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Schematic geologic map of Sicily with the distribution of the "Lower Evaporites". Upper Evaporites distribution is not shown in this map.
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... it is regarded to as a relatively deep peripheral basin containing the best analog Messinian succession of the deep Me- diterranean basins ). While the most continuous succession occurs in the central Sicilian basin (Caltanissetta Basin, see Rouchy and Caruso, this volume), Messinian deposits also crop out in other basins developed in different structural and depositional settings (Figs 2-3). These basins, with some exceptions, are usually less considered in the literature, probably due to the incomplete nature of their Messinian sedimentary record. ...
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... fi rst two cycles are composed of very regu- lar, large selenite crystals (up to 1 m tall; Fig. ...
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... stratigraphy, sedimentology, micropaleontolo- gy and geochemistry Decima and Wezel, 1973;Decima and Sprovieri, 1973;Pierre, 1974;Brolsma, 1978;Mascle and Heiman, 1978;Schreiber et al., 1976;Longinelli, 1979;Rouchy, 1982;Hilgen and Langereis, 1993;Sgarrella et al., 1997;Bonaduce and Sgarrella, 1999;Pierre et al., 2006; among many other papers) (Fig. 20). to a thrusted contact. The unit is composed, over about 150 meters, of beds of exclusively primary selenite gypsum which, in the upper half of the unit, exhibit a chaotic structure made by the accumulation of large fragments of disrupted gypsum layers (Fig. 21A, B). This structure may be interpreted as the result of collapse processes ...
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... al., 1997;Bonaduce and Sgarrella, 1999;Pierre et al., 2006; among many other papers) (Fig. 20). to a thrusted contact. The unit is composed, over about 150 meters, of beds of exclusively primary selenite gypsum which, in the upper half of the unit, exhibit a chaotic structure made by the accumulation of large fragments of disrupted gypsum layers (Fig. 21A, B). This structure may be interpreted as the result of collapse processes after dissolution of salt interbeds that occurred during a period of subaerial exposure at the end of the deposition of the Lower Evaporites ( Hsü et al., 1978;Rouchy, 1982;Rouchy and Caruso, ...
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... the Eraclea Minoa section, this unit lies upon pale gray to whitish marls that, like in most of this central area, can be dated as Serravallian to Tortonian (A. Caruso, unpublished data). This indicates an important stratigraphic hiatus at the base of the gypsum that could be related Fig. 21 -The Lower Gypsum Unit in the Eraclea Minoa section. A. View of the Lower Gypsum that appears as a chaotic accumulation of large fragments of disrupted gypsum layers which can be interpreted as the result of collpase after disso- lution of salt interbeds. The upper part of the succession is made of gypsarenites (see photo B for ...
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... alternative interpretation of this outcrop is here proposed for discussion. The Lower Gypsum megabreccia could be the result of large-scale gravity collapses triggered by tectonic activity (Fig. 22). In this case, the graded gypsarenite unit on top of the megabreccia could be genetically related to the underlying deposit, representing the The chaotic interval is unconformably overlain by a fi ning-upward sequence of clastics (Fig. 21B) starting by a coarse conglomerate that reworks the preevaporitic deposits, especially as cm to ...
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... Lower Gypsum megabreccia could be the result of large-scale gravity collapses triggered by tectonic activity (Fig. 22). In this case, the graded gypsarenite unit on top of the megabreccia could be genetically related to the underlying deposit, representing the The chaotic interval is unconformably overlain by a fi ning-upward sequence of clastics (Fig. 21B) starting by a coarse conglomerate that reworks the preevaporitic deposits, especially as cm to dm-si- zed fragments of diatomites from the Tripoli unit (Fig. 21C). Thus, a period of subaerial exposure occurred at the end of the deposition of the lower evaporites that caused a deep erosion and a reacti- vation of the drainage system. In ...
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... top of the megabreccia could be genetically related to the underlying deposit, representing the The chaotic interval is unconformably overlain by a fi ning-upward sequence of clastics (Fig. 21B) starting by a coarse conglomerate that reworks the preevaporitic deposits, especially as cm to dm-si- zed fragments of diatomites from the Tripoli unit (Fig. 21C). Thus, a period of subaerial exposure occurred at the end of the deposition of the lower evaporites that caused a deep erosion and a reacti- vation of the drainage system. In agreement with Butler et al. (1995) and Krijgsman et al. (1999), we consider this unconformity as the trace of an important episode of subaerial exposure in the ...
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... from the upper evaporites also evidences the permanence of marine waters with a strong in- fl uence of meteoric waters (Pierre, 1973(Pierre, , 1982Longinelli, 1979). Brackish molluscs typical of the Lago-Mare conditions (Congeria sp., Mela- noides sp.) are present in the middle part of the claystones of the cycle 3 and at the base of the cycle 5 (Fig. 24B, 25A). (Fig. 23); gypsum facies, palaeoenvironmental conditions at the end of the MSC, Late Messinian high-reso- lution ...
