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Journal ArticleDOI

Age refinement of the Messinian salinity crisis onset in the Mediterranean

TL;DR: A revised age calibration of the Messinian salinity crisis onset in the Mediterranean at 5.971 Ma based on the recognition of an extra gypsum cycle in the transitional interval of the Perales section (Sorbas basin, Spain) and the revision of the magnetostratigraphy of the Monticino section (Vena del Gesso basin, Italy) was proposed in this paper.
Abstract: We propose a revised age calibration of the Messinian salinity crisis onset in the Mediterranean at 5.971 Ma based on the recognition of an extra gypsum cycle in the transitional interval of the Perales section (Sorbas basin, Spain) and the revision of the magnetostratigraphy of the Monticino section (Vena del Gesso basin, Italy). This age re-calibration allows to state more accurately that: (i) the interval encompassing the MSC-onset is continuous, thus ruling out any erosional feature or stratigraphic hiatus related to a major sea-level fall affecting the Mediterranean; (ii) the first gypsum was deposited during the summer insolation peak at 5.969 Ma associated with an eccentricity minimum and roughly coincident with glacial stage TG32; (iii) the MSC-onset was preconditioned by the tectonically-driven reduction of the hydrological exchanges with the Atlantic Ocean and finally triggered by glacial conditions in the northern hemisphere and by arid conditions in northern Africa.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a unifying stratigraphic framework of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) events has been constructed, derived mainly from onshore data and observations, but incorporating different perspectives for the offshore and provides hypotheses that can be tested by drilling the deep Mediterranean basins.

449 citations


Cites background from "Age refinement of the Messinian sal..."

  • ...Recent studies (Roveri et al., 2009; Lugli et al., 2010; Manzi et al., 2013) have suggested that the MES is actually located at the top of the Yesares Formation....

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  • ...…Roveri, M., et al., The Messinian Salinity Crisis: Pa (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2014.02.002 clearly show obliquity controlled glacial cycles in the interval ranging from ~6.3 to 5.5Ma, and the onset of theMSC closely coincideswith glacial stage TG32 at 5.97 Ma (Manzi et al., 2013)....

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  • ...Recently, a re-evaluation of the cyclostratigraphic pattern of the evaporites of the Sorbas basin refined the tuning of the gypsum cycles and defined the onset of the MSC to 5.97 Ma (Manzi et al., 2013)....

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  • ...Chronostratigraphy of Late Miocene to Early Pliocene with MSC events in the Mediterranean (modified from CIESM, 2008; Manzi et al., 2013) and Paratethyan basins (from Krijgsman et al., 2010) and correlations to the oxygen isotope curves of the Atlantic margin of Morocco (Hilgen et al., 2007)....

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  • ...In marginal sub-basins, the MSC onset is marked by the deposition of the lowermost gypsum bed at ~5.97 Ma (Manzi et al., 2013)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the Late Miocene gateways and the nature of Mediterranean-Atlantic exchange as deduced from published studies focussed both on the sediments preserved within the fossil corridors and inferences that can be derived from data in the adjacent basins.

174 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, high-resolution stratigraphic calibration of Sr isotope data indicates that only a very thin unit (commonly < 50m) in the uppermost part of the “seismic” Upper Evaporites is characterized by the typically lower values for Sr isotopes with respect to the global Ocean which characterize stage 3 onshore successions (Lago Mare event).

101 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The existence and evolution of a Messinian salt giant in the Mediterranean Sea has caused much debate in the marine science community as mentioned in this paper, especially the suggestion that the Mediterranean was a deep desiccated basin during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC, 5.97-5.33 Ma), triggered by a temporal disconnection from the global ocean, made it a well-known crisis beyond the scientific boundaries.

96 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that the activation of downslope flows of hypersaline, dense waters, in a process similar to present-day “dense shelf water cascading,” but much more energetic, may account for both slope erosion and progressive salinity rise leading to the formation of deep-seated supersaturated brines.
Abstract: The salt giant beneath the deep Mediterranean seafloor is the impressive record of the “Messinian salinity crisis,” a dramatic event that occurred about 6 Ma ago following the reduction of the connections with the Atlantic Ocean. According to the shallow-water deep-basin model, developed for these deposits (Hsu and others, 1973a, 1973b, 1978a, 1978b), the Messinian evaporites formed in a deep but desiccated Mediterranean, while shelves and slopes underwent subaerial erosion due to fluvial rejuvenation triggered by a 1500 m sea level drawdown. Deeply incised Messinian canyons in the continental slopes surrounding the Mediterranean are the main argument supporting this scenario. Using a state of the art model and idealized but realistic numerical simulations, here we demonstrate that the activation of downslope flows of hypersaline, dense waters, in a process similar to present-day “dense shelf water cascading,” but much more energetic, may account for both slope erosion and progressive salinity rise leading to the formation of deep-seated supersaturated brines. Our findings support a deep-water deep-basin model (Schmalz, 1969, 1991; De Benedetti, 1976, 1982; Dietz and Woodhouse, 1988), thus implying that evaporite deposition may have occurred in a non-desiccated basin with strongly reduced ocean connections.

