Carbonate/evaporitic sedimentation during the Messinian salinity crisis in active accretionary wedge basins of the northern Calabria, southern Italy
Abstract This work deals with Messinian deposits belonging to the Neogene infill of the Rossano and Belvedere Basins, respectively developed along the fore-arc and the back-arc areas of the north Calabria accretionary wedge. The main goal is to characterize the carbonate and evaporitic sedimentation during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, in the general framework of the basin architecture and the interplay between eustatic vs tectonic controlled sea-level variations. Fieldwork integrated with seismic lines and well logs interpretations led to the revision of the general stratigraphy of the basins and the proposal of a new sequential stratigraphic model driven by cyclic sea-level variations. E…
INTEGRATED CALCAREOUS PLANKTON BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF SELECTED MIOCENE SUCCESSIONS IN THE NORTHERN CALABRIA (ITALY).
An integrated calcareous plankton biostratigraphic approach on six sections cropping out in Northern Calabria allowed to define a revised chronostratigraphic framework for Tortonian-Messinian deposits. Four sections have been investigated in the Amantea Basin (Timpone Napoli, Vallone Salina, Case Vespano, and Cozzo Salice) and two in the Rossano Basin (Vallone Casino and Cozzo Sant'Isidoro). Biostratigraphic analyses have been based on quantitative counting of planktonic foraminifers and semiquantitative counting of nannofossils. The Timpone Napoli and Vallone Salina sections are Late Tortonian in age and referable to the Globorotalia suterae Zone. In terms of nannofossils zonal scheme thes…
Microbial-mediated pre-salt carbonate deposition during the Messinian salinity crisis (Calcare di Base fm., Southern Italy)
Abstract A multi-scale analysis of sedimentary carbonate facies and post-sedimentary diagenetic features of the Calcare di Base Formation, the precursor to evaporites in Upper Messinian successions of Northern Calabria and Central Sicily, has revealed their microbial bio-mediated origin. Massive to laminated microbial boundstones represent the most common sedimentary facies forming flat to low relief cm to m scale stromatolitic and thrombolitic bodies. The fabric of the micrite varies from peloidal to aphanitic, and almost always preserves filamentous bacteria which characterized the original microbial mat. The mat was dominated by sulphur-oxidizing bacteria belonging to the Thiotrichaceae,…