The Middle–Upper Pleistocene Fronte Section (Taranto, Italy): an exceptionally preserved marine record of the Last Interglacial
Amorosi, A.; Antonioli, F.; Bertini, A.; Marabini, S.; Mastronuzzi, G.; Montagna, P.; Negri, A.; Rossi, V.; Scarponi, D.; Taviani, M.; Angeletti, L.; Piva, A.; Vai, G.B. (2014). The Middle–Upper Pleistocene Fronte Section (Taranto, Italy): an exceptionally preserved marine record of the Last Interglacial. Global Planet. Change 119: 23-38. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.04.007
In: Global and Planetary Change. Elsevier: Amsterdam; New York; Oxford; Tokyo. ISSN 0921-8181; e-ISSN 1872-6364, more
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| Author keywords |
Last Interglacial, MIS 5e, Quaternary, sequence stratigraphy, paleoecology, Taranto, Italy |
| Authors | | Top |
- Amorosi, A.
- Antonioli, F.
- Bertini, A.
- Marabini, S.
- Mastronuzzi, G.
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- Montagna, P.
- Negri, A.
- Rossi, V.
- Scarponi, D.
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- Taviani, M.
- Angeletti, L.
- Piva, A.
- Vai, G.B.
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| Abstract |
The Fronte Section, a well-exposed stratigraphic succession from southern Italy (Taranto area), provides an uninterrupted marine sedimentary record of MIS 5e. At this location, a highly expanded (8.5 m thick) stratigraphic succession, unconformably overlying Middle Pleistocene marine clay deposits, provides evidence for sea-level fluctuations during the Last Interglacial. An integrated study of Fronte Section, including facies analysis, detailed macrofaunal and meiofaunal characterization, and sequence stratigraphy, is presented. The occurrence of Persististrombus latus (= Strombus bubonius) and other warm-water indicators (“Senegalaise” – “Senegalian” – guests of Gignoux, 1913), together with the presence of the dinocyst Polysphaeridium zoharyi and ten U-series dates on Cladocora caespitosa samples, permit an unequivocal MIS 5e age assignment to the upper part of the study succession. Above a stratigraphic unconformity marked by the boring coastal-lagoonal bivalve Pholas dactylus, the MIS 5e succession displays a first transgressive suite of brackish to shallow-marine deposits. These latter include highly fossiliferous muds rich in C. caespitosa, overlain by a fossil-rich calcarenite, 2 m-thick, yielding warm-water “Senegalian” mollusks. Above this prominent stratigraphic marker (regionally called panchina), which is interpreted to represent a short-lived phase of sea-level stillstand or gentle fall during MIS 5e, renewed transgression took place, leading to the accumulation of middle-outer shelf muds, about 5 m thick. The maximum flooding zone is clearly identified on the basis of the turnaround from a deepening-up to a shallowing-up trend. The upper part of Fronte Section records a second fossil-rich, sublittoral calcarenite containing warm-water mollusks, which is interpreted to reflect the subsequent phase of sea-level highstand, likely correlative with the MIS 5e plateau. |
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