Quantitative analysis of Calabrian planktic foraminifer assemblages and paleoecology of the Eastern Mediterranean from the onshore epibathyal sedimentary archives (Mersin, Turkey)

Abstract

The youngest epibathyal marine deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean Region giving Calabrian age have been recently discovered in the southern Central Anatolian Plateau, Turkey. Hence the Calabrian planktic foraminifer paleoecology of the Eastern Mediterranean surface waters has not been investigated yet. This study reports the planktic foraminifer assemblages of the two Calabrian aged marine successions in the Mersin district in southern Turkey and their ecological properties in the Eastern Mediterranean sea-surface waters in terms of various ecological parameters such as temperature and nutrient availability. The multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the older marine succession, Gülnar East, is represented by four main assemblages: Globorotalia spp. assemblage, Globigerinella spp. assemblage, Globigerina spp. assemblage, and Orbulina spp. Assemblage; whereas the second and the younger section, Tol, is represented by three assemblages: Globigerinoides spp. and Globigerinella obesa assemblage, Orbulina spp. and Globigerinodes spp. assemblage, and Orbulina spp. assemblage. Examining the statistical correlations between the assemblages, three ecological factors for the Gülnar East section and one ecological factor for the Tol section were identified.