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... also evidences the permanence of marine waters with a strong in- fl uence of meteoric waters (Pierre, 1973(Pierre, , 1982Longinelli, 1979). Brackish molluscs typical of the Lago-Mare conditions (Congeria sp., Mela- noides sp.) are present in the middle part of the claystones of the cycle 3 and at the base of the cycle 5 (Fig. 24B, 25A). (Fig. 23); gypsum facies, palaeoenvironmental conditions at the end of the MSC, Late Messinian high-reso- lution ...
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... in a large part of the central area of the Cal- tanissetta basin, the contact between the Lower and Upper Gypsum units is marked by a sharp angular unconformity and, in the Eraclea Minoa section, by a fault underlain by highly deformed gypsum layers (Fig. 20). We think that this angu- lar disconformity refl ects mostly the contrasted mechanical behaviour of the sedimentary deposits which are marked by strong differences between the massive gypsum deposits of the lower unit and the clay-gypsum cycles of the upper unit, and also by halokinetic deformation of the thick salt unit (halite and ...
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... the lower unit that is composed of massive gypsum, the Upper Gypsum unit con- sists of six sedimentary cycles ( Fig. 20; 24A, B, C). The intensely deformed gypsum deposits lo- cated along the faulted contact at the base of the unit could represent a seventh cycle. Each cycle starts with clays and marls interbedded with sands and thin layers of fi ne-grained carbonates. These later become thicker and more abundant in the upper part where they can be ...
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... layers of fi nely-laminated gypsum (balatino) and gypsarenites in the lower part and nmost part of the area, the uppermost gypsum and the overlying late Messinian sediments are involved in tectonic deformation which caused the stretching of the overlying siltstones and Arenazzolo sandstones that can locally resemble to a sedimentary discontinuity (Fig. 26C). There is no evidence in the section of a long period of subaerial exposure and erosion, all the features being explained only by sedimentary processes or tectonic deformation. The Arenazzolo grades upwards into grey claystones and siltstones over 60 cm below the sharp contact with the whitish Trubi marlstones and marly limestones. The ...
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... all the features being explained only by sedimentary processes or tectonic deformation. The Arenazzolo grades upwards into grey claystones and siltstones over 60 cm below the sharp contact with the whitish Trubi marlstones and marly limestones. The uppermost 20 cm of the grey claystones and siltstones are characterised by intense burrowing (Fig. ...
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... the uppermost gypsum layer (N°6), the post-evaporitic late Messinian sedimentary interval consists of a 12 m-thick sequence of siltstones including some dm-thick layers of sandstones (Fig. 26A, D) overlain by about 3 m of sandy deposits, the so-called Arenazzolo unit. These sandy deposits display convolute structures related to fl uidization processes (Fig. 26B). Abundant shells of brackish mollusks (the so-called Lago-Mare fauna) are disseminated over a thickness of 2 meters in the upper part of these siltstones and in the ...
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... gypsum layer (N°6), the post-evaporitic late Messinian sedimentary interval consists of a 12 m-thick sequence of siltstones including some dm-thick layers of sandstones (Fig. 26A, D) overlain by about 3 m of sandy deposits, the so-called Arenazzolo unit. These sandy deposits display convolute structures related to fl uidization processes (Fig. 26B). Abundant shells of brackish mollusks (the so-called Lago-Mare fauna) are disseminated over a thickness of 2 meters in the upper part of these siltstones and in the basal 30 cm of the sandy interval (Fig. 24B, 25B). In the wester- and the green clays occurring between the last two gypsum layers (Decima and Wezel, 1971) correspond to ...
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... 3 m of sandy deposits, the so-called Arenazzolo unit. These sandy deposits display convolute structures related to fl uidization processes (Fig. 26B). Abundant shells of brackish mollusks (the so-called Lago-Mare fauna) are disseminated over a thickness of 2 meters in the upper part of these siltstones and in the basal 30 cm of the sandy interval (Fig. 24B, 25B). In the wester- and the green clays occurring between the last two gypsum layers (Decima and Wezel, 1971) correspond to "Lago-Mare" phase of the late Messinian. Bonaduce and Sgarrella (1999) have described several species of ostracods of hypohaline and/or hyperhaline conditions with some specimens of Ammonia tepida. In the layers of ...
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... stable isotope compositions of calcite have been measured in the 49 samples collected through a 3 meters thick interval encompassing the MPB (from the uppermost meter of the Mes- sinian siltstones and the two fi rst meters of the Early Pliocene marlstones ( Pierre et al., 2006) (Fig. 27). In the uppermost Messinian ...
