Content uploaded by Sevket Sen
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Sevket Sen on Jul 04, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Magnetostratigraphy of the late Miocene continental deposits of the lower Axios valley, Macedonia, Greece
Abstract and Figures
The magnetostratigraphy of nine sections in the late Miocene continenta l deposits of the Lower Axios va lley was studied. Six late Vallesian and early Turolian mammal localities are located on these sections. The sediments. classified as Nea Messimvria and Vathylakkos formations, are well suitable for pa leomagnetic stud ies. Severa l polarity zones were identified in these sections, and taking into account their stratigraphic superposit ion and the biochronologic data yielded by rich mammalian faunas. it has been possible to correlate them with the geomagnetic polarity time sca le. Tile late Vallesian localities XIR, RPI and RZI are included in Chron C4A with ages between 9.3-9.6 Ma. while the Turolian localit ies are correlated with Chron C4r.1 r (RZO) and C4n .l n (PXM and VTK), i.e. about 8.2 and 7.5 Ma respectively.
Figures - uploaded by Sevket Sen
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Sevket Sen
Content may be subject to copyright.
... The new excavations in Axios Valley provided a great amount of hipparions and the first collected material (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979) was studied by Koufos (1980). In the following years the collection enriched providing more data and allowing better comparisons and determinations (Koufos 1984(Koufos , 1986(Koufos , 1987aKoufos 1988aKoufos , b, 2000Koufos and Vlachou 2019). The latest works recognised the following taxa in Axios Valley: H. macedonicum Koufos, 1984, H. proboscideum Studer, 1911 Koufos and Vlachou, 2016, H. sithonis Koufos and Vlachou, 2016, H. cf. ...
... As it is already mentioned above, the material of 'Arambourg collection' is mixed and thus it is impossible to provide useful biochronological data. The couple of relocated sites Ravin de Vatilük and Ravin de Konikovo can be definetely dated as they correspond to Vathylakkos 3 and Dytiko 1. Vathylakkos 3 was correlated with middle Turolian, MN 12 and the palaeomagnetic data provided an estimated age of ~7.3 Ma (Sen et al. 2000;Koufos 2013). The age of Dytiko 1 is based on biochronological data and it is correlated to late Turolian, MN 13, ranging between 7.0-6.0 ...
... Ma (Koufos and Vassileiadou 2015 and ref. therein). As mentioned above, the old locality Ravin des Zouaves (R.Z) is within Nea Messimvria Formation and close to the new sites Ravin des Zouaves 1 and Ravin de la Pluie, both dated to late Vallesian, MN 10; more exactly the magnetostratigraphic data suggest an estimated age of ~9.3 Ma for Ravin de la Pluie (Sen et al. 2000;Koufos 2013). Therefore, Ravin des Zouaves (R.Z) is correlated to late Vallesian, MN 10. ...
‘Arambourg collection’ is a collection of mainly mammal fossils from Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) made by the French geologist C. Arambourg during 1915–16. It is housed in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris. New excavations in Axios Valley during the last 50 years allowed the collection of many fossils and a new taxonomy of hipparions has been proposed. The revision of the hipparionine horses of this old collection based on the new taxonomy and an effort to correlate the old localities of Arambourg with the well dated new ones, found in the area, are given in this article. The available material from the different localities is fragmentary, mixed and in most cases poor without locality indications, preventing definite determinations.The following taxa have been recognised: H. phillipus, H. aff. mediterraneum; H. aff. proboscideum, and H. aff. macedonicum or H. aff. sithonis. Based on the fauna, lithology and the map of Arambourg, the old localities are correlated with the new lithostratigraphy and localities. The age of the old localities is late Vallesian-late Turolian (MN10-13) and agrees with the results taken from the new studies in the area.
... Ravin des Zouaves 1 -It is situated near the village Nea Messimvria (Fig. 1) in the upper part of the Nea Messimvria Fm. The collected material is scarce, but its stratigraphic position at the same level with Ravin de la Pluie, which is correlated to the late Vallesian MN 10, suggests a similar age; the magnetostratigraphy provided an estimated age of ~9.3 Ma for Ravin de la Pluie (Sen et al., 2000). ...
