How dry was the Mediterranean during the Messinian salinity crisis?

Vasiliev, Iuliana; Mezger, Eveline M.; Lugli, Stefano; Reichart, Gert‐Jan; Manzi, Vinicio; Roveri, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.01.032

Cited by 58 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(151 reference statements)

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“…During this catastrophic event, the Mediterranean basins experienced cyclic hypersaline conditions and deposition of a thick evaporite series. Evidence for partial or complete desiccation has been presented in a number of studies from the Mediterranean region (Ben‐Gai et al, ; Druckman et al, ; Hsü et al, ; Ryan, ; Urgeles et al, ), while contesting studies doubt a sea‐level drawdown of this magnitude (Gvirtzman et al, ; Lugli, Manzi, Roveri, & Schreiber, ; Meilijson et al, ; Roveri, Flecker et al, ; Vasiliev et al, ). In the Levant Basin, the thickness of the Messinian evaporite sequence amounts to ca.…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of sea level drawdown at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis and seismic investigation of the Nahr Menashe unit in the northern Levant Basin, offshore Lebanon

2019

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Several important aspects of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) are still subject to controversy and debate after more than 40 years of studies. Recent work from the eastern Mediterranean have provided a renewed stratigraphic framework for the basin that is inconsistent with previous interpretation studies in the area. This study presents a description of the evolution of the depositional environment in the northern Levant Basin in a time interval surrounding the end of the famous event, from Late Messinian to the Pliocene. Through seismic mapping, we have identified a sediment package overlying the intra‐Messinian truncation surface (IMTS). This package is interpreted as an axial fluvial system running along the Levant Margin in stage 3 of the salinity crisis, likely composed of redeposited evaporites and clastic material. The system was fed primarily from a large fan system building out from the basin margin during a time of sea‐level low stand following a major erosional event, and presumably also from similar systems along the Latakia Ridge and Syria. Our interpretation also lends weight to the theory of a subaerial origin for the truncation surface after a catastrophic desiccation event succeeding the deposition of the halite‐dominated Messinian evaporite succession, based on differences in maximum erosional depth throughout the basin. After the deposition of the post‐IMTS package, deep marine settings were restored in the basin, and hemipelagic sediments from the Nile Delta and the Levant Margin have dominated the sediment deposition since.

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Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of sea level drawdown at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis and seismic investigation of the Nahr Menashe unit in the northern Levant Basin, offshore Lebanon

2019

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“…Paleosalinity reconstructions mostly involve combining independent (in-)organic temperature proxies with (foraminiferal) stable oxygen isotopes (Elderfield & Ganssen, 2000;Rohling & Bigg, 1998;Schouten et al, 2006;Vasiliev et al, 2017). Such an approach assumes a strong and constant relationship between salinity and stable isotopic composition of seawater.…”

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confidence: 99%

Taphonomic and Ontogenetic Effects on Na/Ca and Mg/Ca in Spinose Planktonic Foraminifera From the Red Sea

Mezger

Nooijer

Siccha

et al. 2018

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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As a recorder of the hydrological cycle and ocean circulation, salinity is one of the most wanted parameters in paleoceanography. Current paleosalinity reconstructions mostly rely on the interpretation of stable oxygen isotope signals combined with an independent paleotemperature proxy. Due to error propagation, this indirect approach is associated with large uncertainties. Recent culture studies and a Red Sea field study have shown that incorporation of Na in foraminiferal shell calcite depends on salinity, providing a potential direct proxy for salinity. However, application of a Na/Ca‐based salinity proxy requires further calibration, which should also consider settling of foraminifera through the water column and burial in the sediment. Here we compare Na/Ca in living specimens from Red Sea surface waters with specimens collected from 0‐ to 500‐m water depth and sedimentary specimens from core‐tops. This shows that Na/Ca in Globigerinoides ruber and Trilobatus sacculifer shells decrease with increasing water depth and until the sediment surface. For both species, laser‐ablation‐ICP‐Q‐MS measurements combined with electron‐probe microanalysis show that Na is enriched in the spines. Loss of spines during settling of foraminifera through the water column hence provides a mechanistic explanation for the observed Na decrease in bulk specimens with water depth. In contrast, average Mg/Ca values increase toward the seafloor in both species, coinciding with deposition of gametogenic calcite, which is enriched in Mg but has Na/Ca values similar to that in lamellar calcite. Both spine shedding and gametogenic calcite addition hence affect the average minor/trace element composition of foraminiferal calcite.

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“…Whereas temperature can be reconstructed by a variety of proxies (e.g., U k 37 : Prahl and Wakeham, 1987;foraminiferal Mg/Ca: Elderfield and Ganssen, 2000;Lea et al, 1999;Nürnberg et al, 1996; foraminiferal δ 18 O: e.g., Zachos et al, 2001;Elderfield and Ganssen, 2000 and TEX 86 : Schouten et al, 2002), equally reliable proxies for salinity are still under development (Wit et al, 2013;Mezger et al, 2016;Allen et al, 2016;Rohling and Bigg, 1998;Schouten et al, 2006). A number of approaches have been proposed to reconstruct salinity, including a combination of stable isotopes (δ 18 O from foraminiferal shells or δD of long-chain ketones) with independent reconstructions of sea surface temperature (e.g., Mg/Ca or U k 37 , Elderfield and Ganssen, 2000; Schouten et al, 2006); foraminiferal Ba/Ca (Weldeab, 2007), dinoflagellate cyst morphology (e.g., Verleye et al, 2012; Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. et al, 2012), and δD of long-chain ketones and alkenones (e.g., Vasiliev et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of approaches have been proposed to reconstruct salinity, including a combination of stable isotopes (δ 18 O from foraminiferal shells or δD of long-chain ketones) with independent reconstructions of sea surface temperature (e.g., Mg/Ca or U k 37 , Elderfield and Ganssen, 2000; Schouten et al, 2006); foraminiferal Ba/Ca (Weldeab, 2007), dinoflagellate cyst morphology (e.g., Verleye et al, 2012; Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. et al, 2012), and δD of long-chain ketones and alkenones (e.g., Vasiliev et al, 2017). However, uncertainties associated with the indirect controls on these proxy signals or preservation issues result in (large) errors in the reconstructed salinity (Rohling, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response to Prof. Ralf Schiebel (2)

Mezger¹

2019

Preprint

Self Cite

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Sea surface salinity is one of the most important parameters to reconstruct in paleoclimatology, reflecting amongst other things the hydrological cycle, paleodensity, ice volume, and regional and global circulation of water masses. Recent culture studies and a Red Sea field study revealed a significant positive relation between salinity and Na incorporation within benthic and planktonic foraminiferal shells. However, these studies reported varying partitioning of Na between and within the same species. The latter could be associated with ontogenetic variations, most likely spine loss. Varying Na concentrations were observed in different parts of foraminiferal shells, with spines and regions close to the primary organic sheet being especially enriched in Na. In this study, we unravel the Na composition of different components of the planktonic foraminiferal shell wall using electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and solution ICP-MS. A model is presented to interpret EPMA data for spines and spine bases to quantitatively assess differences in composition and contribution to whole-shell Na/Ca signals. The same model can also be applied to other spatial inhomogeneities observed in foraminiferal shell chemistry, like elemental (e.g., Mg, Na, S) banding and/or hotspots. The relative contribution of shell carbonate, organic linings, spines and spine bases to whole-shell Na chemistry is considered quantitatively. This study shows that whereas the high Na areas may be susceptible to taphonomic alterations, the Na chemistry of the shell itself seems relatively robust. Comparing both shell and spine Na/Ca values with salinity shows that shell chemistry records salinity, albeit with a very modest slope.

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How dry was the Mediterranean during the Messinian salinity crisis?

Cited by 58 publications

References 79 publications

Evidence of sea level drawdown at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis and seismic investigation of the Nahr Menashe unit in the northern Levant Basin, offshore Lebanon

Evidence of sea level drawdown at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis and seismic investigation of the Nahr Menashe unit in the northern Levant Basin, offshore Lebanon

Taphonomic and Ontogenetic Effects on Na/Ca and Mg/Ca in Spinose Planktonic Foraminifera From the Red Sea

Response to Prof. Ralf Schiebel (2)

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