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... section is located immediately to the west of the Siculiana village along the Giallonardo beach. It displays four cycles of the upper gyp- sum similar to those from Eraclea Minoa, but the absence of any urbanization allows obser- ving these cycles in great detail (Fig. 28, 29A). Unfortunately, the section does not provide the whole sedimentary succession as the fi rst two cycles are not cropping out. The claystones of the sixth cycle are truncated by a fault and the contact between the Lago-Mare and the Trubi is strongly disturbed by tectonic deformations. Preliminary description of the section mostly focused ...
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... composition of the cycles are similar to those from the Eraclea Minoa section. Their lower part is composed, over 13 to 26 meters, of siltstones with dm-thick interbeds of sandstones and thin interlayers of whitish fi nely-laminated carbonates whose number and thickness increase upward ( Fig. 28A, B; 29A). These deposits are overlain by 1 to 3.5 meters of gypsum composed of dm-thick sequences of claystones-fi nely-la- minated (balatino) gypsum and gypsarenites displaying fl at pebbles, ripple cross-laminated and scouring features (Fig. 29C). They are in turn covered by a thickening upward succession of primary selenite gypsum beds ...
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... thin interlayers of whitish fi nely-laminated carbonates whose number and thickness increase upward ( Fig. 28A, B; 29A). These deposits are overlain by 1 to 3.5 meters of gypsum composed of dm-thick sequences of claystones-fi nely-la- minated (balatino) gypsum and gypsarenites displaying fl at pebbles, ripple cross-laminated and scouring features (Fig. 29C). They are in turn covered by a thickening upward succession of primary selenite gypsum beds whose thick- ness ranges from few decimeters to 2 meters. The lower part is made of sequences composed of clays-carbonates, fi nely laminated gypsum (balatino) and selenite (Fig. 29D). The total thi- ckness of the primary selenite intervals ...
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... displaying fl at pebbles, ripple cross-laminated and scouring features (Fig. 29C). They are in turn covered by a thickening upward succession of primary selenite gypsum beds whose thick- ness ranges from few decimeters to 2 meters. The lower part is made of sequences composed of clays-carbonates, fi nely laminated gypsum (balatino) and selenite (Fig. 29D). The total thi- ckness of the primary selenite intervals varies from 6 to 9 ...
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... the cycle N° 4 has been examined in more detail (Fig. 28B, 29A). Most of the sediments are devoid of microfossils except for the sands which are usually rich in benthic and planktonic fora- minifers which display a very large stratigraphic thickness of 400-600 m Wezel, 1971, 1973;Decima, 1978; Fig. 31): -Unit A: evenly laminated gray halite with white anhydrite nodules and laminae passing upward ...
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... unit is up to 50 m thick; -Unit B: massive even layers of gray halite interbedded with light gray thin kainite lami- nae and with minor gray centimeter polyhalite spherulites and laminae and anhydrite laminae; the upper part of the unit contains at least six gypsarenites, before the deposition of the fi rst silty sediments of the overlying cycle (Fig. 29E). This suggests that the basin basin was lowered or dried out at the end of each period of evaporitic deposition Marsaglia and Tribble ...
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... the uppermost part of unit B shows a progressive appearance of large halite rafts together with localized dissolution pits fi lled by mud, characteristics that suggest a marked up- ward shallowing of the basin. Spectacular vertical fi ssures cut through the topmost part of unit B in many parts of the Realmonte mine at the bound- ary with unit C (Fig. 32). light gray kainite layers up to 18 m-thick; total thickness is about 100 m; -Unit C: white halite layers 10-20 cm thick sparated by irregular dark gray mud laminae and containing minor light gray polyhalite and anhydrite laminae; the total thickness is 70-80 m; -Unit D: gray anhydritic mudstone (15-20 m thick) passing to an anhydrite ...
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... Serra Pirciata section (Fig. 42 A, B) outcrops near the old sulphur mine of Tallarita, about 5 km from the Riesi town, along the road from Riesi to Sommatino, about 4 kilometers south of the Monte Gallitano section. Previous descriptions were published by Pedley and Grasso (1993), Butler et al. (1995;, McClelland et al. (1996), and Sprovieri et al. (1996b) while a complete ...
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... cycle 29 with an astronomical age of 6.415 Ma (Hilgen and Krijgsman, 1999;Blanc-Valleron et al., 2002). In the Monte Gallitano section as in Fal- conara, the coiling change of Neogloboquadrina acostaensis from dextral to senestral, occurs in the diatomites of the cycle 32, 3 cycles after the T. multiloba FCO, with an astronomical age of 6.34 Ma (Fig. 12A, 13). These bioevents per- mitted to correlate the sedimentary succession exposed at Monte Gallitano with the cycles 22 to 43 of Falconara. Three additional cycles which are laterally present in the uppermost part of the Tripoli Fm, can be correlated with he cycles 45-49 of Falconara. They are composed of grey marls-diatomites-carbonates ...
