W.J. Zachariasse

Extending the astronomical ( polarity) time scale into the Miocene

An astronomical time scale is presented for the late Miocene based on the correlation of characteristic sedimentary cycle patterns in marine sections in the Mediterranean to the 65”N summer insolation curve of La90 [ 1,2] with present-day values for the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth and tidd dissipation by the moon. This correlation yields ages for all sedimentary cycles and hence also for the recorded polarity reversals, and planktonic foraminiferal and dinoflagellate events. The Tortonian/Messinian (T/M) boundary placed at the first regular occurrence of the Globorofuliu conomiozea group in the Mediterranean is dated at 7.24 Ma. The duration of the Messinian is estimated at 1.91 Myr because the Miocene/Pliocene boundary has been dated previously at 5.33 Ma [3]. The new time scale is confirmed by “OAr/ 3gAr ages of volcanic beds and by the number of sedimentary cycles in the younger part of the Mediterranean Messinian.

Temporal variability in the northern Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) during the last 225,000 years

The northern Arabian Sea is one of the few regions in the open ocean where thermocline water is severely depleted in oxygen. The intensity of this oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) has been reconstructed over the past 225,000 years using proxies for surface water productivity, water column denitrification, winter mixing, and the aragonite compensation depth (ACD). Changes in OMZ intensity occurred on orbital and suborbital timescales. Lowest O2 levels correlate with productivity maxima and shallow winter mixing. Precession-related productivity maxima lag early summer insolation maxima by ∼6 kyr, which we attribute to a prolonged summer monsoon season related to higher insolation at the end of the summer. Periods with a weakened or even non-existent OMZ are characterized by low productivity conditions and deep winter mixing attributed to strong and cold winter monsoonal winds. The timing of deep winter mixing events corresponds with that of periods of climatic cooling in the North Atlantic region.

Late Neogene evolution of the Taza-Guercif Basin (Rifian Corridor, Morocco) and implications for the Messinian salinity crisis

Abstract Magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic results are presented from Neogene deposits in the Taza–Guercif Basin, located at the southern margin of the Rifian Corridor in Morocco. This corridor was the main marine passageway which connected the Mediterranean with the Atlantic during Messinian times. Correlation of the biostratigraphy and polarity sequence of the Taza–Guercif composite section to the astronomical time scale, allows an accurate dating of three subsequent events in the Rifian Corridor. (1) The oldest marine sediments marking the opening of the Rifian Corridor were deposited at 8 Ma. At this age, a deep (600 m) marine basin developed in the Taza–Guercif area, marked by deposition of precession-controlled turbidite–marl cycles. (2) Paleodepth reconstructions indicate that a rapid (5 m/ka) shallowing of the marine corridor took place at the Tortonian/Messinian boundary, at an age of 7.2 Ma. This shallowing phase is primarily related to active tectonics, although a small glacio-eustatic sea level lowering also took place. (3) The Taza–Guercif Basin was emergent at an age of 6.0 Ma and, subsequently, continental sedimentation continued well into the Early Pliocene. We suggest that shallowing and restricting the marine passageway through the Rifian Corridor actually initiated the Messinian salinity crisis, well before the deposition of the Messinian evaporites in the Mediterranean.

Late Miocene magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy in the Mediterranean

A new chronology for the late Miocene of the Mediterranean is presented by combining magnetostratigraphic, biostratigraphic (planktonic foraminifera and dinoflagellates) and cyclo-stratigraphic data. Long and continuous upper Miocene sections on Gavdos (Metochia section) and Sicily (Gibliscemi section) display cyclic alternations of homogeneous marls and sapropels and can be correlated on the basis of their distinct cyclic patterns. The Metochia section yields a good paleomagnetic signal and the position of 17 polarity reversals can be determined. The resulting polarity sequence allows an unambiguous correlation to the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS). The paleomagnetic signal in the Gibliscemi section is too weak to determine a reliable polarity sequence, except for the lowermost part of the section. Detailed biostratigraphic analysis results in the identification of 13 planktonic foraminiferal and 9 dinoflagellate bioevents, which can all be accurately dated. The Tortonian/Messinian boundary, defined by the First Regular Occurrence (FRO) of the G. conomiozea group, is determined in chron C3Br.1r with an age of 7.12 Ma, according to the GPTS (CK95) of Cande and Kent [1].

Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene astronomically forced sea surface productivity and temperature variations in the Mediterranean

Abstract Principal Component Analysis of late Pliocene to early Pleistocene planktonic foraminiferal abundances from the Mediterranean yielded two significant components which represent first order approximations for sea surface productivity and temperature. This interpretation is confirmed by the good fit between the score plots and sea surface productivity and sea surface temperature proxy records based on selected eutrophic and temperature-sensitive species using present-day habitat characteristics. Spectral analysis revealed significant peaks in the orbital frequency bands of the spectrum suggesting that variations in sea surface productivity and temperature are controlled by the quasi-periodic variations in the Earths orbit. Precession-forced variations are reflected primarily in sea surface productivity and to a lesser degree in sea surface temperature. Maxima in sea surface productivity and temperature in this frequency band occurred at times of sapropel formation. The sea surface productivity maxima can be explained by an increased input of river-borne nutrients and by the shoaling of the pycnocline and the associated intensification of the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum (DCM) layer. Precession-forced variations in sea surface temperature are not related to glacial cycles since this frequency component is almost completely absent in ice volume proxy records for this time interval. Sapropel-bound sea surface temperature maxima presumably reflect periods of maximum insolation during the Northern Hemisphere summer. The contrasting winter signal corresponds to minimum insolation values which may be reflected by peak abundances of Globorotalia inflata . Obliquity-forced variations are reflected primarily in sea surface temperature and not in sea surface productivity. These temperature fluctuations correspond with ice volume changes registered in the oxygen isotope record at the North Atlantic DSDP Site 607. This shows that obliquity-forced sea surface temperature variations in the Mediterranean are primarily driven by glacial cycles.

Late Quaternary central Mediterranean biochronology

Jorissen, F.J., Asioli, A., Borsetti, A.M., Capotondi, L., De Visser, J.P., Hilgen, F.J., Rohling, E.J., Van der Borg, K., Vergnaud Grazzini, C. and Zachariasse, W.J., 1993. Late Quaternary central Mediterranean biochronology. Mar. MicropaleontoL, 21: 169-189. A high-resolution biochronology is presented for the Late Quaternary of the central Mediterranean. In the Late Pleistocene-Holocene successions three assemblage zones are distinguished on the basis of frequency patterns of planktic foraminifera. The age of these zones is determined by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) t4C dating. The zonal boundaries are dated at 12,700 yr B.P. (the end of Termination la) and 9600 yr B.P. (the start of Termination Ib), respectively. The AMS dates show that major changes in the planktic and benthic realms occurred synchronously over wide areas, although records of individual species may show important regional differences. In the studied areas, resedimentation processes revealed by anomalous successions of 14C dates, play a far more important role than indicated by the sedimentological and micropaleontological data. Possibly these processes contribute to the very high accumulation rates in the glacial Zone IlL Although the AMS technique has increased the accuracy of laC-measurements, of older carbonate may still lead to substantial age differences between areas with different sedimentary regimes.

Benthic foraminiferal response to variations in surface water productivity and oxygenation in the northern Arabian Sea

Abstract A benthic foraminiferal record of 120,000 year obtained from the base of the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) at a site in the northern Arabian Sea was studied. Quantitative benthic foraminiferal data were compared with palaeoproductivity indices (Corg and Globigerina bulloides) and indices for bottom water oxygen concentration (Pteropod Preservation Index, Mo/Al, V/Al and Mn/Al). The benthic foraminiferal record revealed two distinct assemblages that show variations in the precession frequency band. A high diversity, low equitability assemblage proliferates in isotopic stages 1, 4 and 5, and has been interpreted to reflect relatively oxygenated bottom water conditions. This assemblage shows a strong covariance with minima in summer monsoon productivity. A low diversity, low equitability fauna, typically with a few species showing high dominances, is considered to reflect low bottom water oxygen conditions related to eutrophic surface water conditions. Dominating species in this assemblage are bolivinids, buliminids and globobuliminids. This assemblage dominates during precession-driven maxima in summer surface water productivity, and also during isotopic stages 2 and 3. We suggest that an intensified and colder glacial winter (NE) monsoon led to increased winter production, which superimposed on the precession-driven changes in surface water productivity, resulted in overall poorly oxygenated bottom water during glacial stages 2 and 3. A promising proxy for tracing winter productivity in the northern Arabian Sea is the planktonic foraminifer Globigerina falconensis. The benthic foraminiferal species Rotaliatinopsis seminvoluta in particular, is prolific under glacial conditions.

Integrated stratigraphy and astronomical calibration of the Serravallian/Tortonian boundary section at Monte Gibliscemi (Sicily, Italy)

