Changes in the flux of Saharan dust to the East Mediterranean Sea since the last glacial maximum as observed through Sr-isotope geochemistry

We present a dust flux (g m^-2yr^-1) record for the East Mediterranean Sea constructed using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio measurements on the fine fraction of carbonate-free sediment from core 9501 from the north Levantine basin. The Saharan dust flux profile shows a first order correspondence with Atlantic dust-flux records in showing: (1) small dust fluxes during the last glacial maximum, a dust pulse associated with the Heinrich 1 (H1) event; (2) a small peak corresponding with the younger dryas (YD); (3) a decrease during the African Humid Period (AHP); and (4) an abrupt return to dustier conditions between ∼5.7-5.2 ky BP.