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... of a fault, the interval from 2.80m to 4.50m (Fig. 43) was not sampled. From 4.50 m to 13 m, 15 lithological cycles are present composed of grey marl-diatomite couplets with no reddish laminites. At 13.20 m a fi rst carbonate bed, containing few pseudomorphs of halite and to a large faulted fold tied to the strong tectonic activity of the area (Fig. 42A). The sedimentary succession 38 meters in thickness is composed by only 4 meters of marl-laminites (sapropels) of Licata Formation and over around 19 meters by a succession of 25 diatomite-bearing sedimentary cycles typical of the Tripoli Fm (Fig. 43) which grades upward into 15 m of grey marls alterna- ting with autobrecciated ...
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... by a succession of 25 diatomite-bearing sedimentary cycles typical of the Tripoli Fm (Fig. 43) which grades upward into 15 m of grey marls alterna- ting with autobrecciated limestones related to "Calcare di Base" unit. The Tripoli Fm overlies the Globigerina Marls of the Licata Fm (middle Tortonian-lower Messinian) through a faulted contact (Fig. 42A). gypsum, appears intercalated with diatomite and grey marls. This layer has previously been inter- preted by Pedley and Grasso (1993) as a marker of incipient evaporitic conditions in the Caltanissetta Basin and referred as First Carbonate Bed (FCB) (Fig. 42B, 43). [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51], that grades ...
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... Marls of the Licata Fm (middle Tortonian-lower Messinian) through a faulted contact (Fig. 42A). gypsum, appears intercalated with diatomite and grey marls. This layer has previously been inter- preted by Pedley and Grasso (1993) as a marker of incipient evaporitic conditions in the Caltanissetta Basin and referred as First Carbonate Bed (FCB) (Fig. 42B, 43). [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51], that grades upward into 15 m of grey marls alternating with autobrecciated limestones related to "Calcare di Base" unit (cycles ...
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... et al., 2002), thus this bioevent permits to correlate the local lithological cycle 7 with lithological cycle 32 of Falconara. The interval from 4.5 m up to the top of the section is characterized by a good lithological cyclicity that permits the progressive numbering of all cycles as compared with the Falconara reference section (Fig. 42B, 43). Thus, in the Serra Pirciata section cycles 21 to 25 and 31 to 52 of Tripoli Fm are present. Salso River (Fig. 43) in which abundant benthic and planktic foraminifera, lower Pliocene in age, have been found. In particular two stratigraphical markers of lower Pliocene as Globorotalia margaritae and Globorotalia puncticulata are also ...
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... uppermost 12 meters of the section, from 19 to 31 metres, correspond to the true Calcare di Base (Fig. 42B) composed of a thickening upward succession of 19 carbonate beds alternating with clay and marl layers, which are described below in more ...
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... thickness of the carbonate beds ranges from few decimeters to 6 meters for the upper- most bed (Fig. 42B). These carbonates are very rich in pseudomorphs of halite and accessorily gypsum crystals (Fig. 46) and in celestite (Fig. 45C) which appears usually distributed along fractures and diaclases. The base of the "Calca- re di Base" has been defi ned by a fi rst carbonate layer rich in celestite. In addition to the halite section and SEM ...
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... Numerous studies have been undertaken to classify the widespread CdB deposits by way of sedimentological and geochemical methods, as well as by putting them into a stratigraphical context (e.g. Bellanca and Neri, 1986;Rouchy and Saint Martin, 1992;Pedley and Grasso, 1993;Hilgen and Krijgsman, 1999 and references therein; Guido et al., 2007Guido et al., , 2013Roveri et al., 2006;Mastandrea et al., 2010;Oliveri et al., 2010;Birgel et al., 2014;Borrelli et al., 2021Borrelli et al., , 2022Gindre-Chanu et al., 2020;Perri E. et al., 2017;Perri F. et al., 2023 and references therein). It is now accepted by the scientific community the microbial origin and the deposition of the CdB in marine to evaporite settings influenced by freshwater input (Guido et al., 2013;Birgel et al., 2014). ...
... It was followed by stage 2 (5.60-5.55 Ma), in which part of the PLG was removed (by erosion and/or as mass transport deposit) and resedimented as Resedimented Lower Gypsum (RLG) (Clauzon et al., 2015;Roveri et al., 2006), and a halite unit was deposited in intermediate (ca. 200 to 1000 m paleo-depth; e.g., Caltanissetta Basin and Central Mallorca Depression; Lugli et al., 1999;Raad et al., 2021) to deep basins (>1000 m paleo-depth; e.g., Provencal and Levant basins; Lofi et al., 2011). ...
