): connections between the Mediterranean region and the North...

Newsletters on Stratigraphy Vol 482 (2015) 135ndash152 ArticlePublished online January 2015 published in print April 2015

New bio-magnetostratigraphic data on the MioceneMoria section (Northern Apennines Italy)connections between the Mediterranean region and the North Atlantic Ocean

Agata Di Stefano1 Niccolograve Baldassini1 Rosanna Maniscalco1 Fabio Speranza2 Marco Maffione3 Antonio Cascella4 and Luca Maria Foresi5

With 8 figures and 3 tables

Abstract New bio-magnetostratigraphic data have been acquired from the Burdigalian part of the Moriasection in the UmbriandashMarche Apennine (Central Italy) The investigated sedimentary sequence is 55 metersthick and comprises the transition between the Bisciaro and the Schlier formations (Auctorum) composed offive meters of indurated marly limestones followed by about 40 meters of blue marly clays capped by 10 mof alternating clays and calcareous layers According to existing literature the sequence contains the so-calledldquoPiero della Francesca Levelrdquo (Auctorum) a few-centimeters-thick biotite-rich level The sequence has beensampled for paleomagnetic and calcareous plankton analyses Four magnetic polarity zones have been doc-umented in the middle and upper part of the section The calcareous plankton content shows different degreesof preservation from poor to good for calcareous nannofossils and poor to medium for planktonic foramini -fers Several useful biohorizons have been observed and chronologically constrained through calibration tothe magnetostratigraphic dataThe studied section ranges from the top of Chron C5Dr1n to Chron C5Cn2r covering the time interval from177 to 164 Ma (according to the ATNTS04) almost continuously with a small hiatus of at least 34 ka at theC5DnC5Cr transition The integration of our results with those from previous studies of the same sectionand comparisons with data from other Mediterranean and North Atlantic sequences allows to evaluate thesynchrony of the observed biohorizons with other parts of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean duringa still relatively poorly known time interval

Key words Miocene calcareous plankton biostratigraphy magnetostratigraphy Mediterranean North At-lantic

copy 2015 Gebruumlder Borntraeger Stuttgart GermanyDOI 101127nos20150057

wwwborntraeger-cramerde0078-042120150057 $ 450

Authorsrsquo addresses1 Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche Geologiche e Ambientali Sezione di Scienze della Terra Universitagrave di Catania Corso Italia 57 95129 Catania Italy E-Mail distefanunictit nbaldasunictit maniscalunictit Corresponding author E-Mail nbaldasunictit2 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Via di Vigna Murata 605 00143 Roma Italy E-Mail fabiosperanzaingvit3 Paleomagnetic Laboratory ldquoFort Hoofddijkrdquo Department of Earth Science Utrecht University Budapestlaan 17 3584CD Utrecht The Netherlands E-Mail mmaffioneuunl4 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Via della Faggiola 32 56126 Pisa Italy E-Mail cascellaingvit5 Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche della Terra e dellrsquoAmbiente Sezione di Scienze della Terra Universitagrave di Siena Via Laterina 8 53100 Siena Italy E-Mail lucaforesiunisiit

1 Introduction

The Moria section in the UmbrondashMarche Apennine ofCentral Italy represents a well-known lowerndashmiddleMiocene sedimentary sequence in the Mediterraneanregion (Fig 1) The section has been subject to detai-led integrated stratigraphic studies over the past twodecades because of the favorable exposure the pres-ence of abundant calcareous plankton and the presenceof radiometrically datable layers (Fornaciari and Rio1996 Fornaciari et al 1996 Deino et al 1997 Di Ste-fano et al 2008) A detailed lithostratigraphy has beenpresented by Deino et al (1997) who published an integrated bio-magnetostratigraphic study (Fig 2) forthe ca 100 m thick succession However reliable pa-leomagnetic directions are limited and discontinuousthroughout the studied section In this study we re-ex-amined the lower 55-m-thick portion of the sectioncoinciding with the lower part of the section reportedby Deino et al (1997) (Figs 2 3) namely the segmentencompassing the BisciaroSchlier transition

The interpretation of the observed magnetozoneswas made through tie-points provided by main calca -reous plankton horizons Furthermore a number of additional plankton events were detected and magne-tostratigraphically constrained The obtained data wereintegrated with those gathered previously by Di Ste-fano et al (2008) and compared with other Mediter-ranean sections and with North Atlantic DSDP Hole

608 (Ruddiman et al 1987 Miller et al 1991 Olaffson1991 Gartner 1992 Di Stefano et al 2011a) This re-sulted in an improved stratigraphic resolution for theinterval ranging from the base of Chron C6n (197 Ma)to Chron C5ADr (147 Ma) and the establishment ofcorrelations between the Mediterranean region and theNorth Atlantic Ocean across the lowerndashmiddle Mio -cene boundary

2 Geological setting

The Moria section (base 43deg 30176 N 12deg 35619 Etop 43deg 30151 N 12deg 35533 E) crops out in theUmbriandashMarche Apennines of Central Italy along theroad connecting the villages of Palcano and Moria onthe west side of Mount Petrano in the Marche Region(Figs 1 3) The section includes the uppermost part ofthe Bisciaro Formation (Fm) and most of the SchlierFm which represent the lowerndashmiddle Miocene de-posits of the UmbriandashMarche succession (Capuano2009)

The UmbriandashMarche succession was deposited in apelagic environment from the early Jurassic to the ear-ly Cretaceous within an extensional tectonic regimelinked to the Tethyan rifting phase followed by hemi -pelagic deposition within a sector that connected theflexured foreland and the foredeep Thus during thelate Cretaceous to early Oligocene the calcareous

A Di Stefano et al136

Fig 1 Location map of the Moria section and of the other sections considered in the text

Maiolica Marne a Fucoidi Scaglia Bianca and Scag -lia Rossa formations were deposited in the UmbriandashMarche basin (Capuano 2009 Guerrera et al 2012)After the late Oligocene the complex geodynamic setting of the Apennine orogenesis was recorded in the deposition of the Scaglia Variegata and ScagliaCine rea formations and subsequently in Miocene sed-iments characterized by a progressive reduction of thecarbonaceous fraction and the increase of fine clasticmaterial (Guerrera et al 2012) which gave rise to theBisciaro Schlier and Marnoso-Arenacea formations

