Increased presence of greigite (high SIRM/κLF) coincides with maximum sulphur contents observed at the beginning of interglacial stages (Fig. 11A). At similar levels in another sediment core of Lake Baikal, Watanabe et al. (2004) observed pyrite mineralization. They attributed these pyrite-rich levels to mineralization at sediment/water interface under anoxic bottom water conditions. However, we prefer to interpret the greigite as a result of magnetite transformation when sulphate reduction occurs in the interglacial sediments. Peak sulphur contents would therefore be due to sulphur mineralization within the sediment and would not result from an enrichment of the sediment in sulphur at the sediment/water interface.