... (1) It might have been redeposited into deeper settings due to gravitational instability (De Lange & Krijgsman, 2010). Such a process combined with local tectonic activity might be at the origin of the Resedimented Lower Gypsum (RLG) observed in some basins Roveri et al., 2006), but could have happened in any moment after the gypsum's deposition and not necessarily during stage 2 of the MSC (Figure 12), as also supported by observations from the MSC PLG in Cyprus by Artiaga et al. (2021); (2) It could have been the result of subaerial erosion during the main MSC water level drawdown which amplitude has been recently revised to 1.5 km in the Western Mediterranean . Indeed, present-day denudation rates measured in gypsum (by denudation), including MSC gypsum from the Sorbas Basin (Calaforra et al., 1993;Sanna et al., 2015; Table 2), vary from low (0.20 mm/yr) to high (3.16 ...
The Central Mallorca Depression (CMD) located in the Balearic Promontory (Western Mediterranean), contains a well‐preserved evaporitic sequence belonging to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) salt giant, densely covered by high‐ and low‐resolution seismic reflection data. It has been proposed recently that the MSC evaporitic sequence in the CMD could be a non‐deformed analogue of the key MSC area represented by the Caltanissetta Basin in Sicily. This presumed similarity makes the CMD an interesting system to better understand the MSC events. Physics‐based box models of the water mixing between sub‐basins, built on conservation of mass of water and salt, help constrain the hydrological conditions under which evaporites formed during the MSC. Those models have been widely used in the literature of the MSC in the past two decades. They have been mostly applied to the Mediterranean Sea as a whole focusing on the Mediterranean‐Atlantic connection, or focusing on the influence of the Sicily Sill connecting the Western and Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we apply a downscaled version of such modeling technique to the CMD. First, we quantify the present‐day volumes of the MSC units. We then use a reconstructed pre‐MSC paleo‐bathymetry to model salinity changes as a function of flux exchanges between the CMD and the Mediterranean. We show that a persistent connection between the CMD and the Mediterranean brine near gypsum saturation can explain volume of Primary Lower Gypsum under a sea level similar to the present. For the halite, on the contrary, we show that the observed halite volume cannot be deposited from a connected CMD‐Mediterranean scenario, suggesting a drawdown of at least 850 m (sill depth) is necessary. Comparison between the deep basin halite volume and that of the CMD shows that it is possible to obtain the observed halite volume in both basins from a disconnected Mediterranean basin undergoing drawdown, although determining the average salinity of the Western Mediterranean basin at the onset of drawdown requires further investigation.
... Accordingly, we interpret these bed types as gypsiferous turbiditic deposits (e.g. Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The basal subfacies refer to coarse to fine-grained gypsarenite (R3 to R5) emplaced by high to low density turbidity currents. ...
... These beds characterize former shale-rich gypsrudite deposits (R1) emplaced in a cohesive debris flow having involved gypsiferous and mud-rich deposits (e.g. Rouchy and Sommers, 1995;Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The gypsum nodules and stringers are interpreted as ...
... Accordingly, we interpret these bed types as gypsiferous turbiditic deposits (e.g. Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The basal subfacies refer to coarse to fine-grained gypsarenite (R3 to R5) emplaced by high to low density turbidity currents. ...
... These beds characterize former shale-rich gypsrudite deposits (R1) emplaced in a cohesive debris flow having involved gypsiferous and mud-rich deposits (e.g. Rouchy and Sommers, 1995;Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The gypsum nodules and stringers are interpreted as ...
The E-W oriented Sivas foreland basin in Turkey recorded a salinity crisis during the Late Eocene resulting in evaporite accumulations thick enough to trigger intense halokinesis during the Oligo-Miocene. The salinity crisis is studied thanks to three sedimentological sections crossing the transition from the last marine deposits (Bözbel Formation) to the overlying evaporitic facies (Tuzhisar Formation) preserved from halokinetic deformations. The top of the Bözbel Formation presents flood-generated hyperpycnites developed in pro-delta to delta front settings. In the central part of the basin, such facies become increasingly sediment-starved with azoic calcareous facies interlayered with organic-rich shales. Such facies are ultimately capped by thick accumulations of gypsiferous turbiditic lobe deposits. Southward, the foredeep was partly isolated from the central domain due to the propagation of an anticline. There, the basal siliciclastic turbidites become increasingly gypsum-rich and are capped by a 45 meters-thick mass-transport deposit enclosing olistoliths of gypsum and of ophiolitic rocks. Such gravity collapse deposits evolve upward to the same gypsiferous turbiditic lobes observed northward. Both transitional facies record the progressive confinement of the basin from the sea, likely due to the northward propagation of the fold-and-thrust belt located farther south. The evaporites started to precipitate in piggy-back evaporitic basins, along the highs of the fold-and-thrust belt, before being reworked gravitationally in the foredeep to the north, producing the high to low density gypsum turbidites. Finally, from north to south, the reworked evaporites are extensively covered by a > 100 m thick, chaotic, coarse-crystalline gypsum mass likely resulting from the hydration of anhydrite grains left as a residual phase after the leaching of a significant amount of halite. The latter formed in a hypersaline marine-fed basin and have lately allowed mini-basin salt tectonics during Oligo-Miocene times.