The Bisciaro Fm consists of marls and siliceousmarly limestones that are finely layered and gray andgreenish-gray in color (ocher if altered) with a pro-gressive upward increase of the terrigenous fractionBlackish-gray cherty lists and nodules are locally pres-ent in the lower and middle part of the formation TheBisciaro Fm is characterized by frequent volcanic ash-es tuffites and bentonites resulting from syn-tectonicvolcanic activity The well-known ldquoRaffaello Bedrdquo(Coccioni and Montanari 1994) dated at about 22 Matraditionally marks the Scaglia CinereaBisciaro litho -stratigraphic boundary

The Bisciaro-Schlier transition is gradual and not al-ways well defined Coccioni and Montanari (1992)identified the boundary between the two formations in a 10ndash15 cm thick biotite-rich layer referred to asldquoPiero della Francesca Levelrdquo radiometrically (40Ar39Ar) dated at 171 016 Ma (Deino et al 1997)However more recent interpretations place the bound-ary in correspondence with a significant reduction (ordisappearance) of the calcareous and volcaniclasticlayers (Capuano 2009 Guerrera et al 2012)

The turbidite-type Schlier Fm is characterized by asedimentation rate of ca 40 mMa (Capuano 2009)Subdivided into a lower and an upper marly memberit consists mainly of marls and clayey marls An inter-mediate member is composed of alternating marlsclayey marls and carbonate-rich layers The upperboundary to the Marnoso Arenacea Fm is traditionallyplaced at the level of the first arenaceous horizon (Ca-puano 2009)

3 Previous studies anddescription of the Moria section

The stratigraphy of the Moria section has been de-scribed previously by Fornaciari et al (1996) Forna-ciari and Rio (1996) and Deino et al (1997) (Figs 23) The lower part of the 100 m thick section consists

of few meters of indurated graybeige limestones ashort interval of alternating soft marls and carbonatesand about 30 meters of graygreen marls The upperpart is represented by 40 m of alternating marls andclayey marls interlayered with whitish indurated cal-careous layers capped by marl Deino et al (1997) re-ported the ldquoPiero della Francesca Levelrdquo at about 20 mabove the base of the section Biostratigraphically thesection falls within the planktonic foraminifer zonesN6 (top) to N8 of Blow (1969) (mainly correspondingto the G trilobus ndash P glomerosa s l zones of Iaccari-no and Salvatorini 1982 and Iaccarino 1985) and thecalcareous nannofossil zones MNN3bndashMNN5a (For-naciari and Rio 1996 Fornaciari et al 1996) straddlingthe Burdigalian-Langhian boundary

New bio-magnetostratigraphic data on the Miocene Moria section (Northern Apennines Italy) 137

Fig 2 Lithostratigraphic log and paleomagnetic data of theMoria section redrawn after Deino et al (1997) The partconsidered in the present study and the part examined byDi Stefano et al (2008) are indicated The letters refer to thelimestone layers as reported in Figs 3 and 4 UCI = UpperCovered Interval

The earliest magnetostratigraphic study could re-solve magnetization directions in 23 samples (Deino et al 1997) (Fig 2) suggesting the presence of a 4-m-thick reversed polarity interval at the base of the sec-tion that was interpreted as Chron C5Cr based on thecomparison with the Contessa section (Montanari etal 1997) A normal polarity zone extending for about11 meters follows interpreted as Chron C5Cn (Deinoet al 1997) No reliable paleomagnetic data were ac-quired from the middle part of the section An intervalof reversed polarity was observed in the intermediatemember of the Schlier Fm interpreted to representChron C5Br2 (Deino et al 1997) It must be noted thatthis interpretation is not consistent with the radiomet-ric age of the ldquoPiero della Francesca Levelrdquo reportedby the same authors (171 016 Ma) as the C5BC5Cboundary which should be very close to it (Fig 2) hasan age of 1597 Ma (Lourens et al 2004)

A high-resolution calcareous plankton biostratigra-phy of the upper part of the section (encompassing theuppermost layers of the lower marly the siliceous-cal-careous and the upper marly members of the SchlierFm Fig 2) was recently published by Di Stefano et al (2008) Unfortunately no magnetostratigraphic agecontrol could be provided for this interval The cal-careous plankton events recognized by Di Stefano etal (2008) can now be chronologically constrainedthrough the comparison with the subsequent study ofTurco et al (2011) who detected and dated the samebioevents at the La Vedova section about 80 km eastof the Moria section along the Conero Riviera(Marche region Central Italy Fig 1)

In this study the lower 55 m of the Moria sectionhave been re-sampled for bio-magnetostratigraphicanalysis (Figs 4 5 6) starting from the limestones of the Bisciaro Fm and recognizing the ldquoPiero della

Francesca Levelrdquo 22 m from the base of the sectionMinor differences with respect to the description re-ported by Deino et al (1997) for instance the differ-ent position of the ldquoPiero della Francescardquo layer aredue to the presence of a 4-m-thick vegetation-coveredinterval in the basal part of the section (LCI in Fig 3)The top of the studied section characterized by thincalcareous layers within prevailing clays of the SchlierFm overlaps the basal part of the section studied byDi Stefano et al (2008) (Figs 2 3)

4 Methodology

Sixty-nine samples were considered for qualitativeand semiquantitative analyses of planktonic foramini -fers Samples were washed through a 63 μm sieveSome encrusted specimens of biostratigraphically sig-nificant taxa were cleaned by ultrasonic bathing to al-low better observation of diagnostic characters Sixty-eight smear slides for calcareous nannofossil analyseswere prepared and studied using standard methods(Haq and Lohman 1976 Rio et al 1990) includinganalysis under a 1000x magnification polarized mi-croscope (transmitted light and crossed nicols) Fol-lowing Rio et al (1990) and Fornaciari et al (1996)the relative abundances of all species within the gen-era Sphenolithus and Helicosphaera were determinedby counting 30 and 50 specimens respectively

Sixty paleomagnetic cores were drilled using apetrol-powered portable drill cooled by water and ori-ented in situ using a magnetic compass corrected forthe local magnetic declination for the year 2009 (ca2deg) Afterwards the cores were cut into standard paleo -magnetic specimens of 22 mm height Paleomagneticmeasurements were performed at the Istituto Nazio -


