Paleoproductivity Modes in Central Mediterranean During MIS 20—MIS 18: Calcareous Plankton and Alkenone Variability

Abstract

Coccolithophores are a major component of oceanic phytoplankton and provide useful indications on surface water mass dynamics and particularly on primary productivity variations as well as on the relationships

The Ideale section at Montalbano Jonico (southern Italy): a Standard Auxiliary Boundary Stratotype (SABS) for the Middle Pleistocene Subseries of the Quaternary System

“…The rapid oscillations observed in the δ 18 O record of MIS 19b-a (Fig. 5) are associated with clear variations in δ 13 C, which suggest a direct response of productivity, organic matter of terrestrial origin, water column structure and sea bottom ventilation to rapid climatic change during the precession minimum (Nomade et al, 2019;Maiorano et al, 2021).…”

“…High-resolution quantitative analyses of calcareous plankton assemblages reveal numerous additional bioevents throughout the section (Fig. 3) (Marino, 1996;Marino et al, 2020;Ciaranfi et al, 1997Ciaranfi et al, , 2010Maiorano et al, , 2010Maiorano et al, , 2016Maiorano et al, , 2021Girone et al, 2013). The calcareous plankton bioevents have high correlation potential, being recognized at global scale Maiorano et al, 2010;Backman et al, 2012;Raffi et al, 2006Raffi et al, , 2016 (Fig.…”

“…The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar-dated V3 and V4 tephra layers, widely visible in the badlands of the Montalbano area, are well exposed in the IS, cropping out at 8.2 m and 36.6 m respectively. The stratigraphical relevance of the IS through the Lower-Middle Pleistocene transition has been extensively outlined in several papers (e.g., Ciaranfi et al, 1994Ciaranfi et al, , 2010Bertini et al, 2015;Marino et al, 2015Marino et al, , 2020Maiorano et al, 2016Maiorano et al, , 2021Simon et al, 2017;Nomade et al, 2019). 2004) and sapropel stratigraphy from Lourens (2004) and Lourens et al (2004).…”

“…The signature of orbital to millennial climate variability is clearly imprinted in the IS as recorded by multiproxy investigations (Bertini et al, 2015;Marino et al, 2015Marino et al, , 2016Maiorano et al, 2016Maiorano et al, , 2021Nomade et al, 2019;Marino et al, 2020) and most visibly expressed on the exposure by the dark grey and light grey bands, which correspond to the warm-wet and cold-dry climate phases, respectively 8).…”

“…10 Be/ 9 Be ratio (a) is also shown. Modified from Nomade et al (2019), Marino et al (2020) and Maiorano et al (2021).…”