... The Calcare di Base Formation (CdB), Messinian in age, is characterized by carbonates represented by calcite and aragonite, and minor dolomite, marl and gypsum. It crops out extensively in Southern Italy and commonly marks the transition from pre-evaporitic to evaporitic deposits (Decima et al., 1988;Roveri et al., 2006Roveri et al., , 2014Manzi et al., 2011;Perri et al., 2017;Gindre-Chanu et al., 2020). This has aroused considerable interest in the scientific community which, through time, has tried to define and update the main geological, stratigraphical and geochemical features of the CdB (e.g. ...
... This has aroused considerable interest in the scientific community which, through time, has tried to define and update the main geological, stratigraphical and geochemical features of the CdB (e.g. McKenzie, 1985;Pedley & Grasso, 1993;Hilgen & Krijgsman, 1999;Roveri et al., 2006Roveri et al., , 2014Perri et al., 2017;Gindre-Chanu et al., 2020). ...
... Some others (e.g. Roveri et al., 2006;Roveri et al., 2008;Barone et al., 2008;Manzi et al., 2011Manzi et al., , 2016 consider these breccias as the result of re-sedimentation due to mass-flow events under evaporative conditions of previously deposited shallow-marine evaporitic carbonates. These different views, together with different stratigraphic interpretations, led also to the proposal of different ages for the CdB, since it is considered both contemporary to the onset of the MSC, about 5.9 to 5.6 Ma (e.g. or slightly subsequent to the MES at 5.60 to 5.55 Ma, formed during the major sea-level drawdown (CdB type 3 coeval with the Resedimented Lower Gypsum) (Manzi et al., 2011;Roveri et al., 2014). ...
The Calcare di Base is a carbonate/evaporitic unit formed before the deposition of the massive halite bodies in the main depozones of the Mediterranean region, and has been at the centre of a fiery debate between different ‘schools of thought’ about its genesis, environmental conditions and timing of deposition. It crops out extensively in Southern Italy, across Neogene basins located on the Tyrrhenian and Ionian margins of northern Calabria, where it was studied through a detailed facies and stratigraphic analysis that revealed the presence of a continental/shallow‐marine to slope system, active during the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. During the Calcare di Base deposition, an arid climate regime with intermittent humid phases occurred with a precession forced cyclicity, facing an overall generally cold climatic period. During arid periods, stressed environmental conditions permitted the establishment of widespread microbial‐mediated carbonate production, frequently associated with evaporitic (gypsum‐dominated) deposition, along a sabkha‐type environment with extensive salinas and hypersaline coastal lagoons grading seaward into a carbonate/evaporite shallow‐marine shelf. This is testified to by microbial boundstones and dissolution breccias commonly associated with nodular gypsum and arenites affected by desiccation, typically forming metre‐scale shallowing‐upward peritidal cycles. Seaward, gravity flow deposits are interpreted as re‐sedimented shelf limestones, defining a slope apron. Mixed carbonate/evaporite megabreccias and disorganized floatbreccias were deposited along the upper slope, whereas soft deformation with slides, slumps and channelized turbidites further developed along the lower slope to basin. During the humid climate episodes, that affected the platform system with a precession‐forced cyclicity, the carbonate production was reduced together with the evaporitic deposition, leading to the widespread deposition of marlstones and fine to coarse siliciclastic deposits.
... In greater detail, a first and a second sedimentary cycle [42] are distinguished in the Messinian evaporites, which are separated by an angular unconformity. The first cycle comprises [43]: carbonate deposits (Calcare di Base Fm.: BEC), massive selenite (Cattolica Fm.: CTL), and a salt unit (Clastic Casulfates, Mg and K salts, and halite unit: SLT). The younger second cycle is mainly characterised by In greater detail, a first and a second sedimentary cycle [42] are distinguished in the Messinian evaporites, which are separated by an angular unconformity. ...
... The younger second cycle is mainly characterised by In greater detail, a first and a second sedimentary cycle [42] are distinguished in the Messinian evaporites, which are separated by an angular unconformity. The first cycle comprises [43]: carbonate deposits (Calcare di Base Fm.: BEC), massive selenite (Cattolica Fm.: CTL), and a salt unit (Clastic Ca-sulfates, Mg and K salts, and halite unit: SLT). The younger second cycle is mainly characterised by thin gypsum layers (balatino and selenite: GPQ) and marls layers (upper evaporites, Pasquasia Fm.: GPQ) levels interbedded with detrital mud, silt, sandstones, and conglomerates overlain by siliciclastic sediments (mainly silty clays; Arenazzolo Fm.: RNZ), characterised by marked organic matter levels. ...