Fig 3 Panoramic view of the composite Moria section The part considered in the present study and the one examined byDi Stefano et al (2008) are indicated LCI = Lower Covered Interval UCI = Upper Covered Interval The letters refer to thelimestone layers as reported in Figs 2 and 4

nale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV Rome Italy)Natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of the speci-mens was measured in a magnetically shielded roomwith a DC-SQUID cryogenic magnetometer (2G En-terprises USA) Demagnetization diagrams were ob-tained through a stepwise (25degC increments) thermalcleaning treatment carried out in a magneticallyshielded oven up to complete demagnetization of thesamples Demagnetization data were then plotted onorthogonal demagnetization diagrams (Zijderveld1967) and the magnetization components were isolat-ed by principal component analysis (Kirschvink 1980)according to standard paleomagnetic procedures

5 Magnetostratigraphy

Magnetization of the analyzed samples is very weakand ranges between 17 and 293 μAm (mean value =58 μAm) denoting a very low concentration of themagnetic minerals Being close to the instrumentalsensitivity of the magnetometer (~ 5 μAm) only 28out of 60 samples yielded stable and interpretable de-magnetization diagrams (Figs 4 5a) Most of the sam-ples are characterized by two components of magneti-zation (Fig 5a) The low-stability component possiblyresulting from a present-day geomagnetic field over-print was removed at 100ndash120degC (denoting possiblepresence of goethite) The high-stability componentwas in general isolated between 120 and 300degC point-ing to iron sulphides (likely greigite) as the main mag-netic carrier

Demagnetization experiments were not continuedabove 300degC due to the occurrence of mineralogicaltransformation upon heating (i e iron sulphides trans-formed into magnetite) that resulted in a spurious in-crease of magnetic susceptibility and magnetizationNevertheless although this process inhibited completeremoval of the high-stability components in the de-magnetization diagrams (Fig 5a) they clearly decaytowards the origin of the axes (typical feature of high-stability components of magnetization)

The most commonly used approaches to test the re-liability of the isolated remanence directions in paleo-magnetic studies (primary vs secondary magnetiza-tion) are the reversal test (McFadden and McElhinny1990) and the fold test (McFadden 1990) A positiveresult of the reversal test provides evidence that mag-netic remanence was acquired over a longer time in-terval during which at least one geomagnetic reversaloccurred excluding in this way that a rapid remagne-

tization event occurred since the deposition of the sed-iment Out of 28 isolated directions 14 have a reversedpolarity and 14a normal polarity (Figs 4 5b) Theirdistribution is at a first glance somewhat antipodalsupporting the possibility of a positive reversal testHowever likely due to the low intensity of the mag-netizations which resulted into a larger scatter of thepaleomagnetic directions the performed reversal testprovided an undetermined result (note this is not a neg-ative reversal test) On the other hand the entire sec-tion displays a quite homogenous bedding attitude of214deg63deg (dip directiondip) implying that the statisti-cal parameters associated with the distribution of theisolated high-stability components (i e k and α95) areidentical before and after bedding correction hence in-hibiting any meaningful fold test

When converted to normal polarity state the isolat-ed directions (N = 28) after bedding correction display


Fig 4 Lithological log of the succession investigated inthe present study sample positions are indicated on theright The black white and gray intervals in the polarityrecord represent normal reversal and uncertain polarity in-tervals respectively The empty circles represent samplesthat were not interpreted LCI = Lower Covered Interval

a well-clustered distribution with declination (D) =3190deg inclination (I) = 438deg and statistical Fisherian(Fisher 1953) parameters k = 77 and α95 = 105deg(Fig 4) Before bedding correction (in situ) the meanvalue (D = 3492deg I = 85deg) is clearly different fromthe direction of the present-day geomagnetic field(Fig 5b) hence a recent magnetic overprint can befirmly excluded Furthermore the computed mean di-rection for the Moria section is consistent with themoderate (few tens of degrees) counterclockwise rota-tions characterizing coeval rocks from adjacent sectorsof the northern Apennines (Speranza et al 1997) Thisprovides strong evidence for the primary origin of theisolated directions Accordingly the obtained paleo-magnetic data are reliable and will be used in the fol-lowing magnetostratigraphic reconstruction

The distribution of the magnetic polarities withinthe Moria section resulting from this study (Fig 4Table 1) indicates the presence of four magnetozonesfrom bottom to top MN1 = normal polarity interval(samples MoP11ndashMoP25) MR1 = reversed polarityinterval (samples MoP31ndashMoP53) MN2 = normalpolarity interval (sample MoP56) and MR2 = re-versed polarity interval (samples MoP58ndashMoP59)

6 Biostratigraphy

61 Planktonic foraminifers

Planktonic foraminifers are generally abundant through-out the investigated part of the Moria section but poor-ly to medium preserved in samples from the calcare-


Fig 5 a ndash Zijderveld diagrams (Zijderveld 1967) of three representative samples showing normal (samples MoP25 andMoP56) and reverse (sample MoP52) polarity of magnetisation (tilt-corrected coordinates) Solid and open dots indicate pro-jections on the horizontal and vertical planes respectively Demagnetization step values in degC are shown together with theinterval that was used to isolate the characteristic remanent magnetisation (thick grey line) b ndash Magnetic component analy-sis and graphic output were carried out with REMASOFT 30 software (Chadima and Hrouda 2006)

ous strata of the Bisciaro Fm The poor preservationdue to encrustation and carbonate dissolution increas-es the portion of dissolution-resistant taxa within the assemblages thus altering the original abundancepattern The preservation of planktonic foraminifersimproves upwards in the marls of the Schlier FmHowever recrystallized broken and mechanically de-formed tests are common throughout the section

The assemblages are dominated by Dentoglobigeri-na spp Globigerina praebulloides Globigerinoidesquadrilobatus group Globorotalia praescitula and Pa -ragloborotalia acrostoma (Fig 6) Less abundant taxa

include Globigerinoides altiaperturus G dimi nutusG subquadratus Globoquadrina dehiscens Globotur-borotalita druryi G woodi and the Tenuitellinata an-gustiumbilicata group Finally Catapsydrax dissimilisParagloborotalia bella P siakensis and Turborotalitaquinqueloba show rare and scattered occurrences

