The age of the Miocene-Pliocene boundary in the Capo Rossello area (Sicily)

Abstract

Detailed correlations of magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy reveal that the basal Pliocene is equally complete in the Eraclea Minoa and Capo Rossello sections (Sicily) and the Singa section (Calabria), and that, in accordance with the model of the Pliocene flooding event in the Mediterranean, the deposition of the pelagic marls of the Trubi Formation started synchronously on Sicily and in adjacent Calabria. In addition, the data obtained from the Trubi in the Eraclea Minoa section allows the age of the Miocene-Pliocene boundary to be adjusted slightly from 4.83–4.84 [1] to 4.86 Ma because downward extrapolation of both sedimentation rate and average duration of small-scale sedimentary cycles in the Trubi yields this age for the boundary in this section. Linearly interpolated ages for the top of the Sphaeroidinellopsis acme and the first substantial increase in Globorotalia margaritae (the FOD of this species is non-existent in the Mediterranean Pliocene) at Eraclea Minoa arrive at 4.74 and 4.63 Ma respectively. Because of the detailed magnetostratigraphy and the very accurate dating of the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, it is preferable to select the Eraclea Minoa section as the boundary stratotype rather than the Capo Rossello section. Finally, this age of 4.86 Ma for the Miocene-Pliocene boundary suggests that the beginning of the Pliocene is connected with the termination of a series of latest Miocene glaciations and that the re-establishment of open marine conditions in the Mediterranean might be of glacio-eustatic origin.