Featured Application: The research suggests an approach for refining the guidelines to be used in studying heterogeneous media and planning optimal monitoring networks and protocols for several anthropogenic purposes (e.g., environmental monitoring of landfills or contaminated sites managing). Abstract: Knowledge about the hydrogeological behaviour of heterogeneous low-permeability media is an important tool when designing anthropogenic works (e.g., landfills) that could potentially have negative impacts on the environment and on people's health. The knowledge about the biogeochemical processes in these media could prevent "false positives" when studying groundwater quality and possible contamination caused by anthropogenic activities. In this research, we firstly refined knowledge about the groundwater flow field at a representative site where the groundwater flows within an evaporite-bearing low-permeability succession. Hydraulic measurements and tritium analyses demonstrated the coexistence of relatively brief to very prolonged groundwater pathways. The groundwater is recharged by local precipitation, as demonstrated by stable isotopes investigations. However, relatively deep groundwater is clearly linked to very high tritium content rainwater precipitated during the 1950s and 1960s. The deuterium content of some groundwater samples showed unusual values, explained by the interactions between the groundwater and certain gases (H 2 S and CH 4), the presences of which are linked to sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea detected within the saturated medium through biomolecular investigations in the shallow organic reach clayey deposits. In a wider, methodological context, the present study demonstrates that interdisciplinary approaches provide better knowledge about the behaviour of heterogeneous low-permeability media and the meaning of each data type.
... Accordingly, we interpret these bed types as gypsiferous turbiditic deposits (e.g. Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The basal subfacies refer to coarse to fine-grained gypsarenite (R3 to R5) emplaced by high to low density turbidity currents. ...
... These beds characterize former shale-rich gypsrudite deposits (R1) emplaced in a cohesive debris flow having involved gypsiferous and mud-rich deposits (e.g. Rouchy and Sommers, 1995;Manzi et al., 2005;Roveri et al., 2006). The gypsum nodules and stringers are interpreted as ...
The Sivas Basin in Turkey displays in its central part an Oligo-Miocene halokinetic province which acts as a major outcrop analogue to study salt-sediment interactions. Based on field geology observations, the present paper focuses on the geometry and sedimentology of several minibasins having the particularity of being mainly filled by gypsiferous deposits. Such type of evaporite-rich minibasins remain difficult to identify and are poorly studied in other halokinetic provinces. In the Sivas Basin, the evaporites were recycled from diapiric salts and precipitated in saline ponds emplaced above deflating diapiric stems. Diapir deflation resulted either from local transtensive strain, cessation of diapir feeding and/or subsurface dissolution of the diapiric salt. Minibasin subsidence was likely enhanced by the fast emplacement rate of the capping evaporites, together with the high density of the depositional sulfates compared to the diapiric halite. The evaporite-rich minibasins stand out from their surrounding siliciclastic counter-parts by their small dimension (lower than 1 km-wide), their encased teardrop shape, and their high internal deformations. The later include well-developed halokinetic sedimentary wedges, aerial mega-slumps or inverted flaps. Such structural features probably resulted from the ductile rheology of the evaporite infill and the complex pattern of downbuilding. Although secondary evaporitic minibasins have never been identified in other ancient halokinetic settings, our study highlights that they could developed in any evaporitic environments, coastal or continental, such as in the Precaspian Basin. The secondary minibasins described here can also act as field analogues of other primary evaporite-rich minibasins already suspected in salt giant basins (e.g. in the Santos Basin, Brazil).
... other PLG deposits and the result of the combined effect of salt deformation under regional compressive events and halokinesis followed by dissolutional collapse of salt interbeds Caruso et al., 2015). They are now considered as RLG deposits and consist of clastic, resedimented gypsum, with up to mountain sized blocks, derived from the erosion of PLG deposits and displaced by gravity flows (Roveri et al., 2006(Roveri et al., , 2008Manzi et al., 2016a). ...
The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) led to deposition of one of the youngest saline giant on Earth. The increasing restriction of the connections between the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the freshwater Paratethyan basins resulted in the deposition of massive amounts of evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, halite and potash salts) in shallow marginal basins as well as in deep Mediterranean basins. Here we show that each gypsum unit in the circum-Mediterranean marginal basins in Sicily and Spain is characterized by a narrow range of sulfate isotopic values (δ³⁴S ~ 23‰ and δ¹⁸O ~ 14‰ in the Lower Gypsum; δ³⁴S ~ 23‰ and δ¹⁸O ~ 17‰ in the Upper Gypsum). Sulfate isotope compositions found in MSC evaporites from a variety of circum-Mediterranean basins are homogenously high relative to expected Late Miocene marine evaporites (δ³⁴S ~ 22‰ and δ¹⁸O ~ 12‰). This points to a stratified Mediterranean Sea with a high-salinity, dense, and anoxic bottom water mass. An intermediate depth gypsum-saturated brine flooded marginal basins from which selenite deposits formed during the MSC Stage 1 (Primary Lower Gypsum) and MSC Stage 3 (Upper Gypsum). Messinian brines were gradually affected by biogenic redox processes and isotopically differentiated from global seawater values. The homogeneity of isotopic signatures between distant synchronous gypsum deposits further supports the deep-basin deep-water model for the Mediterranean during the entire MSC event.