The generally poor preservation of the assemblageshampered the application of quantitative approachesand only semiquantitative distributions of selectedtaxa are reported (Fig 6) The ranges and occurrencecharacteristics of the most significant taxa are dis-cussed in the following


Fig 6 Magnetostratigraphy and quantitative (calcareous nannofossil) and semi-quantitative (planktonic foraminifer) dis-tribution patterns from the lower part of the Moria section The black white and gray areas indicate normal reversal anduncertain polarity respectively LCI = Lower Covered Interval

Catapsydrax dissimilisThe Last Occurrence (LO) of the genus Catapsydraxis considered a first-order bioevent and has been wide-ly used for tropical open-ocean settings (Blow 1969Berggren et al 1995) and the Mediterranean region(Iaccarino 1985) The LO of C dissimilis s l (Blow1969 Kennett and Srinivasan 1983) or of C dissim-ilisunicavus according to Berggren et al (1995)marks the top of the Globigerinatella insuetaCatap-sydrax dissimilis zone (N6 and M3 biozones of Blow1969 and Berggren et al 1995 respectively)

In the examined samples Catapsydrax is rare andthe poor preservation makes its distinction from Glo-bigerina venezuelana and dentoglobigerinids some-times difficult The latter two taxa tend to form anaberrant small last chamber partially covering the um-bilicus (Bolli and Saunders 1985) developing an ele-ment similar to the bulla in the genus CatapsydraxCatapsydrax dissimilis is present up to sample MoB39(290 m) close to the abundance increase of Sphenoli-tus heteromorphus (Fig 6)

Globigerinoides altiaperturusGlobigerinoides altiaperturus has been used as a zon-al marker in the lower Miocene of the Mediterraneanregion (Iaccarino 1985 Mancin et al 2003 Iaccarinoet al 2007) Specimens with the typical high-arc aper-tures are present continuously in the middle part of theinvestigated section (samples MoB18ndashMoB31 176ndash238 m) The absence of the taxon in the lower part isprobably due to poor preservation The highest pres-ence of G altiaperturus in sample MoB33 (Fig 6)may represent the true LO of the species in agreementwith Iaccarino (1985) who reports a late Burdigalianage for this event

Globigerinoides diminutusGlobigerinoides diminutus is morphologically similarto G ruber and G subquadratus but has a smaller andmore compact test as well as a higher and narroweraperture (Bolli and Saunders 1985) The species ap-pears in the late Burdigalian N7 zone (Blow 1969Postuma 1971 Salvatorini and Cita 1979 Kennett andSrinivasan 1983 Bolli and Saunders 1985 Iaccarino1985)

According to Foresi et al (2014) this species ap-pears in the upper part of their P acrostomaC dissi -milis (MMi2c) subzone which corresponds to Blowrsquos(1969) N6 zone The first occurrence (FO) of typicalspecimens is in sample MoB36 (280 m) just belowthe last common occurrence (LCO) of P acrostomaand the LO of C dissimilis (Fig 6)

Globigerinoides quadrilobatus groupThe group comprises Globigerinoides quadrilobatusG sacculifer and G trilobus which Blow (1969) con-sidered to be subspecies of G quadrilobatus Speci-mens of this group are common and continuously pres-ent throughout the investigated section (Fig 6) withG trilobus and G quadrilobatus being dominant

Typical G trilobus are accompanied by small andmedium-sized specimens with ovoidal sub-sphericalor bi-spherical outline of the test showing some affin-ity with the Globigerinoides-Praeorbulina group (Tur-co et al 2011b) There are consistently two apertures atthe base of the last chamber and the wall texture is cancellate Unfortunately the poor preservation oftenhampers the identification of the secondary aperturesNo convincing specimens with three apertures at thebase of the last chamber were found this implies thatG sicanus is absent from the investigated sampleswhich is consistent with the FO of the species locatedat a stratigraphically higher level in the Moria section(Di Stefano et al 2008)

Globigerinoides subquadratusGlobigerinoides subquadratus is an important biostra -ti graphic marker for the Miocene The FO of the taxonhas been reported in the middle early Miocene (Blow1969 Bizon and Bizon 1972 Kennett and Srinivasan1983 Bolli and Saunders 1985 Iaccarino 1985 Spez-zaferri 1994 Coccioni et al 1997 Hakyemez and Toker 2010 Foresi et al 2014) Typical specimens ofG subquadratus with two supplementary aperturesoccur from sample MoB3 (380 m) upsection but thisobservation may be biased by diagenetic effects due tothe poor preservation in the lower part of the section


Table 1 Magnetozones recognized in the Moria section

(Fig 6) The species shows a discontinuous distributionup to sample MoB41 (295 m) becoming further scat-tered upwards The G subquadratus concept includesvery small specimens as they are mainly present in thebasal part of the section these specimens resembleGlobigerinoides diminutus from which they differ bythe large secondary apertures the incised intercameralsutures and the less box-shaped form of the test

Globorotalia peripherorondaThe FO and LO of Globorotalia peripheroronda havebeen reported at the base of the Aquitanian (Kennett and Sri nivasan 1983 Spezzaferri 1994) and in the Ser-ravallian (Foresi et al 2002 Hilgen et al 2009) re-spectively In the Mediterranean region G periphero-ronda occurs from the late Burdigalian Globigerinoidestri lo bus zone onwards (Iaccarino 1985) but it is gener-ally rare in the lower part of its range (Foresi et al 2001Lirer and Iaccarino 2005 Di Stefano et al 2011b)

In the investigated samples G peripherorondashows rare occurrences in two samples from the low-er part of the succession and rare to few discontinuousoccurrences from sample MoB36 (274 m) upwardstogether with Turborotalita quinqueloba (Fig 6) Thisdistribution pattern of the two taxa agrees with datafrom the St Thomas section (Foresi et al 2014) whichcrops out along the southeastern coast of Malta Island(Fig 1)

Globorotalia praescitulaAccording to Iaccarino (1985) Globorotalia prae -scitula first occurs in the Burdigalian Globigerinoidestrilobus zone and becomes common in the Mediter-ranean region during the Langhian (Foresi et al 2001)In the Moria section the first specimens of G prae sci-tula were found in sample MoB5 (540 m) The speciesis rare to common and has a discontinuous occurrenceupwards which confirms the scattered distribution re-ported by Deino et al (1997) Considering the poorpreservation of fora minifers in the lower part of thesection it cannot be excluded that this species also oc-curs below sample MoB5

