The Levant, a transition zone between the temperate Mediterranean domain and subtropical deserts, is a key area to study the latitudinal migrations of zonal climatic belts in response to glacial-interglacial conditions. The region underwent large climatic shifts during the Late Quaternary, with dramatic impacts on water resources and human populations. This paper presents the unique long-term hydroclimatic record (ca. 400 ka) from Northern Levant, derived from a sediment core taken from a small tectonic basin of northern Lebanon, the currently wettest area of the Levant. Combined biotic (pollen, biologic aquatic remains) and abiotic proxies (sediment properties, carbonate oxygen isotopes) reveal relatively high water availability during interglacials and generally drier glacials periods during the past four climate cycles. These general trends are in line with pollen records from southeastern and near east Mediterranean areas, but differ from some paleohydrological records from the southern Levant. Southward migrations of the rain-bearing mid-latitude westerlies during glacial periods and regional land topography are likely to explain the observed regional climate signatures. In addition, distinctive climate signatures of the successive wetter/drier intervals reflect interactions between global forcing (insolation, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration), eastern Mediterranean Sea surface conditions intimately linked to North Atlantic climate and to ice-sheet and sea-ice extent at high northern latitudes, land topography, and local hydrogeological processes. Our record brings new benchmarks for understanding the spatial heterogeneity of eastern Mediterranean responses to global climate changes.

The organic-rich Lower Jurassic Gordondale shales of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin are characterized by vertical anisotropy related to the extensive horizontal laminated fabric common in shales. The laminae result in differences in rock mechanical properties measured in directions orthogonal and parallel to the bedding planes, which strongly influences the hydraulic fracture height. To accurately generate a horizontal stress profile and predict stress barriers and fracturing heights from logs in unconventional shale reservoirs, vertical anisotropy of organic shales must be taken into consideration. These parameters are essential for predicting the optimal landing point of a horizontal well and hydrocarbon productivity. Analysis of core-test and well log data in 28 wells has been carried out for the Gordondale shales in a study area of 100 km x 90 km in west-central Alberta to characterize mechanical rock properties and estimate the orientation and magnitude of present-day in-situ pressure and stresses. We show that the mechanical properties across the study area display a NW-SE trend, where the Gordondale shales have higher brittleness (BI) and lower anisotropy (K 0) in the SE than the NW. The best interval for hydraulic fracturing in the Gordondale shales is characterized by high BI (~65.4), low K 0 (~0.3) and low minimum horizontal stress (S hmin) gradient (~1.44 g/cm 3) and is bounded by layers having lower BI (~50.2%), higher K 0 (~0.41) and higher S hmin gradient (~1.57 g/m 3). The bounding units may represent good stress barriers providing fracture containment zones. The orientation of present-day maximum horizontal stress was determined to be N28°E in the study area from caliper data in 8 wells. This value differs from the regional stress orientation of N47°E and it may reflect local stress rotation influenced by tectonic structures, which is essential for optimizing horizontal well trajectory.