High-resolution cyclostratigraphic analysis of multiple climate proxies from a short Langhian pelagic succession in the Cònero Riviera, Ancona (Italy)

Abstract

A high-resolution analysis of multiple climate proxies from a rhythmic mid-Langhian pelagic limestone–marl succession (northeastern Apennines of Italy) yields information on the pacing and nature of palaeoenvironmental changes in this part of the mid-Miocene Mediterranean. The variations in stable isotopes, magnetic susceptibility, and a variety of geochemical parameters through the section, although modified by diagenetic changes, are broadly consistent with a model of climate cycles in which the limestones represent cold/dry periods and the marls represent warm/wet periods. Fourier analysis of the multiple proxies, constrained by radioisotopic dates, and aided by partial tuning to either eccentricity or obliquity show that these proxies respond in synchrony to orbitally forced climate changes, with obliquity being the dominant influence in this succession.