Conference:
RCMNS 14th Congres, Istanbul, Turkey, 8-12 September 2013, p. 41.
Authors:
Jean-Pierre Suc, François Bache, Speranta-Maria Popescu, Damien Do Couto, Mihaela-Carmen Melinte-Dobrinescu, Christian Gorini, jean-Loup Rubino, Namik Çagatay, Speranta-Maria Popescu, Ziyadin Çakir.
Abstract:
The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) is now defined to start at 5.971 Ma and usually accepted to end at 5.332 Ma at the Zanclean GSSP (Manzi et al., 2013). Its peak is estimated to start at 5.600 Ma and would be interrupted by the Lago Mare event, the beginning of which being estimated at 5.420 Ma (Manzi et al., 2013). Such a chronology has been established considering that deposition of the turbiditic p-ev1 Unit in the Apennine Foredeep followed that of evaporites in the central Mediterranean basins (Roveri et al., 2008). On contrary, we interpret both the central evaporites and p-ev1 Unit as deposited contemporaneously, considering the Apennine Foredeep as a perched basin during the peak of the MSC, isolated by the Pelagosa Sill (Clauzon et al., 2005; Popescu et al., 2007; Bache et al., 2012).
It has been shown in many places that the post-MSC marine reflooding significantly preceded the Zanclean GSSP (Cavazza and DeCelles, 1998; Cornée et al., 2006; Popescu et al., 2007; Melinte- Dobrinescu et al., 2009; Clauzon et al., revised; Do Couto et al., submitted). The marine reflooding is thus proposed to have occurred at 5.460 Ma (Bache et al., 2012).
In addition, we evidenced three successive Lago Mare (LM) events: LM1 (directly overlying peripheral evaporites) and LM3 (overlying the Messinian Erosional Surface in the peripheral basins and linked to the marine reflooding) are exchange episodes between the Mediterranean and Paratethys at high sea level; LM2 only concerns central basins (directly overlying evaporites) and needs more investigation and clarification (Clauzon et al., 2005; Popescu et al., 2009).