Temperature, precipitation, and vegetation changes in the Eastern Mediterranean over the last deglaciation and Dansgaard-Oeschger events

We here estimate past temperature and hydroclimate variations in eastern Anatolia for marine isotope stages 4 to 1 (MIS4 to MIS1) respectively using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and the hydrogen isotopic composition of n-C-29 leaf-wax n-alkanes (delta H-2(wax)) stored in the sedimentary record of Lake Van (Turkey). Our millennial-scale lipid biomarker records reflect warm and wet conditions during interstadials/interglacials and colder and dryer periods with increased evapotranspiration and aridity during stadials/glacials. The degree of methylation of the 5-methyl brGDGTs (MBT '(5me)) indicates increasing mean annual air temperatures (MAT) during stadial/interstadial transitions, that characterize Dansgaard-Oeschger events, and during the last glacial termination.