to the previously published, linearly constructed, age model as being used more anchor points and an efficient algorithm for similarity measurements which lies on a robust statistical foundation. In this period, arboreal pollen data suggest increasing (decreasing) arboreal vegetation input during interglacial (glacial) periods.