Quantitative climate reconstructions on Miocene palynofloras of the Velona Basin (Tuscany, Italy).

A Neogene palynological profile from the Velona Basin (Tuscany, Italy) is used for quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstruction. Two standard methods, the Coexistence Approach and the Climatic Amplitude Method, are applied to show the potential of quantitative analyses also in comparison with the classical qualitative interpretation of data. In spite of some basic methodological differences, both methods show a stable, warm temperate and humid climate throughout the profile, which is in accordance with the qualitative interpretation. In this case study, the two approaches give similar, well comparable results with only minor differences in absolute values.