Messinian resedimented gypsum (branching-like facies) from the Catanzaro Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy): petrographic and geochemical evidence for paleoenvironmental reconstruction

Abstract

A multidisciplinary approach allowed to investigate the formation and evolution of gypsum blocks within the Riato Conglomerate outcropping in the Catanzaro Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy). Macroscopically, the gypsum blocks seem to belong to the branching facies (primary facies) known in literature, however microscopic observations reveal a detrital origin (secondary facies). Indeed, the gypsum blocks show an alternation of laminae made of selenite clasts (100 to 500μm) and of fine matrix engulfing relicts of selenite crystals (