Tidal sedimentary dynamics of the Early Pleistocene Messina Strait (Calabria, southern Italy) based on its modern analogue

Longhitano, Sergio G.; Chiarella, Domenico; Gugliotta, Marcello; Barrier, Pascal; Ventra, Dario; Muto, Francesco

doi:10.3301/gft.2020.06

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 48 publications

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“…At the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, a new event of regional‐scale uplift led to the closure of many of these straits (e.g. Longhitano, 2012; Longhitano et al., 2012b, 2014, 2020). The ancient Messina Strait was the southernmost in the system of multiple straits that connected the Tyrrhenian Basin to the north/north‐west to the Ionian Basin to the east/south‐east (Longhitano, 2013).…”

Section: The Modern Messina Strait and Its Ancient Analoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Coarse‐grained deltas approaching shallow‐water canyon heads: A case study from the Lower Pleistocene Messina Strait, Southern Italy

et al. 2021

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The tide-dominated Messina Strait (southern Italy) is a 3 km wide marine passageway, whose block-faulted borders form steep subaqueous zones incised by canyons and gullies. These erosional features retreat towards the shorelines and are often in direct connection with subaerial valley-bounded river deltas. High-energy density-flows generated by river floods periodically enter the canyon heads, attaining supercritical-flow regime and accreting large, upslope-migrating bedforms. Although these bedforms have been documented in recent studies, little attention has been paid to the definition of the type of delta entering canyon heads, the internal features of river-influenced deposits accumulated in the nearshore zone, and their interplay with tidal currents flowing axially to the strait. This study focuses on a Lower Pleistocene coarse-grained succession exposed along the north-eastern margin of the modern Messina Strait, investigated using conventional facies analysis and sedimentological logging, integrated with photogrammetric techniques and interpretation of drone-acquired imagery. Facies confinement between basement blocks suggests a subaqueous delta complex shed from the tectonically controlled margin of the ancient strait and entering shallowly submerged canyon heads. Basal breccias, conglomerates and pebbly sandstones exhibiting channel-form discontinuities and upslope dipping backsets are interpreted as cyclic-step and antidune deposits. Units composed of these facies are comprised between master erosional surfaces and tidal ravinement surfaces. The tidal ravinements suggest that canyon infill occurred during a major phase of sea-level rise, punctuated by minor falls and stillstands. These surfaces are overlain by mixed bioclastic-siliciclastic, arenitic, trough and planar cross-strata, representing dunes migrating roughly parallel to the palaeo-coastline and originated by tidal currents amplified by the narrowing of the ancient Messina Strait. Tidal-influenced sedimentation dominated over the fluvial-influenced processes during the late transgression, overfilling the canyon relief. The exceptionally good exposure of depositional architectures and facies characteristics is key to outline 2523

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Section: The Modern Messina Strait and Its Ancient Analoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Coarse‐grained deltas approaching shallow‐water canyon heads: A case study from the Lower Pleistocene Messina Strait, Southern Italy

et al. 2021

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Palaeostrait tectonosedimentary facies during late Cenozoic microplate rifting and dispersal in the western Mediterranean

Cavazza

Longhitano

2022

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Palaeostraits are common features during extension and fragmentation of active continental margins, when back-arc basins are formed and microplates develop through upper-plate extension. In this contribution, we focus on narrow seaways and straits associated with successive pulses of late Cenozoic rifting along the southwestern Eurasian continental margin and the ensuing formation and dispersal of microplates. The incomplete and largely non-cylindrical Africa-Eurasia continental collision in the Mediterranean region provides snapshots of the various phases of microplate fragmentation and dispersal, punctuated by the presence of narrow seaways/straits. These peculiar physiographic conditions induced current amplification and led to the accumulation of characteristic large-scale, cross-stratified deposits and tidal facies in an otherwise generally microtidal setting. Although not univocally related to rifting, the identification of such distinctive sedimentary facies within deformed orogenic belts may ultimately help in terrane analysis and in the discrimination of individual microplates, which were then amalgamated. Recognition and dating of palaeostrait tectono-sedimentary facies can thus constrain the presence and the onset of extension in the geological record.

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Tidal sedimentary dynamics of the Early Pleistocene Messina Strait (Calabria, southern Italy) based on its modern analogue

Cited by 2 publications

References 48 publications

Coarse‐grained deltas approaching shallow‐water canyon heads: A case study from the Lower Pleistocene Messina Strait, Southern Italy

Coarse‐grained deltas approaching shallow‐water canyon heads: A case study from the Lower Pleistocene Messina Strait, Southern Italy

Palaeostrait tectonosedimentary facies during late Cenozoic microplate rifting and dispersal in the western Mediterranean

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