Early-Middle Pleistocene benthic turnover and oxygen isotope stratigraphy from the Central Mediterranean (Valle di Manche, Crotone Basin, Italy): data and trends

Ostracod faunal turnover and oxygen isotope data (foraminifera) along the Valle di Manche (VdM) section are herein compiled. Specifically, the material reported in this work includes quantitative palaeoecological data and patterns of ostracod fauna framed within a high-resolution oxygen isotope stratigraphy (δ18O) from Uvigerina peregrina. In addition, the multivariate ostracod faunal stratigraphic trend (nMDS axis-1 sample score) is calibrated using bathymetric distributions of extant molluscs sampled from the same stratigraphic intervals along the VdM section. Data and analyses support the research article “Dynamics of benthic marine communities across the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary in the Mediterranean region (Valle di Manche, Southern Italy): biotic and stratigraphic implications” Rossi et al. [1]

PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVOLUTION OF THE PLIO-PLEISTOCENE MONTE MARIO SUCCESSION (ROME, ITALY) INFERRED FROM OSTRACOD ASSEMBLAGES

The whole "classical" Monte Mario succession has been recovered through the excavation of the Giovanni XXIII tunnel inside the city of Rome (Italy). The succession has been sampled from the Zanclean Monte Vaticano Fm. to the Lower Pleistocene Monte Mario Fm. Well-preserved and diversified ostracod faunas have been recovered and the ostracod assemblages have been studied using community structure analyses and statistical multivariate analyses. The Monte Vaticano Fm. has been referred to a bathyal marine environment (300-350 m of depth), the most represented genera being Krithe, Parakrithe, Bairdoppilata and Cytherella. The Monte Mario Fm. provided ostracod assemblages referable to littoral environments with Cimbaurila, Aurila, Costa, Carinocythereis, Leptocythere and Loxoconcha as dominant taxa. Within the Monte Mario Fm., three marine shallowing-up sequences have been recognised, the last two recording marginal marine conditions with shallow depths and variable salinity (dominant Cyprideis torosa). Two cold-water episodes have been recognised within the basal Monte Mario Fm. characterised by the occurrence of Arctica islandica and, within the upper level, by the presence of the northern guests Cytheropteron depressum, Bythocythere zetlandica, Paradoxostoma ensiforme and Paradoxostoma abbreviatum.

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LATE QUATERNARY CLIMATIC VARIATIONS BASED ON OSTRACOD ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE NORTH WESTERN BASIN (ROSS SEA, ANTARCTICA)

Within the National Program on Antarctic Research (PNRA), studies of ostracods assemblages from seven sediment cores (ANTA91 c9, ANTA 98 c25, ANTA02 NW1, NW2, NW5, NW6, NW12) sampled in the north western sector of the Ross Sea continental shelf showed some interesting micropaleontological results, which are very useful for the reconstruction of the climatic history of the area

The Gediz supradetachment system (SW Turkey): magmatism, tectonics and sedimentation during crustal extension

International audienceUnravelling the evolution of supradetachment basins developed in the hanging wall of low‐angle detachment faults may be an invaluable tool in reconstructing the tectonic evolution of highly extended terrains. These basins may record major regional tectonic events related to the exhumation of metamorphic core complexes, and the reconstruction of their evolution helps to quantify the amount of extension accommodated by such processes. Here we present stratigraphic and structural field evidence and micropaleontological constraints to the Neogene‐to‐Quaternary evolution of the supradetachment Gediz Graben that developed on top of the exhuming Central Menderes Massif (SW Turkey). This basin displays three different structural styles during its evolution: (i) it initiated as a ramp basin following the activation of the Gediz Detachment in the Middle Miocene; (ii) evolved as a half graben during the Late Miocene following the activation of high‐angle brittle faults at its southern margin; and (iii) reached its final symmetric graben configuration in Late Pliocene (?) – Quaternary times following the activation of its northern margin. New micropaleontological data document a short‐lived upper Tortonian marine episode in the basin, and major along‐strike variations in exhumation are documented on its southern margin. Our reconstruction shows how sedimentary basins originally formed in the hanging‐wall of detachment faults may eventually end up in tectonic contact with the mylonitic footwall. Finally, we highlight the importance of magmatism in localizing the deformation in highly extended terrains and in controlling the evolution of supradetachment systems

