Pleistocene–Holocene marine ostracods from Mersin offshore sediments, Turkey, Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

Ostracod faunas from 18 gravity offshore cores taken from S-SW of Mersin–Taşucu harbour in Turkey (Eastern Mediterranean) at water depths comprised between 285 and 665 m were studied. Thirty-two (32) species have been identified. Argilloecia acuminata s.l. and Polycope cf. tholiformis are the dominant species in the studied area. The fauna corresponds very well to the “ Argilloecia acuminata community, C11” from the Pleistocene to Holocene established by Sissingh (Sissingh, W., 1982. Ecostratigraphical outline history of the Late Cenozoic ostracode fauna of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean Basin. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wettenschappen B 85, 299–322), and indicates circalittoral to upper bathyal environment in the Mediterranean. The ostracod fauna of the Mersin offshore sediments also shows great similarities to those from the Adriatic Sea (Bonaduce, G., Ciampo, G., Masoli, M., 1975. Distribution of ostracoda in the Adriatic Sea. Pubblicazioni della Stazione Zoologica di Napoli 40 Suppl., 1–304), Sicily (Aiello, G., Barra, D., Bonaduce, G., 2000. Systematics and biostratigraphy of the Plio-Pleistocene Monte S. Nicola section (Gela, Sicily). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 39, 83–112) and Bay of Naples (Müller, G.W., 1894. Die Ostracoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeresabschnitte. Zoologische Station zu Neapel. Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel, Monographie 31, 1–404). Only a few species are common with the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara.