The northernmost record of the Messinian salinity crisis (Piedmont basin, Italy)

Pierre, Francesco Dela; Natalicchio, Marcello; Lozar, Francesca; Bonetto, Sabrina Maria Rita; Carnevale, Giorgio; Cavagna, Simona; Colombero, Simone; Sabino, Mathia; Violanti, Donata

doi:10.3301/gft.2016.03

Cited by 19 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…This observation is consistent with only 50-60 m of estimated eustatic sea level lowering during the late Messinian glacial phases [Kastens, 1992;Shackleton et al, 1995]. Nonetheless, Lugli et al [2010] and Dela Pierre et al [2011] interpreted variations in the evaporite stacking pattern and facies to indicate a shallowing upward trend starting at 5.840 6 0.005 Ma (i.e., sixth evaporite cycle within the Lower Evaporites). Increased isolation of the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, coupled with a km scale fall in Mediterranean sea level, occurred during a short interval between 5.560 6 0.005 and 5.532 6 0.008 Ma [Cosentino et al, 2013], which has been interpreted to result from obliquity-forced, glacio-eustatic sea level fall being superimposed on the long-term trend of tectonic restriction [Krijgsman et al, 1999a;Rouchy and Caruso, 2006;Hilgen et al, 2007;Cosentino et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Sea level and climate forcing of the Sr isotope composition of lateMioceneMediterranean marine basins

Schildgen

Cosentino

Frijia

et al. 2014

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Sr isotope records from marginal marine basins track the mixing between seawater and local continental runoff, potentially recording the effects of sea level, tectonic, and climate forcing in marine fossils and sediments. Sr/ 86 Sr analyses from the astronomically tuned Lower Evaporites in the central Apennines (Italy) allow us to explore the effect of glacio-eustatic sea level and precipitation changes on 87 Sr/ 86 Sr. Most variation in our data can be explained by changes in sea level, with greatest negative excursions from global seawater values occurring during relative sea level lowstands, which generally coincided with arid conditions in the Mediterranean realm. We suggest that this greater sensitivity to lowered sea level compared with higher runoff could relate to the inverse relationship between Sr concentration and river discharge. Variations in the residence time of groundwater within the karst terrain of the circum-Mediterranean region during arid and wet phases may help to explain the single (robust) occurrence of a negative excursion during a sea level highstand, but this explanation remains speculative without more detailed paleoclimatic data for the region.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Sea level and climate forcing of the Sr isotope composition of lateMioceneMediterranean marine basins

Schildgen

Cosentino

Frijia

et al. 2014

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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“…1b). In settings of intermediate water depth, the gypsum beds of the lowermost PLG cycles are transitional to carbonate-rich layers and marls hosting fossilized microbial mats of putative sulphide-oxidizing bacteria, in turn passing in deep-water settings into dolomite-rich marls (Dela Pierre et al , 2016Natalicchio et al 2017Natalicchio et al , 2019Sabino et al 2020;Fig. 1c).…”

Section: A the Messinian Succession In The Piedmont Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The PLG is in turn overlain by shales and clastic evaporites belonging to the Valle Versa Chaotic complex, finally followed by fluvio-deltaic deposits of the Cassano Spinola Conglomerates ( Fig. 1c; Bernardi, 2013;Dela Pierre et al 2016;Sabino et al 2020).…”

Section: B the Govone Section And The Position Of The Msc Onsetmentioning

confidence: 99%

The response of water column and sedimentary environments to the advent of the Messinian salinity crisis: insights from an onshore deep-water section (Govone, NW Italy)

et al. 2020

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During Messinian time, the Mediterranean underwent hydrological modifications culminating 5.97 Ma ago with the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC). Evaporite deposition and alleged annihilation of most marine eukaryotes were taken as evidence of the establishment of basin-wide hypersalinity followed by desiccation. However, the palaeoenvironmental conditions during the MSC are still a matter of debate, chiefly because most of its sedimentary record is buried below the abyssal plains of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. To shed light on environmental change at the advent and during the early phase of the MSC, we investigated the Govone section from the Piedmont Basin (NW Italy) using a multidisciplinary approach (organic geochemical, petrographic, and carbon and oxygen stable isotope analyses). The Govone section archives the onset of the crisis in a succession of organic-rich shales and dolomite-rich marls. The MSC part of the succession represents the deep-water equivalent of sulphate evaporites deposited at the basin margins during the first phase of the crisis. Our study reveals that the onset of the MSC was marked by the intensification of water-column stratification, rather than the establishment of widespread hypersaline conditions. A chemocline divided the water column into an oxygen-depleted, denser and more saline bottom layer and an oxygenated, upper seawater layer influenced by freshwater inflow. Vertical oscillations of the chemocline controlled the stratigraphic architecture of the sediments pertaining to the first stage of the MSC. Accordingly, temporal and spatial changes of water masses with different redox chemistries must be considered when interpreting the MSC event.

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“…Although Vai and Ricchi Lucchi (1977) originally interpreted these as sabkha deposits with subaerial exposure near the top, the recent work of Lugli et al (2010) concludes that deposition was entirely subaqueous. Below ~ 200 m water depth, in intermediate and deep water basins, lateral facies changes to dolomites and/or barren organic-rich shales have been observed (e.g., Manzi et al, 2007;Lugli et al, 2010;Dela Pierre et al, 2011. A lack of evaporite deposition in deeper water is possibly due to under-saturation with respect to sulphate in the water column at this time (De Lange and Krijgsman, 2010).…”

Section: Messinian Stratigraphic Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Miocene–Pliocene boundary and the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the easternmost Mediterranean: Insights from the Hatay Graben (Southern Turkey)

Boulton

Smart

Consolaro

et al. 2016

Sedimentary Geology

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The Hatay Graben is one of three easternmost basins in the Mediterranean that preserve sediments that span the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, including gypsums from the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Here we integrate existing data and present new sedimentological and micropalaeontological data to investigate the palaeoenvironments of late Miocene to early Pliocene deposits and place this important area into a regional stratigraphic framework. Six sections are described along a ~ W -E transect illustrating the key features of this time period. Late Miocene (Pre-MSC) sediments are characterised by open marine marls with a benthic foraminiferal fauna suggestive of water depths of 100 -200 m or less. Primary lower gypsum deposits are determined to be absent from the graben as sedimentological and strontium isotopes are characteristic of the resedimented lower gypsums. The intervening Messinian erosion surface is preserved near the basin margins as an unconformity but appears to be a correlative conformity in the basin depocentre. No Upper Gypsums or 'Lago-Mare' facies have been identified but available data do tentatively suggest a return to marine conditions in the basin prior to the Zanclean boundary. Sediments stratigraphically overlying the Messinian gypsums and marls are coarse-grained sandstones from coastal and Gilbert-type delta depositional environments. The Hatay Graben is not only strikingly similar to Messinian basins on nearby Cyprus but also to the overall model for the MSC, demonstrating the remarkable consistency of palaeoenvironments found in marginal basins across the region at this time. This research also raises questions as to the timing of the Mediterranean reflooding and the significance of the widespread mega-breccias of the resedimented gypsum deposits.

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The northernmost record of the Messinian salinity crisis (Piedmont basin, Italy)

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Sea level and climate forcing of the Sr isotope composition of lateMioceneMediterranean marine basins

Sea level and climate forcing of the Sr isotope composition of lateMioceneMediterranean marine basins

The response of water column and sedimentary environments to the advent of the Messinian salinity crisis: insights from an onshore deep-water section (Govone, NW Italy)

The Miocene–Pliocene boundary and the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the easternmost Mediterranean: Insights from the Hatay Graben (Southern Turkey)

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