Evidence for 1.5 km of Uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau's Southern Margin in the Last 450 kyr and Implications for Its Multiphased Uplift History

At the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP), marine deposits that overlie the Central Tauride units at up to 2 km of elevation were used to constrain the onset of uplift to the middle-late Miocene. This study demonstrates that much younger marine deposits cap the southern margin. We recognize the Last Common Occurrence of Neogloboquadrina spp. (sin) (0.61 Ma) and Pseudoemiliania lacunosa (0.467 Ma), which points to an early middle Pleistocene age. The benthic fauna indicates an epibathyal marine environment (400 to 500 m paleodepth), with an associated paleocoastline now at ~1,500 to 1,600 m above sea level. Our new results imply uplift rates of up to 3.21-3.42 mm/yr for the CAP southern margin since the deposition of the young marine units. In the area, the evaluation of late Pleistocene and Holocene uplift rates of ~1 mm/yr points to a post early middle Pleistocene short-lived period of rapid uplift of the CAP southern margin, which can correlate the short-lived surface uplift signal in numerical models of slab breakoff. Overall, this work demonstrates that the majority of the modern topography at the CAP southern margin (1,500 to 1,600 m) was only recently acquired, pointing to the absence of a significant orographic barrier along the southern plateau margin prior to 500 ka. The multiphased uplift recognized at the CAP southern margin by previous authors, as well as the fast uplift rate documented in this work, can be linked to lithosphere delamination and subsequent slab breakoff during the Arabian-Anatolian continental collision

Early Pleistocene (Calabrian) marine bottom oxygenation and palaeoclimate at the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau

The Mediterranean Basin is a semi-enclosed basin highly sensitive to climate changes such as evaporation-precipitation processes and glacial-interglacial transitions. It is composed by two main basins, the Western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean, which are differently sensitive to the high latitude and low latitude climate interactions. Such differences could translate in different reactions to climate changes recorded in the bottom sediments, i.e. the enhanced effects of the freshwater inputs on the bottom oxygenation in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this paper we investigate the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate derived from the study of Early Pleistocene (Calabrian) deep marine deposits cropping out along the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau at the Gülnar East section (southern Turkey). Using benthic and planktonic foraminifers the bottom oxygenation and the sea surface temperature (SST) were evaluated through the calculation of the benthic foraminifera oxygen index (BFOI) and palaeoclimate curve. The results show that the marine epibathyal palaeonvironment in this Eastern Mediterranean area reacted to the palaeoclimate changes with the water mass stratification (warm periods) and/or with enhanced primary productivity (cool/cold periods) leading to the deposition of sapropel layers with different degrees of bottom oxygenation

Messinian paleoenvironmental changes in the easternmost Mediterranean Basin: Adana Basin, southern Turkey

We present detailed Messinian paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Adana Basin based on a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes the fossil content of the Kuzgun and Handere Formations. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes that affected the Adana Basin during the Messinian, we analyzed mollusk, ostracod, planktonic and benthonic foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages from 2 stratigraphic sections near Kabasakal village (Adana, southern Turkey). To determine if the environmental changes recognized in the Adana Basin are local or regional, and to understand the extent to which the global changes in oceanic circulation impacted the Mediterranean sedimentary basins, we compare our results with Messinian sections from other locations in the Mediterranean region (northern Italy, southern Italy, Cyprus, Algeria, and southern Turkey). The occurrence of N. humerosa, G. bulloides, G. woodi, N. acostaensis, N. atlantica (planktonic forams), S. multiflora, T. rugosa, P. elongata, C. scitula, L. lipadusensis (ostracods), R. rotaria, A. primus, and A. delicatus (calcareous nannofossils) allows us to constrain the uppermost part of the Kuzgun Formation to the early Messinian. The ostracod assemblages indicate an enclosed marine environment characterized by sporadic local freshwater inputs that decreased the salinity of the basin. In contrast, in the late Messinian Handere Formation, the presence of Paratethyan ostracods pertaining to the Loxoconcha mülleri zone and to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi zone in the Handere Formation indicates the occurrence of the Messinian brackish water Lago-Mare event in the Adana Basin, which occurred throughout the Mediterranean between 5.60 and 5.33 Ma.We present detailed Messinian paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Adana Basin based on a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes the fossil content of the Kuzgun and Handere Formations. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes that affected the Adana Basin during the Messinian, we analyzed mollusk, ostracod, planktonic and benthonic foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages from 2 stratigraphic sections near Kabasakal village (Adana, southern Turkey). To determine if the environmental changes recognized in the Adana Basin are local or regional, and to understand the extent to which the global changes in oceanic circulation impacted the Mediterranean sedimentary basins, we compare our results with Messinian sections from other locations in the Mediterranean region (northern Italy, southern Italy, Cyprus, Algeria, and southern Turkey). The occurrence of N. humerosa, G. bulloides, G. woodi, N. acostaensis, N. atlantica (planktonic forams), S. multiflora, T. rugosa, P. elongata, C. scitula, L. lipadusensis (ostracods), R. rotaria, A. primus, and A. delicatus (calcareous nannofossils) allows us to constrain the uppermost part of the Kuzgun Formation to the early Messinian. The ostracod assemblages indicate an enclosed marine environment characterized by sporadic local freshwater inputs that decreased the salinity of the basin. In contrast, in the late Messinian Handere Formation, the presence of Paratethyan ostracods pertaining to the Loxoconcha mülleri zone and to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi zone in the Handere Formation indicates the occurrence of the Messinian brackish water Lago-Mare event in the Adana Basin, which occurred throughout the Mediterranean between 5.60 and 5.33 Ma