74 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a new solution for the astronomical computation of the insolation quantities on Earth spanning from −250 m to 250 m was presented, where the most regular components of the orbital solution could still be used over a much longer time span, which is why they provided here the solution over 250 m.
Abstract: We present here a new solution for the astronomical computation of the insolation quantities on Earth spanning from -250 Myr to 250 Myr. This solution has been improved with respect to La93 (Laskar et al. [CITE]) by using a direct integration of the gravitational equations for the orbital motion, and by improving the dissipative contributions, in particular in the evolution of the Earth–Moon System. The orbital solution has been used for the calibration of the Neogene period (Lourens et al. [CITE]), and is expected to be used for age calibrations of paleoclimatic data over 40 to 50 Myr, eventually over the full Palaeogene period (65 Myr) with caution. Beyond this time span, the chaotic evolution of the orbits prevents a precise determination of the Earth's motion. However, the most regular components of the orbital solution could still be used over a much longer time span, which is why we provide here the solution over 250 Myr. Over this time interval, the most striking feature of the obliquity solution, apart from a secular global increase due to tidal dissipation, is a strong decrease of about 0.38 degree in the next few millions of years, due to the crossing of the resonance (Laskar et al. [CITE]). For the calibration of the Mesozoic time scale (about 65 to 250 Myr), we propose to use the term of largest amplitude in the eccentricity, related to , with a fixed frequency of /yr, corresponding to a period of 405 000 yr. The uncertainty of this time scale over 100 Myr should be about , and over the full Mesozoic era.

2,992 citations


"Age refinement of the Messinian sal..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...040 440 480 520 Insolation summer 65N (Laskar et al., 2004)...

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  • ...Using the most recent astronomical solution (Laskar et al., 2004) an age of 5.969 Ma and 5.974 Ma can be assigned respectively to the midpoint of the 1st PLG cycle and to the midpoint of the underlying dark organicrich shale interval....

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  • ...Using the most recent astronomical solution (Laskar et al., 2004) an age of 5....

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1999-Nature
TL;DR: The authors presented an astronomically calibrated chronology for the Mediterranean Messinian age based on an integrated high-resolution stratigraphy and tuning of sedimentary cycle patterns to variations in the Earth's orbital parameters.
Abstract: The Messinian salinity crisis is widely regarded as one of the most dramatic episodes of oceanic change of the past 20 or so million years (1–3). Earliest explanations were that extremely thick evaporites were deposited in a deep and desiccated Mediterranean basin that had been repeatedly isolated from the Atlantic Ocean1,2, but elucidation of the causes of the isolation — whether driven largely by glacio-eustatic or tectonic processes — have been hampered by the absence of an accurate time frame. Here we present an astronomically calibrated chronology for the Mediterranean Messinian age based on an integrated high-resolution stratigraphy and ‘tuning’ of sedimentary cycle patterns to variations in the Earth's orbital parameters. We show that the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis is synchronous over the entire Mediterranean basin, dated at 5.96 ± 0.02 million years ago. Isolation from the Atlantic Ocean was established between 5.59 and 5.33 million years ago, causing a large fall in Mediterranean water level followed by erosion (5.59–5.50 million years ago) and deposition (5.50–5.33 million years ago) of non-marine sediments in a large ‘Lago Mare’ (Lake Sea) basin. Cyclic evaporite deposition is almost entirely related to circum-Mediterranean climate changes driven by changes in the Earth's precession, and not to obliquity-induced glacio-eustatic sea-level changes. We argue in favour of a dominantly tectonic origin for the Messinian salinity crisis, although its exact timing may well have been controlled by the ∼400-kyr component of the Earth's eccentricity cycle.

1,687 citations


"Age refinement of the Messinian sal..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...Monticino (Vena del Gesso basin, Italy) is another well-studied MSC section where a complete integratedstratigraphic study of the transition interval to the PLG unit was performed (Marabini and Poluzzi, 1977; Marabini and Vai, 1988; Krijgsman et al., 1999b)....

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  • ...The 5.96 0.02 Ma age for the MSC-onset is based on the lithological transition from pre-evaporitic sapropel-marl-diatomite successions to the base of the LE (Krijgsman et al., 1999a, 2004; Sierro et al., 2001)....

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  • ...The Monticino section was also studied for integrated stratigraphic purposes (Krijgsman et al., 1999b; Roveri et al., 2006), although major tectonic complications (e.g. shearplanes) in the pre-evaporitic succession hampered a detailed correlation to the astronomical target curve....

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  • ..., 2006) base Gilbert chron (Krijgsman et al., 1999) base Gilbert chron (this work) VI...

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  • ...4) Krijgsman et al. (1999b) placed the N/R base of the Gilbert chron between the 2nd and the 4th limestone beds (Calcare di Base; Vai, 1988)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 1996-Geology
TL;DR: A high-resolution chronology of the Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis is proposed in this article, where two types of evaporite deposition may be distinguished: those in marginal areas vs. those in basinal ones.
Abstract: A high-resolution chronology of the Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis is proposed. Two types of evaporite deposition may be distinguished: those in marginal areas vs. those in basinal ones. Their diachroneity is deduced from the stratigraphic relationships linking these evaporites to a major Messinian erosional surface, A two-step model is proposed for the evolution of the salinity crisis through time. During the first phase (from 5.75 to 5.60 Ma), the deposition of marginal evaporites took place in response to a modest sea-level fall; in the second interval (from 5.60 to 5.32 Ma), the Mediterranean basin became isolated. During this later period, the deposition of basinal evaporites and the cutting of the Mediterranean canyons took place.

460 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

389 citations


"Age refinement of the Messinian sal..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ..., 2005) and to the global sea level record (Miller et al., 2011) is shown in Fig....

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  • ...The calibration of the PLG cycles to the AEB d18O curve (Van der Laan et al., 2005) and to the global sea level record (Miller et al., 2011) is shown in Fig....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, seismic reflection profiles in the western part of the Gulf of Lions were used to confirm the basinward extension of the Messinian erosion and enable the mapping of distinctive seismic markers indicating Messinian Erosional Surface (or Messinian unconformity), the basin margin detrital deposits, and the deep evaporite sequence.

223 citations