... Ravin des Zouaves 5 -It is situated between the villages Nea Messimvria and Vathylakkos (Fig. l) in the whiteyellowish marls at the base of the Vathylakkos Fm. The available biochronological data allow correlation to the early Turolian MN 11; the magnetostratigraphy of the sediments provided an estimated age of ~8.2 Ma (Sen et al., 2000). ...
... Prochoma 1 -The fossiliferous site is located near the village Prochoma in the eastern bank of the Axios river ( Fig. 1) in a series of yellowish sandy clays of the Vathylakkos Fm. Biochronological evidences indicate correlation to the middle Turolian MN 12, while magnetostratigraphy suggests an estimated age of ~7.4 Ma (Sen et al., 2000;Koufos, 2013 and references therein). ...
The late Miocene ictitheres of Greece have been recognised since the beginning of the 19th Century and include several species. The small-sized Plioviverrops and Protictitherium are well-known, but those of middle-size, Ictitherium, Hyaenictitherium and
Lycyaena are poorly understood. The aim of this article is to study a significant sample of material of the middle-sized taxa from Greece in order to summarise their morphological characters, providing new measurements and an updated photographic documentation. The studied material originating from several localities is dated as being from early Vallesian to late Turolian in age. Three confirmed middle-sized species are described herein, Ictitherium viverrinum, Hyaenictitherium wongii and Lycyaena chaeretis, as well as another questionable species referred to as cf. Ictitherium pannonicum. The overall stratigraphic distribution of Greek ictitheres ranges from the middle to the late Miocene. The earliest occurrence is recorded from the early/middle Miocene (MN 4/5) locality Antonios with the species Protictitherium gaillardi and Protictitherium cf. crassum. The latter species is certainly recognised in the Vallesian and Turolian of Greece and disappeared at the end of the Miocene. Plioviverrops orbignyi is well known from the Turolian (MN 11-13). Ictitherium viverrinum occurs in the early-middle Turolian (MN 11-12) and possibly late Turolian (MN 13). Hyaenictitherium wongii has a longer chronologic distribution being recognised from the late Vallesian to the middle Turolian (MN 10-12). Finally, L. chaeretis is documented from the middle Turolian (MN 12).
... Uniform Age justifications. The source of our calibrating specimen, the Ravin des Zouaves-5 locality in Greece, is estimated to date to ~8.2 Ma based on magnetostratigraphic evidence and its correlation to C4r.1r (Sen et al., 2000;Koufos, 2009), which has an age range of 8.257-8.125 Ma (Raffi et al., 2020), of which we use the minimum bound. ...
Phylogenies with estimates of divergence times are essential for investigating many evolutionary questions. In principle, “tip-dating” is arguably the most appropriate approach, with fossil and extant taxa analysed together in a single analysis, and topology and divergence times estimated simultaneously. However, “node-dating” (as used in many molecular clock analyses), in which fossil evidence is used to calibrate the age of particular nodes a priori, will probably remain the dominant approach, due to various issues with analysing morphological and molecular data together. Here, we provide a list of 25 well-justified node calibrations for primate divergences, following best practices: 16 within Haplorhini, four within Strepsirrhini, one for crown Primates, and four for older divergences within Euarchontoglires. In each case, we provide a hard minimum bound, and for 22 of these we also provide a soft maximum bound and a suggested prior distribution. For each calibrated node, we provide the age of the oldest fossil of each daughter lineage that descends from it, which allows use of the “CladeAge” method for specifying priors on node ages.
... The Vallesian hipparionins pertain to the localities of Ravin de la Pluie and Pentalophos from the Axios Valley (southeastern Balkan Peninsula), and to Nikiti-1, which is located in the Chalkidiki Peninsula (southeastern Balkan Peninsula) (Figure 1, main text). Ravin de la Pluie was dated to the lower part of the late Vallesian (MN10) with an estimated age of ~9.3 Ma based on a combination of biochronological and paleomagnetostratigraphical data (Sen et al., 2000;Koufos, 2006a). Nikiti-1 is correlated based on its mammalian assemblage to the upper part of the late Vallesian with an estimated age ranging from 9.3 to 8.7 Ma (Koufos, 2006b(Koufos, , 2016a. ...
The adaptive radiation of hipparionins after their Old World dispersal was linked
with a trend towards smaller body sizes. The appearance of the small-sized forms has
usually been associated to open environments and grazing diets. A recent approach,
moreover, highlights the role of life history modifications related to habitat conditions as
triggers of their size shifts. Here, we test the relationship between hipparionin size and
diet analyzing the dental microwear textures of different-sized hipparionins from
Vallesian and Turolian circum-Mediterranean localities. Our results show that hipparionins
were mainly mixed-feeders and that there was no general link between body size
and diet. However, we identified broader feeding spectra in western Mediterranean
smaller forms and more specialized grazing diets in larger ones, a differentiation not
found in the eastern Mediterranean hipparionins. At odds with the notion of more open
habitats eastward, we detected a larger browsing component in eastern hipparionin
diets. The consumption by extant equids of more woody browse during the dry season
leads us to propose a greater seasonality as a possible cause. Considering the arguable
role of external abrasives on the microwear, another interpretation might involve
the presence of more grit in the eastern opener habitats. Interestingly, we found that
sympatric hipparionins tend to have similar feeding habits, which points to the fact that
their diets were influenced by the local environment. Our results, then, suggest that the
small size of some hipparionins resulted from different selective pressures rather than
to a general adaptation to increasing habitat opening.
... The dimensions of the available metapodials, from Nikiti 2, are closer to those of M. delsoni, but the poor material cannot allow a definite attribution. The species M. delsoni is only recognized from Ravin des Zouaves 5 in Axios Valley (GPTS age: ~8.2 Ma; Sen et al. 2000). This species is larger than the typical M. pentelicus Besides these occurrences, M. pentelicus is recognized from the localities Kryopigi, dated at 7.3-6.4 ...
Cercopithecidae or “Old World monkeys” is a group of derived Primates (Catarrhini) recognized in Greece with the genera Mesopithecus, Dolichopithecus, and Paradolichopithecus. The first dominates in the fossil record with the species M. pentelicus, which is present in several late Miocene sites. The large-sized species M. delsoni and the small-sized M. monspessulanus are known from the late Miocene of Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece). Two other species, Dolichopithecus ruscinensis and Paradolichopithecus aff. arvernensis, found in northern Greece and P. arvernensis in Lesvos Island. The cercopithecines are rare represented by the genus Macaca. The Old World monkeys appeared in Greece with Mesopithecus at ~8.7 Ma, and they were common during late Miocene. During Pliocene, Dolichopithecus is present, whereas the genera Paradolichopithecus and Macaca occurred in the Early–Middle Pleistocene of Greece.
... 1 (XIR), in the Axios valley, and Nikiti 1 (NKT), in the Chalkidiki Peninsula, have produced other very important specimens, including an almost complete face (XIR-1;de Bonis et al., 1990;Koufos, 1993Koufos, , 1995. Based on faunal correlation and magnetostratigraphic evidence at these three localities, the chronostratigraphic range of O. macedoniensis is between 9.6 and 8.7 Ma (Koufos, Kostopoulos, & Vlachou, 2016;Sen et al., 2000). ...
Objectives: To explore mandibular shape differences between Ouranopithecus
macedoniensis and a comparative sample of extant great apes using three-dimensional
(3D) geometrics morphometrics. Other objectives are to assess mandibular shape variation and homogeneity within Ouranopithecus, explore the effects of size on mandibular shape, and explore the degree of mandibular sexual size dimorphism in Ouranopithecus.
Materials and methods: The comparative sample comprises digitized mandibles from
adult extant great apes. The 3D analysis includes three datasets: one with landmarks registered on the mandibular corpus and symphysis of mandibles preserving both sides, one on hemimandibles only, and one focused on the ramus and gonial area. Multivariate statistical analyses were conducted, such as ordination analyses (PCA), intra-specific Procrustes distances pairs, pairwise male–female centroid size differences, and correlation analyses.
Results: The male and female specimens of Ouranopithecus have mandibular shapes
that are quite similar, although differences exist. The Procrustes distances results
suggest more shape variation in Ouranopithecus than in the extant great apes.
