0000000000424135
AUTHOR
Franca Sgarrella
Benthic foraminiferal assemblage turnover during intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation in the Piacenzian Punta Piccola section (Southern Italy)
Abstract We present the results of a high-resolution analysis of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages at the Punta Piccola section (Stratotype for the Piacenzian Stage), which spans the gradual climate transition of the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation (3.6–2.6 Ma). This study highlighted a major benthic foraminiferal fauna turnover, which started at about 3.05 Ma with LO of Cibicidoides italicus , registered the gradual decline of Stilostomella spp. and culminated at about 2.7–2.75 Ma, when the dominant Siphonina reticulata was replaced by Cibicidoides pachyderma , costate Bulimine, spinose Bulimine, spinose Uvigerine and the Bolivina dilatata group. Four compositiona…
High-frequency modification of the central Mediterranean seafloor environment over the last 74 ka
Here we present a high-resolution record of benthic foraminiferal assemblages for the last 74 kyr from the Sicily Channel Ocean Drilling Program Leg 160 Site 963. Benthic foraminiferal results are compared with geochemical (benthic and planktic δ18O and δ13C) and calcareous plankton data, previously acquired on the same marine core sediments. Within the succession, three benthic foraminifera compositional zones were defined. Temporal changes in the assemblages are interpreted in the context of the modification of subtropical and temperate climate systems that affected the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. A close connection between bottom conditions in the Sicily Channel and eastern M…
A MILANKOVITCH CLIMATE CONTROL ON THE MIDDLE MIOCENE MEDITERRANEAN INTERMEDIATE WATER.
The marly sediments of the Blue Clay Formation in the upper part of the Middle Miocene Ras il-Pellegrin composite section (Malta island, central Mediterranean) have been investigated by integrated analysis of benthic microfauna and planktonic and benthic oxygen isotopes. The astronomical calibration of the whole section, obtained by using the astronomical solution of Laskar et al. (1993), indicates for deposition of the analysed sediments a time interval ranging between 13.75 and 12.32 Ma (Sprovieri et al., 2002). This time interval is useful to investigate the oceanographic evolution of the (paleo)Mediterranean after the interruption of communications between the Mediterranean and Indo-Pac…