Paragloborotalia acrostomaThe stratigraphic distribution of Paragloborotaliaacrostoma is reported from the latest Oligocene to ear-ly Langhian by Spezzaferri (1994 1996) but accord-ing to Foresi et al (2001) the species is typical of theearly-early middle Miocene In the Moria section thefirst specimens of P acrostoma occur in sample MoB3(380 m) The species shows a prevailing sinistral coil-

ing and is common to abundant up to sample MoB36(274 m) Its LCO is close to the LO of Catapsydraxdissimilis These two bioevents basically occur at thesame level in other Medi terranean sections as wellsuch as at Colle Amarena (Lirer et al 2007) and Pia -nosa (Cornamusini et al 2014) In the uppermost partof its distribution range P acrostoma is rare Its high-est occurrence is in sample MoB41 (295 m)

Paragloborotalia siakensisThe stratigraphic distribution of Paragloborotalia sia -kensis ranges from the Oligocene to the Tortonian ithas been studied in detail as it is considered extremelyuseful for correlation of middle Miocene sections onthe basis of alternating acme and paracme intervals(DallrsquoAntonia et al 2001 Sprovieri et al 2002 Di Ste-fano et al 2008 2011b) Paragloborotalia siakensisoccurs rarely but continuously from the base of theMoria section up to sample MoB36 (274 m) whereasit is scattered from this level upsection The speciesshows random coiling patterns along its entire range inthe Moria section

Other taxaOther members of the planktonic foraminiferal assem-blages are of secondary biostratigraphic interest Theyinclude the following taxa

Dentoglobigerina spp and Globigerina praebullo -ides s l are common to abundant and occur continu-ously throughout the Moria section Dentoglobige rinaspp comprise predominantly D altispira and subordi-nately D baroemoenensis According to Blow (19591969) and Blow and Banner (1966) the early MioceneG praebulloides comprises several morphotypes andsubspecies In the samples from the Moria section thistaxon is referred to as G praebulloides s l whichcomprises G praebulloides praebulloides G praebul-loides occlusa and G aff falconensis

Paragloborotalia bella is present in the Moria section but occurs rarely and discontinuously TheTenuitellinata group comprises typical specimens ofT angustiumbilicata and other five-chambered globi -geri nids Some of these resemble G ciperoensis due to a wide umbilical area but have a smooth rather than cancellate text surface The Tenuitellinata groupis discontinuously present in the lower part of the Mo-ria section where it is abundant from samples MoB31to MoB36 (232ndash274 m) and virtually absent in theuppermost part

Globoturborotalita woodi and G druryi only occurin the middle part of the Moria section Globoquadri-


na dehiscens is consistently rare and shows discontin-uous occurrences throughout the section Finally Tur-borotalita quinqueloba represented also by specimensshowing the typical slightly elongate last chambercovering the umbilicus is present only in the intervalfrom samples MoB35 to MoB45 (270ndash319 m) Thecomparison with the Foresi et al (2014) St Thomassection allows us to consider the lowest presence of thetaxon in the Moria section as its stratigraphical FO

62 Calcareous nannofossils

The calcareous nannofossil assemblages are character-ized by poor preservation in the basal calcareous stra-ta of the Bisciaro Fm (Fig 6) Preservation is mediumto good in the remainder of the section The nannofos-sil associations consist of placoliths helicoliths andsphenoliths discoasterids are rare occur sporadicallyand are almost exclusively represented by Discoasterdeflandrei Within the placoliths estimated through aqualitative analyses the most representative are Coc-colithus pelagicus Cyclicargolithus floridanus Dic -tyococcites spp and ldquosmallrdquo and ldquomediumrdquo Reticu lo -fenestra

Following the most recent literature on Miocenenannofossil biostratigraphy in the Mediterranean re-gion (Di Stefano et al 2008 2011b Foresi et al 20112014 Iaccarino et al 2011 Mourik et al 2011 Turcoet al 2011a) helicoliths and sphenoliths were selectedfor quantitative analyses (Fig 6) in order to determinepositions of biostratigraphic horizons

Helicosphaera carteri and H euphratisAmong the helicoliths Heliocosphaera carteri is themost common (average percentages 60) taxon Itis continuously present in most of the analyzed sam-ples with the exception of the central part of the suc-cession (28ndash32 m) where it is replaced by H amplia-perta Helicosphaera euphratis occurs in all sampleseven if it only sporadically exceeds percentages of10 Fornaciari and Rio (1996) and more recentlyBackman et al (2012) have highlighted the close in-verse abundance relationship of H carteri and H eu-phratis They used the sharp quantitative decrease ofH euphratis and the concomitant increase of H carteri(reported as ldquoH euphratisH carteri cross-overrdquo) todefine the boundary between the MNN1MNN2a(Fornaciari and Rio 1996) and the CNM3CNM4(Backman et al 2012) zones in the late AquitanianThe high abundance of H carteri together with the lowabundance of H euphratis suggests that the base of the

section is younger than the H euphratisH cartericross-over dated at 209 Ma (Backman et al 2012)

Helicosphaera ampliaperta and H scissuraHelicosphaera ampliaperta is almost continuouslypresent across the Moria section becoming abundantbetween 28 and 30 meters (samples MoB36 to MoB44)where it accounts for more than 50 of the total heli-coliths The distribution of H ampliaperta spans fromthe Aquitanian (Young 1998) to the middle Langhian(Di Stefano et al 2008) In Lourens et al (2004) its FOis adopted to provisionally approximate the Aquitan-ianBurdigalian boundary at 2043 Ma The basal partof its range is discontinuous and characterized by tem-porary absence intervals (Gartner 1992 Fornaciari andRio 1996 Foresi et al 2014) The LCO of the speciesappears sharp and synchronous while its LO seems tobe diachronous among different sections in the Medi -terranean region (Di Stefano 1995 Fornaciari et al1996 Di Stefano et al 2008 2011b Foresi et al 2011Iaccarino et al 2011 Turco et al 2011a)