Ouranopithecus shows some similarities in mandibular shape to the larger great apes,
Gorilla and Pongo. Moreover, the degree of sexual dimorphism in the small
Ouranopithecus sample is greater than any of the great apes. Based on our correlation
analyses of principal components (PC) with size, some PCs are significantly correlated
with size, with correlation varying from moderate to substantial.
Discussion: This study attempted to understand better the variation within the mandibles
of O. macedoniensis and the expression of sexual dimorphism in this taxon in
more detail than has been done previously. The overall mandibular morphology of
Ouranopithecus shows some similarities to those of the larger great apes, which likely
reflects similarities in size. Compared to Gorilla and Pongo, O. macedoniensis shows an
elevated degree of morphological variation, although limitations relating to sample
size apply. Sexual dimorphism in the mandibles of O. macedoniensis appears to be relatively high, seemingly greater than in Gorilla and high even in comparison to Pongo,
but this again is possibly in part an artifact of a small sample size.
... Along the Lower Axios valley, on the Greek side and at distances of 10-40 km NW from Thessaloniki, several formations within Miocene sediments, rich in mammalian faunas, crop out. Several sites have been thoroughly studied for palaeomagnetism and magnetostratigraphy in the past, therefore thermally treated and providing results with variable success (Kondopoulou et al., 1992;Kondopoulou, 1994;Sen et al., 2000). In most cases the magnetic properties of the sampled sediments were fairly satisfactory for such studies and the possible failures were connected to insufficient exposures of the horizons rather than to bad palaeomagnetic results. ...
In the present study we report on archaeomagnetic and luminescence results from three ceramic kilns unearthed in a workshop during the subway (METRO) excavations in Thessaloniki (N. Greece) as well as from a small kiln at Ierissos (Chalkidiki). The first settlement is situated in the western part of the city where several similar workshops were excavated in the past. The archaeological information attributed a possible Ottoman age to these structures and placed their last use after the 14th century CE. The other small kiln is one of the rare “in situ” remains within the settlement reported as “Medieval Ierissos”. A total of fifty-five hand samples were retrieved from the four kilns and studied following established archaeomagnetic protocols in order to define the full vector of the magnetization. Additionally thermoluminescence (TL) experiments have been performed on the same material for the Thessaloniki kilns and the obtained ages converge and refine the archaeological ones. At Ierissos optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) experiments on five samples revealed the firing history of the structure. The combination of archaeological and/or TL-OSL information allowed to define four new full vector recordings for the improvement of the secular variation curves during the second millennium CE where intense variations of the Geomagnetic Field are reported from several places in Europe. The new data, together with recently published ones for the first millennium CE, allow to update the directional reference curves, poorly constrained for this period.
... Although not so common, several magnetostratigraphic studies have been conducted during the last few decades in Greece to contribute to the investigation of various geo-issues [12][13][14][15][16][17] (among others). However, the ones corresponding to Neogene and Quaternary fossil mammal localities are very limited despite the numerous fossiliferous sites [18][19][20][21][22][23]. ...
This paper aims to contribute to the stratigraphic and geochronological evaluation of the primate bearing Dafnero fossil site of Northern Greece by means of lithostratigraphic, paleomagnetic and paleontological analyses. The 60 m thick fossiliferous deposits of fluviatile origin are recognized as representing a typical braided-river sequence unconformably overlying molassic sediments. Rock magnetic investigations indicate the presence of both medium and low coercivity minerals. Paleomagnetic sampling of the Dafnero sediments yielded a stable magnetic remanence, and the characteristic remanent magnetization directions pass reversal test with dual polarity. Based on calibration from mammal fossils, the normal polarity magnetozone N1 located in the upper third of the studied section could correlate with chron C2n (the Olduvai subchron), suggesting that the fossil horizon is within C2r with an extrapolated age of 2.4–2.3 Ma and rather closer to the upper age limit. The results allow the re-calibration of several middle Villafranchian assemblages of S. Balkans and the correlation of the corresponding mammal fauna with the environmental shifts of Praetiglian, as it is recorded in climatostratigraphic data from the Black Sea.
We herein re-discuss the systematics of the Late Miocene representatives of the most common but poorly documented Eurasian giraffid genus Palaeotragus on the occasion of the review and description of new samples from the Vallesian faunas of Northern Greece. Our results detect five Late Miocene Palaeotragus morphotypes, recognizing at least four species. The so called ‘small-sized palaeotrages’ are represented by the type species P. rouenii and the Chinese P. microdon, whereas the validity of P. pavlowae from Grebeniki (Ukraine) is doubted. ‘Large-sized palaeotrages’ are mainly represented by P. coelophrys (synonym of P. expectans, P. borissiaki, P. hoffstetteri, P. quadricornis, and probably P. moldavicus), a species that thrived in the peri- Black Sea territories during Vallesian and survived during Turolian in the Irano-Anatolian domain, likely by adopting a more robust appearance. Large palaeotrages from the Vallesian faunas of Pentalophos and Ravin de la Pluie (Axios Valley, Greece) are identidied as P. coelophrys with certain confidence. The Vallesian P. berislavicus from Berislav (Ukraine) has intermediate morphometric features between P. rouenii and P. coelophrys and it is,
therefore, recognized as a most probably valid species. The latest Vallesian Nikiti-1 (Chalkidiki peninsula) large palaeotrage shares many morphometric features with P. berislavicus, suggesting that the species may have invaded Balkans by the end of Vallesian and possibly survived there until middle Turolian. The Late Miocene Palaeotragus asiaticus from Central Asia is a quite problematic species; it appears closely related to the Turolian equivalent P. cf. coelophrys from China and both may be linked to the older Berislav taxon.
Numerous remains of Mesopithecus have recently been recovered from the late Miocene mammalian localities of Macedonia, northern Greece. Three mandibles from the early Turolian are identified as M. delsoni, sp. nov., probably ancestral to M. pentelicus of Pikermi. Others, dated to the latest Turolian, differ from M. pentelicus, but most of the teeth are so worn that they must be identified as Mesopithecus, aff. M. pentelicus. A last set, coming also from the latest Turolian, could possibly be attributed to Mesopithecus, cf. M. monspessulanus. The evolution of the genus Mesopithecus can be used as a biostratigraphic tool in late Miocene continental deposits.
The magnetostratigraphy of a 25 m thick section which contains the Prochoma mammal locality has been studied. Sediments show a stable and hard to eliminate primary component. A short normal zone is followed by a long reverse zone. This polarity succession does not allow to attribute this locality to the late Vallesian, as suggested some faunal elements, but more probably to the early Turolian, the boundary between these stages being calibrated as equivalent to Chron 9 (normal)-Chron 8 (reverse) boundary .
The hipparions of the Vallesian locality «Ravin dela Pluie in the lower Axios valley are studied. Two different species were found, a large one, H. primigenium and another small one, H. macedonicum. Their characteristics and dimensions as well as their comparison to the eurasiatic Vallesian samples allow us to find that they belong to Upper Vallesian. H. primigenium of Ravin de la Pluie is more evolved than the typical one of Eppelsheim, while H. macedonicum represents to oldest small hipparion which probably comes from a large form of Lower Vallesian. From the former took rise the later small hipparions. Some primitive features of hipparions are also discussed.RésuméCette étude concerne les hipparions du gisement fossilifère du Vallésien du «Ravin de la Pluie de la basse Vallée de la rivière d'Axios. Deux espèces, une de grande taille, H. primigenium et une de petite taille, H. macedonicum ont été déterminées. Leurs caractères, leurs dimensions, comme aussi leur comparaison à des spécimens du Vallésien de l'Eurasie nous ont permis de conclure qu'ils appartiennent au Vallésien supérieur; H. primigenium du «Ravin de la Pluie est plus évolué par rapport à la forme type d'Eppelsheim. H. macedonicum représente le plus ancien hipparion de petite taille qui très probablement provient des formes du Vallésien inférieur. H. macedonicum a donné naissance à des hipparions plus récents de petite taille. La discussion porte aussi sur quelques caractères primitifs des hipparions.
The first detailed chronology for the middle to late Miocene continental record in Spain is presented, based on high-resolution magnetostratigraphic data of mammal-bearing sections which were studied in several basins (Calatayud-Daroca, Teruel, Vallès-Penedès, Duero and Júcar-Cabriel). Our results indicate that these sections compose an almost complete magnetostratigraphic succession from the lower Aragonian (MN4) to the middle Turolian (MN12). Seven successive Mammal Neogene (MN) zone boundaries are directly dated in these sections, which often contain faunas of two successive zones in superposition. The three oldest boundaries are dated in the Aragonian type area (Calatayud-Daroca Basin). The MN4/MN5 boundary (Vargas section) occurs in chron C5Cr(o) with a corresponding age of 17.26 ± 0.01 Ma, the MN5/MN6 boundary (Aragon section) in chron C5ACn(0.8), with an age of 13.75 ± 0.03 Ma, and the MN6/MN7–8 boundary (Aragon section) in the interval C5Ar.1n–C5Ar.3r with an age of 12.75 ± 0.25 Ma. The MN7–8/MN9 (Aragonian/Vallesian) boundary, occurring in chron C5r.1n at 11.1 Ma, and the MN9/MN10 boundary, in chron C4Ar.3r at 9.7 ± 0.1 Ma, are recorded in the Vallès-Penèdes Basin (Vallesian type area) and are supported by the results from the Duero Basin (Torremormojón section). In the Turolian type area (Teruel Basin), the MN10/MN11 (Vallesian/Turolian) boundary (La Gloria section) occurs in chron C4An(y) at 8.7 ± 0.1 Ma. Taking into account the pre-existing data from the Júcar-Cabriel Basin, the MN11/MN12 boundary (Cabriel Valley section) is recalibrated to C4n.1n, at an age of 7.5 ± 0.1 Ma.
Since the publication of our previous time scale (Berggren and others, 1985c = BKFV85) a large amount of new magneto- and biostratigraphic data and radioisotopic ages have become available. An evaluation of some of the key magnetobiostratigraphic calibration points used in BKFV85, as suggested by high precision 40Ar/39Ar dating has served as a catalyst for us in developing a revised Cenozoic time scale. This paper presents a revised (integrated magnetobiochronologic) Cenozoic time scale (IMBTS) based on an assessment and integration of data from several sources. Biostratigraphic events are correlated to the recently revised global polarity time scale (CK95). The construction of the new GPTS is outlined with emphasis on methodology and newly developed polarity history nomenclature. The radioisotopic calibration points (as well as other relevant data) used to constrain the GPTS are reviewed in their (bio)stratigraphic context. An updated magnetobiostratigraphic (re)assessment of about 150 pre-Pliocene planktonic foraminiferal datum events (including recently available high southern (austral) latitude data) and a new/modified zonal biostratigraphy provides an essentially global biostratigraphic correlation framework. Finally, the current status of Cenozoic chronostratigraphy is reassessed and estimates of the chronology of lower (stage) and higher (system) level units are presented. -from Authors
This paper presents first a discussion on the status of the subdivisions of the European Neogene mammal chronology and second, it synthesizes all available magnetostratigraphic data from Europe to provide chronological framework for mammal localities, mammalian events and mammalian biochronologic units of the European Neogene.Because of the lack of their rock equivalents, the subdivisions of the European Neogene, based on mammals, have not attained the stage status in terms of reliability, except the Vallesian and Turolian. Therefore they are designated as the European Land Mammal Ages (ELMA).Magnetostratigraphic data on mammal-bearing deposits in Europe is still scarce in time and space; consequently, it is not yet possible to correlate accurately all ELMA and MN zones with the geomagnetic polarity time-scale (GPTS). Nevertheless, several studies dealing with mammal localities (and their deposits) around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, in the middle and late Miocene provide reliable correlations of some ELMA and MN zone boundaries. Thus, the calibration of the Oligocene/Miocene boundary at the base of Chron C6Cn.2n is in agreement with its age in marine deposits. The well-known Hipparion Datum (Astaracian/Vallesian boundary) is now dated as about 10.8 Ma, occurring slightly above the base of Chron C5n.2n.This paper also reviews magnetostratigraphic correlations of some late Miocene and Pliocene mammal localities in the Paratethys area. Taking into account the chronological assessments in other parts of Europe for some key mammalian events, new correlations with the GPTS have been proposed for these localities. Thus some new ages are suggested for the late Miocene and Pliocene Paratethys stages.