Calcareous plankton biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene succession of the Capo Rossello area, Sicily

Abstract

In the first part of this paper we present the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the Capo Rossello section (Sicily), which suggests that a sedimentary gap exists at the contact between the “Trubi” and the overlying Monte Narbone Formation, close to the top of the proposed Zanclean stratotype. This suggestion is supported by the planktonic foraminiferal results and field observations. In contrast, the transition from the “Trubi” to the Monte Narbone Formation is well exposed, gradational and biostratigraphically continuous in the nearby section of Punta Piccola. A composite of the Capo Rossello and Punta Piccola sections serves as a good biostratigraphic reference for the Pliocene of the Mediterranean. In a second part of this paper, we have attempted to update the Mediterranean Pliocene time framework by integrating all of the available biostratigraphic, biochronologic, chronostratigraphic, paleomagnetic and radiometric data.