Data from the Central Paratethys suggest that H am-pliaperta may have evolved from H scissura whoseFO is recorded in the early Aquitanian (Marunteanu1999 Roumlgl and Nagymarosy 2004 Garecka 2005 Bartol 2009 Makrodimitras et al 2010 Chira et al2011 Holkova 2013) For open-ocean settings the FOof H scissura is reported in the middle Burdigalian atabout 1828 Ma thus following that of H ampliaperta(Young 1998) In Mediterranean sequences the twospecies generally occur together and it is difficult to es-tablish which one represents the ancestor of the other

In the Moria samples H scissura exhibits low abun-dances ( 10) and a discontinuous distribution butseems to match the distribution pattern of H amplia-perta Helicosphaera scissura may hence represent amorphotype within the H ampliaperta population

Helicosphaera mediterraneaHelicosphaera mediterranea is a lowerndashmiddle Mio -cene species spanning from the early Aquitanian to thelate Langhian (Theodoridis 1984) Marunteanu (1999)recognizes a basal Miocene age (NN1 zone of Martini1971) for the FO of this taxon in the Carpathian regionin contrast to the early Burdigalian age (MNN2a zone)proposed by Fornaciari and Rio (1996) for the Medi -terranean region Furthermore in some Mediterraneansections the FO of H mediterranea precedes that ofH ampliaperta whereas in others this event seems tobe younger (Fornaciari and Rio 1996) Thus the rela-tion between H mediterranea and H ampliaperta is


still controversial However the Moria section wherethe taxon shows a low and discontinuous occurrencefrom the basal levels onwards is not suitable to solvethis conundrum

Sphenolithus heteromorphusSphenolithus heteromorphus is absent or rare in thelower part of the investigated succession Sporadicspecimens are recorded in a few samples from about18 to 28 meters (Fig 6) From this level upwards thespecies becomes continuously present with averagepercentages of about 30 and a maximum of about70 with regard to the total sphenolith assemblages

The FO of S heteromorphus has been used by Okada and Bukry (1980) to define the base of theirCN3 zone and by Theodoridis (1984) to recognize theboundary between its Sphenolithus belemnos subzoneand Helicosphaera ampliaperta zone Moreover For-naciari and Rio (1996) and Backman et al (2012) usedthe FCO of the taxon to define the base of theirMNN3b and CNM6 zones respectively In its initialrange S heteromorphus is generally accompanied bydiscontinuous low-percentage occurrences of S be -lem nos whose LCO is below the FO of S heteromor-

phus (Fornaciari and Rio 1996 Raffi et al 2006) Inthe Moria section S belemnos is absent which maysuggest that the first specimens of S heteromorphusrecorded at the base of the section do not represent itstrue biostratigraphical FO

7 Magnetostratigraphicinterpretation and age model

The age-model herein proposed refers to the entireMoria section (sensu Deino et al 1997 ldquocompositerdquoMoria section in Figs 1 7 and 8) and has been ob-tained through the integration of the data from thepresent study and those of Di Stefano et al (2008) Thetwo portions of the section were correlated using thecalcareous marker horizons in the middle member ofthe Schlier Fm (Figs 2 3) This allows to define bio -stratigraphic events for the entire succession and to ex-tend the age-model upsection where paleomagneticdata are absent The data from the entire Moria sectionhave been compared to data from other Mediterraneansections and from North Atlantic DSDP Site 608(Figs 1 8 Tables 2 3)


Fig 7 Age-depth diagramand estimated sedimentationrates for the composite Moriasection Numbers and greekletters associated with arrowsrefer to the bio- and magne-tostratigraphic events listed in Table 3 () in Deino et al1997 The part considered inthe present study and the partexamined by Di Stefano et al(2008) are indicated LCI =Lower Covered IntervalUCI = Upper Covered Interval


Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

The base of the Moria section (this study) is charac-terized by poorly preserved calcareous plankton as-semblages and a lack of reliable paleomagnetic datawhile the interval from 11 to 21 m shows a clear nor-mal polarity (magnetozone MN1) The first specimensof S heteromorphus fall within this interval Compar-ison with data from St Thomas section and DSDP Site608 suggests that this is not the FO of the species asindicated by the absence of S belemnos in the Moriasection Rather the discontinuous and low abundance interval of S heteromorphus appears coeval with theldquoparacme P0rdquo in the St Thomas section of Foresi et al(2014) These authors report the base of S heteromor-phus P0 at the C5DrC5Dn boundary This suggeststhat the normal interval MN1 can be interpreted as


Table 2 Summary of the sections considered in this paperand main references

Table 3 Magnetostratigraphic calibration (ATNTS2004 Lourens et al 2004) and ages (where available) of the main bio-horizons recognized within the ldquocompositerdquo Moria section (Di Stefano et al 2008 and this paper) La Vedova (Iac-carino et al 2011 Turco et al 2011a) St Thomas (Foresi et al 2014) St Peterrsquos Pool (Foresi et al 2011 Iaccari-no et al 2011) and DSDP Site 608 (Di Stefano et al 2011a this paper) Acronyms for the biohorizons FO = FirstOccurrence FCO = First Common Occurrence LO = Last Occurrence LCO = Last Common OccurrenceAB-rs = Acme Base and coiling change from random to sinistral P0B = Paracme 0 Base P0E = Paracme 0 EndAS = Abundance Spike AaB = Acme a Base AaE = Acme a End

Chron C5Dn (17533ndash17235 Ma Lourens et al 2004)(Figs 7 8)

In the Moria section (this study) the FOs of Glo-bigerinoides diminutus Turborotalita quinquelobaand Globorotalia peripheroronda and the end of thelower paracme of Spenolithus heteromorphus (P0E)(see events 2 3 4 and F respectively in Table 3) oc-cur at the same stratigraphic level (28 m) close to thebase of the MR1 magnetozone In the St Thomas sec-tion events 2 3 and 4 occur at different stratigraphiclevels in upper Chron C5Dn There the S heteromor-phus P0E also occurs within Chron C5Dn slightly pre-ceding the abovementioned foraminiferal events Thiscomparison allows to draw the following conclusionsregarding the Moria section i) the interval character-ized by absence of paleomagnetic signals from 23 to28 m has been deposited during Chron C5Dn timeii) MR1 can be referred to Chron C5Cr iii) a short hia-tus involving the C5DnC5Cr boundary is present atabout 28 m this can be estimated to have lasted at least34 ka which represents the difference of the ages be-tween the S heteromorphus P0E and the FO of G pe-ripheroronda as determined by Foresi et al (2014) as17311 Ma and 17277 Ma respectively Consequent-ly MN2 has been interpreted as Chron C5Cn3n MR2as Chron C5Cn2r and the reverse magnetozone rec-ognized by Deino et al (1997) at the base of the sec-tion (Fig 2) as Chron C5Dr