... Why would we have undertaken new stratigraphical analyses in an article devoted to sedimentary and diagenetic processes when recent and detailed data obtained by our team were available? This criticism appears completely unfounded and unfair as it is exactly what we did, but resting on the very detailed stratigraphical framework established in these previous works (Caruso 1999;Bellanca et al. 2001;Blanc-Valleron et al., 2002;Caruso and Rouchy, 2006). Caruso (1999) defined a highly documented biostratigraphical framework of the various sections described in Caruso et al. (2015). ...
... The study resulted in a very detailed framework of biostratigraphical and paleoenvironmental changes. Bio-and cyclostratigraphic correlations between this reference section and the other sections (Serra Pirciata) were proposed in Caruso and Rouchy (2006). As far as we know these works provided the most comprehensive study of the paleoenvironmental changes that occurred at the transition between the normal marine settings and the onset of the evaporitic conditions in the Sicilian Basin. ...
... But, which better criteria to define the onset of a salinity crisis than the beginning of evaporite deposition? Of course, this does not mean that the increase of salinity did not start earlier, evaporite precipitation being the final stage of salinity increase as documented by the above-mentioned works (Caruso 1999;Bellanca et al. 2001;Blanc-Valleron et al., 2002;Caruso and Rouchy, 2006). Is it necessary to recall that the Messinian Salinity Crisis has been defined in 1971 after the discovery of deep-sea evaporites during the DSDP leg 13 (Ryan et al. 1973). ...
Manzi et al. (in press) took the opportunity offered by our paper to repeat again all the set of ideas supporting an interpretative model of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), a model they assert to be valid for the whole Mediterranean basin. What emerges from reading this long comment may be summarized in one criticism of our article: we have not systematically applied their interpretative model to our data! The aim of our paper was not to promote their ideas, but to submit the results of more than 20. years of field studies and petrographical and geochemical analyses on Sicilian and Calabrian sequences of the Messinian "Calcare di Base". It is out of our purpose to enumerate again in this reply the data and interpretations we have developed in our paper, which disagree with their model and rule out most of their propositions. Thus, we will not reply in detail to this repetitive stream of ideas supporting their model. But we want to respond to some general and unfair comments, which are often far away from objectivity, and rectify some inaccurate assertions about the description of some sections.
... Transgressive evaporite sedimentation (TST) occurred in shoaling cycles under progressively attenuated tectonism. This evolution (Fig. 13) differs from the wellknown evaporite records of other Cenozoic foreland basins, such as the Carpathian Foreland basin of Badenian age (Middle Miocene) in Poland (Peryt, 2000(Peryt, , 2001), the Adriatic foreland basins of Messinian age in Italy ( Roveri et al., 2006) and the Gachsaran Formation in the Zagros Chain ( Bahrou- di & Koyi, 2003). The same observation can be applied to the potash episode (Upper Eocene) in the South Pyrenean basin just before the final marine cut-off and permanent colonization by nonmarine environments at the end of the Priabonian (Rosell & Pueyo, 1997). ...
Extensive deposition of marine evaporites occurred during the Early–Middle Eocene in the South-eastern Pyrenean basin (north-east Spain). This study integrates stratigraphic and geochemical analyses of subsurface data (oil wells, seismic profiles and gravity data) together with field surveys to characterize this sedimentation in the foredeep and adjacent platform. Four major evaporite units were identified. The oldest was the Serrat Evaporites unit, with a platform-slope-basin configuration. Thick salina and sabkha sulphates accumulated on the platform, whereas resedimented and gravity-derived sulphates were deposited on the slope, and salt and sulphates were deposited in the deep basin. In the subsequent unit (Vallfogona evaporites), thin sulphates formed on the platform, whereas very thick siliciclastic turbidites accumulated in the foredeep. However, some clastic gypsum coming from the platform (gypsarenites and gypsum olistoliths) was intercalated in these turbidites. The following unit, the Beuda Gypsum Formation developed in a sulphate platform-basin configuration, where the topography of the depositional surface had become smooth. The youngest unit, the Besalú Gypsum, formed in a shallow setting. This small unit provides the last evidence of marine influence in a residual basin. Sulphur and oxygen isotope compositions are consistent with a marine origin for all evaporites. However, δ34S and δ18O values also suggest that, except for the oldest unit (Serrat Evaporites), there was some sulphate recycling from the older into the younger units. The South-eastern Pyrenean basin constitutes a fine example of a foreland basin that underwent multiepisodic evaporitic sedimentation. In the basin, depositional factors evolved with time under a structural control. Decreasing complexity is observed in the lithofacies, as well as in the depositional models, together with a diminishing thickness of the evaporite units.
