Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6349658 | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology | 2015 | 17 Pages |
Abstract
We analyzed corals from the Neotyrrhenian beds on Mallorca, which gave U-series ages from ~Â 126Â ka to ~Â 118Â ka. These ages are consistent with previously published amino acid data that show that the Neotyrrhenian and Eutyrrhenian deposits are not significantly different in age. A fossil molluscan fauna from the Neotyrrhenian deposits on Mallorca has a warm-water paleozoogeographic aspect, with nine southward-ranging species and four extralimital southern species. When compared with sea surface temperatures obtained from planktonic foraminifera and alkenones from ODP core 977 in the nearby Alboran Sea, the only time period that shows comparable warmth is MIS 5.5/5e, consistent with the U-series ages of corals from the Neotyrrhenian deposits. We propose that the Neotyrrhenian deposits are a beachrock facies of the same age as the Eutyrrhenian deposits. This interpretation is consistent with the differences in physical sedimentology of the two deposits, explains the U-series and amino acid data indicating the same age, is consistent with the very slight elevation difference of the Neotyrrhenian and Eutyrrhenian beds, and explains the similar, though not identical paleozoogeographic aspects of their fossil faunas.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Earth-Surface Processes
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, JoaquÃn Meco, Naomi Porat,