For the Moria section the age model presented inFig 7 takes into account the bio-magnetostratigraphicdata of the present study and the position of the bio-events determined by Di Stefano et al (2008) withages derived from the neighbour La Vedova section(Table 3 Iaccarino et al 2011 Turco et al 2011a) andfor the lower portion from the Maltese St Thomassection (Table 3 Foresi et al 2014) From 28 m up-wards the distribution of the bio-magnetostratigraph-ic events suggests near-constant sedimentation rateswith an average of about 3 cmka In the lower part thesedimentation rate slightly exceeds 5 cmka in spite ofthe presence of a short hiatus The average sedimenta-tion rate calculated from the top of the lower vegeta-tion-covered interval (10 meters above the base of thesection and marked as LCI in Figs 3 7) to the top ofthe composite section (ca 108 meters from the baseFig 7) is 385 cmka which is in close agreement withthe sedimentation rate of ca 40 cmka reported by Ca-puano (2009) for the Schlier Fm in the Urbino area(northern sector of the Marche region)

The proposed age model for the composite Moriasection suggests deposition between about 177 and

147 Ma corresponding to a late BurdigalianndashLanghi-an age (Lourens et al 2004) this is in agreement withthe radiometric age of the ldquoPiero della Francesca Lev-elrdquo reported by Deino et al (1997) From a biostrati-graphic perspective the Moria section represents theinterval between nannofossil biozones MNN4a andMNN5a and between planktonic foraminifer biozonesMMi2c and MMi4d (Di Stefano et al 2008 Iaccarinoet al 2011 Foresi et al 2014)

8 Mediterranean-Atlanticcorrelation

The lower part of the Moria section (sensu Deino et al 1997) here investigated in detail is instrumental for generating a bio-magnetostratigraphy of the earlyto middle Miocene interval of the Mediterranean re-gion To achieve this goal the composite Moria sec-tion has been correlated with other Mediterranean successions (Figs 1 8 Tables 2 3) A series of mag-netostratigraphically constrained calcareous planktonbioevents has been established that covers the time in-terval from about 197 Ma (base of the St Thomas sec-tion) to about 147 Ma (top of the composite Moriasection) Furthermore the comparison of the results of Mediterranean sections to a reference succession in the Atlantic Ocean (DSDP Site 608) (Miller et al1991 Olafsson 1991 Gartner 1992 Krijgsman andKent 2004 Di Stefano et al 2011a Wade et al 2011)allowed us to discriminate between the events with aboth Mediterranean and extra-Mediterranean biostrati-graphical significance and those with more regionalimportance

Besides the well-known yet debated bioevents(such as the LCO and LO of H ampliaperta) horizonsbased on abundance fluctuations of selected speciesmerit special attention These biohorizons althoughseemingly less trustworthy than proper FOs and LOsprovide useful and reliable biostratigraphic constraintsfor the considered time interval The best-known ex-ample is probably the Sphenolithus heteromorphusldquoParacme Intervalrdquo (Di Stefano 1995 Fornaciari et al1996) (H and J in Fig 7 and Table 3) which is record-ed almost synchronously in numerous Mediterraneansections (Iaccarino et al 2011) and at Site DSDP 608(Di Stefano et al 2011a) In the same way the Para-globorotalia siakensis ldquoAcme a Intervalrdquo (DallrsquoAnto-nia et al 2001 Di Stefano et al 2008) (events 9 and 10in Fig 8 and Table 3) is a sharp interval clearly de-tectable both in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic


successions Conversely the older S heteromorphusparacme (ldquoParacme 0rdquo in Foresi et al 2014) detectedin the Mediterranean region at the top of the St Tho-mas section (events E and F in Fig 8 and Table 3) andat the base of the Moria Section but missing in the At-lantic DSDP 608 succession may be only of regionalvalue as correlation tool Similarly other abundancepeaks such as the one of P siakensis recognized in the intermediate part of the St Peterrsquos Pool section(ldquoAcme0rdquo in Foresi et al 2011 absent in the same levels of the La Vedova section of Turco et al 2011)which crops out along the southeastern coast of MaltaIsland (Fig 1) can also be considered of local valueand are possibly related to regional environmentalconditions (Iaccarino et al 2011)

The comparison between the St Thomas sectionand the basal part of DSDP Site 608 clarifies the rela-tionship between the final distribution range of S be -lemnos (above its LCO) and the FO of S heteromor-phus in the frame of tight magnetostratigraphic con-trol The LCO of S belemnos represents a well-definedevent and is recorded within Chron C5En both in theSt Thomas section and at DSDP Site 608 while theLO of the species occurs at higher stratigraphic levelswithin Chron C5Dr The stratigraphic positions of theFO and FCO of S heteromorphus have been repeated-ly debated in the literature (Martini 1971 Okada andBukry 1980 Olafsson 1991 Gartner 1992 Fornaciariand Rio 1996 Backman et al 2012) At DSDP Site608 the FO of S heteromorphus occurs between theLCO and the LO of S belemnos within Chron C5EnThis is in good agreement with the St Thomas sectionwhere the FO of S heteromorphus occurs in the samechron within the final distribution range of S belem-nos The FCO of S heteromorphus occurs withinChron C5Dr in both the sections

The LO of C dissimilis is another discussed bio-event reported to be within Chron C5Dn by Berggrenet al (1983) at 175 Ma by Shackleton et al (1999)(C5DrC5Dn transition in Figs 2 and 3 of Wade et al2011) and within Chron C5Cr by Di Stefano et al(2011a) The occurrence of the last C dissimilis spec-imens at the base of Chron C5Cr in the Moria sectionagrees with its position at DSDP Site 608 (Di Stefanoet al 2011a) Yet this event does not seem to representa reliable correlation tool within the Mediterraneanarea because in some cases for example the St Tho-mas section the species is completely absent proba-bly due to environmental factors (Foresi et al 2014)

