A paleoenvironmental test of the Messinian Salinity Crisis using Miocene-Pliocene clays in the Adana Basin, Southern Turkey

Correlations of illite and smectite content indicate humidity and temperature of the paleoenvironment, according to previous studies carried out in sequences related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The illite content increased in the Tortonian, diminished during the Messinian and increased again in the Pliocene while the smectite ratio showed the opposite trend. In this study, illite ratio is increased during Tortonian and Messinian and decreased in Pliocene while smectite ratio is increased from Tortonian to Pliocene.