Mediterranean marine sediment cores database: unlocking paleoclimatic signals for the last 20,000 years

The Mediterranean Sea is a crucial area for studying past climate dynamics due to its unique geography and hydrology. We present PaleoMED20, a paleoclimatic database that spans nearly six decades of research in the Mediterranean, covering the last 20,000 years. With over 1,500 marine sediment cores, it includes oceanographic cruise data and descriptions of the related cores recovered. For each core, we gathered all available information on past environmental variables and their associated climatic indicators (proxies). Metadata were collected from over 400 scientific articles, and a sub-set of 36 well-studied and/or most relevant cores was selected from the total of 1,524 to explore the quality and utility of the database for further studies. Here we present how PaleoMED20 can be used to identify the available key environmental variables and proxies over the last 20,000 years, while also highlighting existing knowledge gaps. This database has the potential to inform future oceanographic expeditions in the Mediterranean and contribute to the development of strategies and policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation.