The Crotone series: A synthesis and new data

The Crotone series is undoubtedly the best-studied Early Pleistocene succession in the world. Its matchless location and sedimentary conditions contribute to optimal achievements in biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, and finally chronology. Robust stratigraphic correlations are established between the Semaforo and Vrica areas thanks to field surveys, a cored borehole, and ash mineralogy and geochemistry. The Crotone series covers the time-interval from 2.47 to 1.21 Ma and displays 30 complete glacial–interglacial cycles, from MIS 97 to MIS 37.Insolation cycles are recorded from i-236 to i-116 by combining lithology (sapropels) and palynology (amorphous organic matter and abundance in pollen grains of riparian trees, two indices of anoxic condition development and runoff intensity, respectively). The understanding of Early Pleistocene glacial–interglacial pollen records is clarified as the response of vegetation to the strong interaction between precession and obliquity has been analysed along several successive climatic cycles. Modern pollen records from the Rhône mouth shed light on the conditions of deposition of the sapropels, contributing to specify their intensity and duration.