Thorium-Uranium dating of cold-water corals from Mole and Elf Mound, Western Mediterranean Sea (Alboran Sea, East Melilla)

This data presents high precision Th/U ages from cold-water corals obtained from gravity cores collected in the western Mediterranean Sea (Alboran Sea, East Melilla). Together with drill records of the sea floor drill rig MARUM-MeBo70 (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.945132), these data provide new insights into the initiation and development of the Mediterranean coral mounds since the Mid-Pleistocene. The coral ages document mound development pulses, which are remarkably coherent with precession-driven changes in African hydroclimate. The data supports studies on the relevance of past changes in continental hydroclimate and their implications on oceanic processes including the complex processes leading to the aggradation of cold-water coral mounds.

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