The Island of Rhodes, located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, is affected by an active convergent plate boundary. In this context, marine sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age have been uplifted and are outcropping along the eastern coast of Rhodes. These archives provide an excellent opportunity to unravel the hydrological and climatic changes of the region during the late Pliocene. Our results provide new evidence for a more humid climate and an increased precipitation on the island during times of Northern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima and related sapropel formation in the Mediterranean deep sea. The periodic occurrence of eutrophic conditions at the shelf and upper slope off Rhodes is indicated by the recurrent dominance of eutrophic indicator species (of the genera Bolivina, Eubuliminella and Rectuvigerina), simultaneously with a decline in diversity and oligotrophic indicator species. These conditions resulted from higher primary productivity, triggered by local effects, such as enhanced precipitation and river run-off, which consequently favors the appearance of eutrophic taxa. The ∆δ¹³C records of the epibenthic foraminifera Cibicidoides pseudoungerianus and the shallow infaunal species Uvigerina peregrina indicate a slight productivity decrease towards younger times.

罗德岛位于东地中海，受到活跃的汇聚板块边界的影响。在这种情况下，上皮里奥-更新世时代的海洋沉积物已经抬升并沿着罗德岛东海岸露出地面。这些档案为揭示该地区上新世晚期的水文和气候变化提供了绝佳的机会。我们的研究结果为北半球夏季日照最大时期岛上气候更加潮湿和降水增加以及地中海深海相关腐泥的形成提供了新的证据。罗得岛外陆架和上坡富营养化状况的周期性发生是由富营养指示物种（玻利维纳属、Eubuliminella和Rectuvigerina属）反复占主导地位，同时多样性和寡营养指示物种的下降所表明的。这些条件是由于降水增加和河流径流等局部效应引发的初级生产力提高造成的，从而有利于富营养化类群的出现。底栖有孔虫Cibicidoides fakeungerianus和浅层动物物种Uvigerina peregrina的Δδ ¹³ C 记录表明，生产力在年轻时期略有下降。