Tectonics, sea-level changes and palaeoenvironments in the early Pleistocene of Rome (Italy)

The historical site of the Monte Mario lower Pleistocene succession (Rome, Italy) is an important marker of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Recently, the Monte Mario site was excavated and restudied. A spectacular angular unconformity characterizes the contact between the Monte Vaticano and the Monte Mario formations, which marks the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Biostratigraphical analyses carried out on ostracod, foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages indicate an Early Pliocene age (topmost Zanclean, 3.81-3.70 Ma) for the underlying Monte Vaticano Formation, whereas the Monte Mario Formation has been dated as early Pleistocene (Santernian, 1.66-1.59 Ma). Palaeomagnetic analyses point to C2Ar and C1r2r polarity chrons for the Monte Vaticano and the Monte Mario formations, respectively. The Monte Mario Formation consists of two obliquity-forced depositional sequences (MM1 and MM2) characterized by transgressive systems tracts of littoral marine environments at depths, respectively, of 40-80 m and 15-20 m. The data obtained from foraminifer and ostracod assemblages allow us to reconstruct early Pleistocene relative sea-level changes near Rome. At the Plio/Pleistocene transition, a relative sea-level drop of at least 260 m occurred, as a result of both tectonic uplift of the central Tyrrhenian margin and glacio-eustatic changes linked to early Pleistocene glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 58). (C) 2009 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

ITALIAN BRACKISH AND MARINE OSTRACOD FAUNA

In the literature, there are many studies concerning ostracods in the Italian seas. Among the most relevant are the evergreen monograph of M\ufcller (1894) about the ostracods from the Gulf of Naples, the publications of BONADUCE et al., 1976 and BREMAN,1976 about the Adriatic Sea, PURI et al., 1964, again about the Gulf of Naples and BONADUCE et al., 1977 about the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. In addition, different authors centered their research in smaller areas of the Italian coasts (MONTENEGRO et al., 1998; SCIUTO & ROSSO, 2002; ARBULLA et al., 2004; SCIUTO, in progress;) proposed a synthesis of the most abundant and more easily identifiable ostracods from the Italian shelves, linking their occurrence to some environmental factors such as bathymetry and substrate. Ten different ostracod assemblages were observed in relation to the type of substrate, and nine bathymetric assemblages were detected. Evident changes of the autochthonous ostracod fauna were recorded at 50-60 m, 90-100 m and 125-150 m, corresponding to the infralittoral-circalittoral, inner-middle circalittoral and middle-outer circalittoral boundaries respectively. More recently, AIELLO & BARRA (2010) have published a checklist of the Italian marine ostracods, reporting 377 ostracod species from the screening of 84 papers. In this contribution, we present an updated database of the ostracod species pertaining to the infralittoral and circalittoral zones, together with those occurring in lagoon, intertidal, submarine cave and deep water settings. Furthermore, we intend to highlight the links between the ostracod assemblages..