Results are presented of an integrated stratigraphic (calcareous plankton biostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy) study of the Serravallian=Tortonian (S=T) boundary section of Monte Gibliscemi (Sicily, Italy). Astronomical calibration of the sedimentary cycles provides absolute ages for calcareous plankton bio-events in the interval between 9.8 and 12.1 Ma. The first occurrence (FO) ofNeogloboquadrina acostaensis , usually taken to delimit the S=T boundary, is dated astronomically at 11.781 Ma, pre-dating the migratory arrival of the species at low latitudes in the Atlantic by almost 2 million years. In contrast to delayed low-latitude arrival of N. acostaensis, Paragloborotalia mayeri shows a delayed low-latitude extinction of slightly more than 0.7 million years with respect to the Mediterranean (last occurrence (LO) at 10.49 Ma at Ceara Rise; LO at 11.205 Ma in the Mediterranean). The Discoaster hamatus FO, dated at 10.150 Ma, is clearly delayed with respect to the open ocean. The ages of D. kugleri first and last common occurrence (FCO and LCO), Catinaster coalitus FO, Coccolithus miopelagicus last (regular) occurrence (L(R)O) and the D. hamatus=neohamatus cross-over, however, are in good to excellent agreement with astronomically tuned ages for the same events at Ceara Rise (tropical Atlantic), suggesting that both independently established timescales are consistent with one another. The lack of a reliable magnetostratigraphy hampers a direct comparison with the geomagnetic polarity timescale of Cande and Kent (1995; CK95), but ages of calcareous nannofossil events suggests that CK95 is significantly younger over the studied time interval. Approximate astronomical ages for the polarity reversals were obtained by exporting astronomical ages of selected nannofossil events from Ceara Rise (and the Mediterranean) to eastern equatorial Pacific ODP Leg 138 Site 845, which has a reliable magnetostratigraphy. Our data from the Rio Mazzapiedi‐Castellania section reveal that the base of the Tortonian stratotype corresponds almost exactly with the first regular occurrence (FRO) of N. acostaensis s.s. as defined in the present study, dated at 10.554 Ma. An extrapolated age of 11.8 Ma calculated for the top of the Serravallian stratotype indicates that there is a gap between the top of the Serravallian and the base of the Tortonian stratotype, potentially rendering all bio-events in the interval between 11.8 and 10.554 Ma suitable for delimiting the S=T boundary. Despite the tectonic deformation and the lack of a magnetostratigraphy, Gibliscemi remains a candidate to define the S=T boundary by means of the Tortonian global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP).

Integrated magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the upper Pliocene-lower Pleistocene from the Monte Singa and Crotone areas in Calabria, Italy

The results of a detailed magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of late Pliocene to early Pleistocene marine marl sequences from the Monte Singa and Crotone areas in Calabria, Italy are presented. The magnetostratigraphy from the Monte Singa sequence ranges from below the Gauss/Matuyama boundary up to and including the lower Olduvai boundary. Normal polarities at a level corresponding to isotope stage 81 most probably represent the R~union subchron. From the lower Olduvai boundary upward, a reliable magnetostratigraphy could not be established due to increased weathering of the marls, resulting in mainly secondary magnetizations. The magnetostratigraphy from the composite sequence of the Crotone area belongs to a large part of the Matuyama Chron and includes the Olduvai subchron. The position of the lower and upper boundaries of the Olduvai subzone could be established more precisely than from earlier results. Moreover, the upper boundary of the Olduvai subzone poses an ambiguity: a relatively long normal polarity interval representing the main Olduvai subchron and corresponding to a duration of 115 ka is followed by a short (30 ka) reversed subchron and the short (15 ka) normal Vrica subchron. Another option, and more in accordance with the duration of the Olduvai subchron in literature, would be to consider the complete N-R-N polarity succession with a total duration of 160 ka as representing the Olduvai subchron, implying that this Olduvai subchron has a short reversed interval in its upper part. Linear interpolation and extrapolation yield ages for the most important late Pliocene-early Pleistocene biostratigraphic datum levels. An age of 1.69 Ma is found for the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, using the conventional polarity time scale dated with radiometric results. However Hilgen [1], in correlating the sapropel groups and patterns to the precession curve of the Earths orbit, obtained significantly different ages for the polarity transitions of the present study. According to this astronomically calibrated polarity time scale, the age of the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary is 1.81 Ma.

The 'Tortonian salinity crisis' of the eastern Betics (Spain)

The late Miocene depositional history of the Lorca and Fortuna basins, both occupying an internal position in the eastern Betics of Spain, is marked by a regressive sequence from open marine marls, via diatomites and evaporites, to continental sediments. Based on facies similarities, these evaporites have often been correlated to the well-known Mediterranean evaporites of the Messinian salinity crisis, although this correlation was never substantiated by reliable chronological data. In this paper, we present an integrated stratigraphy of this regressive sequence which shows that the evaporites of the Lorca and Fortuna basins are entirely of late Tortonian age and as such have no relation with the Messinian salinity crisis. The main phase of basin restriction, resulting in deposition of diatomites and evaporites, took place at 7.8 Ma, while the last marine deposits (massive evaporites of the Lorca basin) are dated at 7.6 Ma. Consequently, this ‘Tortonian salinity crisis’ of the eastern Betics had a duration of approximately 200 kyr, while continental deposition prevailed throughout the entire Messinian as also revealed by the fossil mammal record. The ‘Tortonian salinity crisis’ of the eastern Betics is obviously related to a local phase of basin restriction caused by uplift of the metamorphic complexes at the basin margins, probably in concert with strike-slip activity along SW^NE trending fault systems. The development of a submarine sill is of crucial importance for the increase in salinity because it allows marine waters to continuously enter the basin at the surface while it restricts or prevents the outflow of dense saline waters at depth. Furthermore, we show that evaporite and diatomite cyclicity in these restricted basins is predominantly related to precession controlled circum-Mediterranean climate changes and that glacio-eustatic sea level changes only play a minor role. It is remarkable that the lithological sequence of the Tortonian salinity crisis mimics in many aspects that of the Messinian salinity crisis. This suggests that the diatomaceous facies is an essential part of the lithological sequence associated with basin restriction. fl 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.