A bio-chronostratigraphic study of the upper Miocene from the northern Caltanissetta Basin, Sicily (core 3AGN2S04). Implications for dating the Messinian Salinity Crisis onset
Tzevahirtzian, Athina; Caruso, Antonio; Andreetto, Federico; Bonomo, Sergio; Krijgsman, Wout
(2023) Sedimentary Geology, volume 445, pp. 1 - 17
(Article)
Abstract
The late Miocene deposits from core 3AGN2S04, located in the northern Caltanissetta Basin (Sicily), display the pre-Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) and the MSC events. The present study describes the entire core in terms of lithology, biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy and aims to enlighten the relationship between MSC evaporite cyclicity and astronomical
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forcing. The lithological and micro−/macro-paleontological descriptions document the MSC record, with Stage 1 (onset and Calcare di Base member), Stage 2 (Messinian Erosional Surface) and part of Stage 3 (Upper Gypsum and Lago Mare). Detailed micro-fossil analyses of the pre-evaporites reveal several biostratigraphic events that permit correlations to the well-dated Mediterranean planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphic zonation of the late Tortonian and Messinian. An integrated bio-cyclostratigraphic analysis allows bed-to-bed correlations of core 3AGN2S04 with the reference sections of Falconara/Gibliscemi (Sicily) and Sorbas (Spain), but also with various other sections from the Caltanissetta Basin. Our cyclostratigraphic correlations show a stratigraphical gap in the core between the late Tortonian Terravecchia Formation and the pre-evaporitic Messinian Tripoli Formation. This hiatus is probably related to the tectonically active geological setting of the northern Caltanissetta Basin. Finally, we show that the repercussions of the paleoenvironmental evolution towards evaporitic deposition and the MSC onset seem to have been diachronous throughout the various perched basins on Sicily characterized by different paleobathymetries. In particular, the onset of the Calcare di Base took place around 40–100 ka before the deposition of the first gypsum bed of the Primary Lower Gypsum units.
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Keywords: (pre-)evaporites, Caltanissetta Basin, Cyclostratigraphy, Messinian Salinity Crisis, Sicily, Timing, Taverne, Geology, Stratigraphy
ISSN: 0037-0738
Publisher: Elsevier
Note: Funding Information: This research was supported by the project SALTGIANT-Understanding the Mediterranean Salt Giant which funding was provided by the European Union 's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 765256. We would like to thank all members of SALGIANT community for the inspiring discussions during workshops, training courses and fieldtrips. We acknowledge the geologist Paolo Vizzi and the geologist and technical director of the GEO GAV Srl Company, Giuseppe Alba, for inviting us on the field during the drilling of core 3AGN2S04, as well as the Italian Railway State Company Italferr for providing us with this fresh core after the geotechnical analysis undertaken in the construction project of the Palermo-Catania railway in Sicily. We also thank the Master student Giuseppe Messina that helped us to carry the numerous core boxes, to store them to DISTeM (UNIPA) and to do a detailed sampling of the core. We also thank Francesco Bonomo for the technical support during SEM acquisition at the ATEN (Advanced Technologies Network) Center of the University of Palermo. Finally, we greatly thank the editor Catherine Chagué, the reviewer Jesus M. Soria and two anonymous reviewers for the fruitful comments provided, that led to the improvement of the manuscript. Funding Information: A few reliable biostratigraphic events were recognized in core 3AGN2S04 that permitted to confirm the dated Mediterranean planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphic zonation of the late Tortonian and Messinian MSC onset (Hilgen and Krijgsman, 1999; Hüsing et al., 2009; Krijgsman et al., 1999a, 1999b, 1999c; Sierro et al., 2001). The integrated biostratigraphic analysis allowed a bed-to-bed correlation of core 3AGN2S04 with the reference composite sections of Falconara/Gibliscemi (F/G; Sicily) and Sorbas (Spain), as well with various other sections from the Caltanissetta Basin (Fig. 8). The cyclostratigraphic correlation between the F/G section with those of Torrente Vaccarizzo, Marianopoli and Serra Pirciata have already been discussed (Caruso, 1999; Bellanca et al., 2001; Sierro et al., 2001; Caruso et al., 2015) and was supported by the FCO T. multiloba in cycle 36, located four lithological cycles above the N. acostaensis coiling change (cycle 32, 6.36 Ma), and astronomically dated at around 6.29 Ma. Five peaks of T. multiloba have been recognized in the uppermost part of Tripoli Fm at cycles 39, 40, 41, 42 and 46 (i.e. Blanc-Valleron et al., 2002) as well as at cycles U23, U24, U25, U28 and U30 from Sorbas section (i.e. Sierro et al., 2001).This research was supported by the project SALTGIANT-Understanding the Mediterranean Salt Giant which funding was provided by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 765256. We would like to thank all members of SALGIANT community for the inspiring discussions during workshops, training courses and fieldtrips. We acknowledge the geologist Paolo Vizzi and the geologist and technical director of the GEO GAV Srl Company, Giuseppe Alba, for inviting us on the field during the drilling of core 3AGN2S04, as well as the Italian Railway State Company Italferr for providing us with this fresh core after the geotechnical analysis undertaken in the construction project of the Palermo-Catania railway in Sicily. We also thank the Master student Giuseppe Messina that helped us to carry the numerous core boxes, to store them to DISTeM (UNIPA) and to do a detailed sampling of the core. We also thank Francesco Bonomo for the technical support during SEM acquisition at the ATEN (Advanced Technologies Network) Center of the University of Palermo. Finally, we greatly thank the editor Catherine Chagué, the reviewer Jesus M. Soria and two anonymous reviewers for the fruitful comments provided, that led to the improvement of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
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