Isotopic and Palaeotemperature Characteristics of the Southern Marmara Sea

The samples used in this study are mollusc shells that were obtained from core sediments taken at 60 m water depths from the Southern Marmara Sea, close to the Kapidag Peninsula. The ages of samples ranged from Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene. In two cores, analysis were carried out on mollusc fossils for δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C isotopes. The δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values of mollusc shells ranged between 0.20 %O and -3.0 %O and 0.08 %O and 0.8 1 %o, respectively. δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C display independent and different values that are inversely related with each other. The lowest δ¹⁸O values are associated with highest δ¹³C values. The variations in oxygen and carbon isotopic values are independent from each other and reflect changes in palaeogeographic environment. The varying isotopic temperature values between 1 3.0°C and 27.6°C proves changing palaeoenvironmental conditions in the basin. The isotopic temperature and δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C data for the Late Quaternary times (for W2-H L1) in the Marmara Sea are obtained in this study for the first time.