Summary and Synthesis of Late Miocene to Recent Sedimentary and Paleoceanographic Evolution of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Western Mediterranean: Leg 107 of the Ocean Drilling Program

Analyses of marine and terrestrial palynomorphs of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 645 in Baffin Bay led us to define a new biostratigraphical scheme covering the late Miocene to Pleistocene based on dinocyst and acritarch assemblages. Four biozones were defined. The first one, from 438.6 m below sea floor (mbsf) to 388 mbsf, can be assigned a late Miocene to early Pliocene age (>4.5 Ma), based on the common occurrence of Cristadinium diminutivum and Selenopemphix brevispinosa. Biozone 2, spanning from an erosional unconformity to a recovery hiatus, is marked by the highest occurrences (HOs) of Veriplicidium franklinii and Cristadinium diminutivum, which suggest an early Pliocene age >3.6 Ma (∼4.5 to ∼3.6 Ma). Biozone 3, above the recovery hiatus and up to 220.94 mbsf, corresponds to a late Pliocene or early Pleistocene age based on occurrences of Bitectatodinium readwaldii, Cymatiosphaera? icenorum, and Lavradosphaera canalis. Finally, between 266.4 and 120.56 mbsf, Biozone 4, marked by the HO of Filisphaera filifera, Filisphaera microornata, and Habibacysta tectata, has an early Pleistocene age (>1.4 Ma). Our biostratigraphy implies that horizon b1 of the Baffin Bay seismic stratigraphy corresponds to the recovery hiatus at ODP Site 645, which suggests a very thick Pliocene sequence along the Baffin Island slope. Dinocyst assemblages and terrestrial palynomorphs in our records indicate that the late Miocene and (or) early Pliocene were characterized by relatively warm coastal surface waters and boreal forest or forested tundra vegetation over adjacent lands. In contrast, the early Pleistocene dinocyst assemblages above the recovery hiatus indicate cold surface waters, while pollen data suggest reduced vegetation cover on adjacent lands.

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Mineralogical Study of Upper Miocene Sediments from Wireline Logs and Core Measurements, Site 652, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 107 (Tyrrhenian Sea)

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.107.178.1990 ◽

1990 ◽

Author(s):

C. Broglia ◽

B.C. Schreiber ◽

M.B. Cita ◽

H. Chamley ◽

R. Dove

Keyword(s):

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Ocean Drilling Program ◽

Upper Miocene ◽

Ocean Drilling ◽

Mineralogical Study ◽

Wireline Logs

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Petrology and Geochemistry of Basalts from the Vavilov Basin (Tyrrhenian Sea), Ocean Drilling Program Leg 107, Holes 651A and 655B

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.107.142.1990 ◽

1990 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

H. Bertrand ◽

P. Boivin ◽

C. Robin

Keyword(s):

Tyrrhenian Sea ◽

Ocean Drilling Program ◽

Ocean Drilling ◽

Petrology And Geochemistry

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An Approach to the Paleoceanographic Characteristics of the Sea-Surface at the Western Mediterranean (Balearic Area) during the Pliocene and Gelasian

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences10080302 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 302

Author(s):

Francisco Serrano

Keyword(s):

Estimation Error ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Ocean Drilling Program ◽

Average Value ◽

Ocean Drilling ◽

Calibration Dataset ◽

Current Water ◽

Water Surplus ◽

Temperature Seasonality

From the study of the planktonic foraminifer assemblages of the sediments of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)-Site 975 (Baleares), sea-surface temperature, seasonality and salinity for the Pliocene and Gelasian of the Western Mediterranean were estimated. The estimates were carried out by the modern analog technique (MAT) using PaleoUma, a calibration dataset of 735 North-Atlantic and Mediterranean core-tops. In order to compare Pliocene–Gelasian and present-day analog assemblages, the necessary reduction of the taxonomic variables leads to statistically insignificant increases in estimation error, assessed on the calibration dataset itself. In addition, the correlation with δ18O results as an independent proxy, supports the use of MAT in order to establish the dominant paleoceanographic frameworks during the Pliocene and Gelasian. The SST curve shows an increase trend of the average value since the Early Zanclean (19.7 ± 1.8 °C) to the Late Piacenzian (20.9 ± 1.7 °C) and a decrease until the Late Gelasian (18.1 ± 1.4 °C). The seasonality offers permanently lower estimates than the current value (9.8 °C), reaching the closest values during the Late Gelasian (8.6 ± 0.8 °C). The salinity estimates are overall slightly lower during the Zanclean (36.7‰ ± 0.5‰) than today (37.3‰), whereas they reach up to more than 38.5‰, in the Early Piacenzian. The paleoceanographic frameworks deduced from the combination of the paleoceanographic parameters suggest that the current water-deficit regime in the Mediterranean was clearly predominant throughout the Pliocene and Gelasian. However, since the Piacenzian this regime alternates with stages of water surplus, which are especially frequent in the late Piacenzian. By the middle of the Early Gelasian the regime becomes more predominantly in deficit again.

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Holocene climate variability of the Western Mediterranean: Surface water dynamics inferred from calcareous plankton assemblages

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683619895580 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (5) ◽

pp. 691-708 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Pietro Bazzicalupo ◽

Patrizia Maiorano ◽

Angela Girone ◽

Maria Marino ◽

Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Water ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Water Dynamics ◽

Ocean Drilling Program ◽

Ocean Drilling ◽

Climate Shifts ◽

Oceanic Forcing ◽

Calcareous Plankton ◽

Florisphaera Profunda ◽

Gyre Circulation

A high-resolution study (centennial scale) has been performed on the calcareous plankton assemblage of the Holocene portion of the Ocean Drilling Program Site 976 (Alboran Sea) with the aim to identify the main changes in the surface water dynamic. The dataset also provided a seasonal foraminiferal sea surface water temperatures (SSTs), estimated using the modern analog technique SIMMAX 28, and it was compared with available geochemical and pollen data at the site. Three main climate shifts were identified as (1) the increase in abundance of Syracosphaera spp. and Turborotalita quinqueloba marks the early Holocene humid phase, during maximum summer insolation and enhanced river runoff. It is concomitant with the expansion of Quercus, supporting high humidity on land. It ends at 8.2 ka, registering a sudden temperature and humidity reduction; (2) the rise in the abundances of Florisphaera profunda and Globorotalia inflata, at ca. 8 ka, indicates the development of the modern geostrophic front, gyre circulation, and of a deep nutricline following the sea-level rise; and (3) the increase of small Gephyrocapsa and Globigerina bulloides at 5.3 ka suggests enhanced nutrient availability in surface waters, related to more persistent wind-induced upwelling conditions. Relatively higher winter SST in the last 3.5 ka favored the increase of Trilobatus sacculifer, likely connected to more stable surface water conditions. Over the main trends, a short-term cyclicity is registered in coccolithophore productivity during the last 8 ka. Short periods of increased productivity are in phase with Atlantic waters inflow, and more arid intervals on land. This cyclicity has been related with periods of positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) circulations. Spectral analysis on coccolithophore productivity confirms the occurrence of millennial-scale cyclicity, suggesting an external (i.e. solar) and an internal (i.e. atmospheric/oceanic) forcing.

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