9 Conclusions

Results are presented from an integrated bio-magne-tostratigraphic study of the lower segment of the Mo-ria section (sensu Deino et al 1997) cropping out in the UmbriandashMarche Apennine (Central Italy) Ac-cording to our reconstruction this portion of the sec-tion ranges from the top of Chron C5Dr to ChronC5Cn2r almost continuously spanning from about177 to 164 Ma (according to the ATNTS04) with asmall hiatus estimated in at least 34 ka at the C5DnC5Cr transition This interpretation differs from that ofDeino et al (1997) but is consistent with the radio-metric age of 171 016 Ma reported by the same authors for the ldquoPiero della Francesca Levelrdquo in thesection

An age model is proposed for the composite MoriaSection based on the bio-magnetostratigraphic data of the present study and the biostratigraphic results of Di Stefano et al (2008) It is chronologically con-strained through a comparison with the La Vedova sec-tion (Turco et al 2011) According to our reconstruc-tion the composite Moria section covers about 3 Ma(177ndash147 Ma) thus straddling the BurdigalianLan -ghian boundary (Lourens et al 2004 Iaccarino et al2011)

Calcareous plankton data from the composite Moriasection are compared with previously published data -sets from other Mediterranean sections This yields amagnetostratigraphically framed calcareous planktondataset that covers a time interval of about 5 Ma fromthe base of the St Thomas section at 197 Ma to the topof the ldquocompositerdquo Moria section at 147 Ma

The presenceabsence of biostratigraphical eventsas deduced from a comparison of datasets from theMediterranean region and North Atlantic DSDP Site608 enabled us to discriminate between bioevents exportable in extra-Mediterranean areas from thoseshowing a bioprovincial or local stratigraphic signifi-cance

Acknowledgements Fabrizio Lirer and Federica Zan-gara are thanked for their help during the sampling We areindebted to three anonymous reviewers for their construc-tive suggestions The study has been conducted within theproject ldquoPRIN2012rdquo entitled ldquoThe Burdigalian GSSP (Glob-al Stratigraphic Section and Point) the missing tile to com-plete the Neogene interval of the Geological Time scalerdquo financed by the Italian MIUR and coordinated by AgataDi Stefano


References

Backman J Raffi I Rio D Fornaciari E Paumllike H2012 Biozonation and biochronology of Miocene throughPleistocene calcareous nannofossils from low and middlelatitudes Newsletters on Stratigraphy 45(3) 221ndash244

Baldauf J G Thomas E Clement B Takayama TWeaver P P E Backman J Jenkins G Mudie P JWestberg-Smith M J 1987 Magnetostratigraphic andbiostratigraphic synthesis Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg94 In Ruddiman W F Kidd R B Baldauf J G (Eds)Initial Reports Deep Sea Drilling Project 94 WashingtonDC Government Printing Office p 1159ndash1205

Bartol M 2009 Middle Miocene calcareous nannoplank-ton of NE Slovenia (Western Central Paratethys) Ph DThesis Paleontološki inštitut Ivana Rakovca ZRC SAZULjubljana Slovenia 142 p

Berggren W A Hamilton N Johnson D A Pujol CWeiss W Čepek P Gombos A M 1983 Magne-tostratigraphy of Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 72 Sites515ndash518 Rio Grande Rise (South Atlantic) In BarkerP F Johnson D J Carlson R J et al (Eds) Initial Re-ports DSDP 72 Washington United States p 675ndash714

Berggren W A Kent D V Swisher III C C AubryM-P 1995 A revised Cenozoic geochronology andchronostratigraphy In Berggren W A Kent D VAubry M-P Hardenbol J (Eds) Geochronology TimeScales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation A unifiedtemporal framework for an historical geology Society ofEconomic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (SEPM)Special publication 54 p 129ndash212

Bizon G Bizon J J 1972 Atlas des principaux foramini -fegraveres planctoniques du Bassin Meacutediterraneacuteen Oligoceneagrave Quaternaire Ed Technip Paris 316 p

Blow W H 1959 Age correlation and biostratigraphy ofthe upper Tocuyo (San Lorenzo) and Pozon Formationseastern Falcon Venezuela Bulletin of American Paleon-tology 39(178) 67ndash252

Blow W H 1969 Late Middle Eocene to Recent plankton-ic Foraminifera biostratigraphy Proceedings of the 1th

International Conference on Planktonic MicrofossilsGeneva Switzerland 1967 p 199ndash421

Blow W H Banner F T 1966 The morphology taxono-my and biostratigraphy of Globorotalia barisanensisLeRoy Globorotalia fohsi Cushman and Ellis and relat-ed taxa Micropaleontology 12(3) 286ndash302

Bolli H M Saunders J B 1985 Oligocene to Holocenelow latitude planktic foraminifera In Bolli H M Saun-ders J B Perch-Nielsen K (Eds) Plankton Stratigra-phy Cambridge University Press New York p 155ndash262

Capuano N 2009 Note illustrative della carta geologicadrsquoItalia alla scala 150000 Foglio 279 URBINO IspraRoma 114 p

Chadima M Hrouda F 2006 Remasoft 30a user-friend-ly paleomagnetic data browser and analyzer TravauxGeacuteophysiques 27 20ndash21

Chira C M Igritan A Juravle D T Florea F Popa V2011 Calcareous nannoplankton across the Paleogenendash

Neogene boundary in the Moldovita-Paltinu area (Bucov-ina Romania) Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae 7 93ndash101

Coccioni R Montanari A 1992 The ldquoLivello Piero dellaFrancescardquo in the UmbriandashMarche Apennines Italy a re-gional volcaniclastic marker bed at the boundary betweenthe Bisciaro and the SchlierMarne con Cerrogna forma-tions (Lower Miocene) In Montanari A Coccioni ROdin G S (Eds) Volume of Abstracts and Field TripsInterdisciplinary Geological Conference on the MioceneEpoch with emphasis on the UmbriandashMarche sequence(IUGS Subcommission on Geochronology MioceneColumbus Projects) Ancona Italy p 41ndash42

Coccioni R Montanari A 1994 Lrsquoorizzonte del BisciaroIn Guide Geologiche Regionali Appennino umbro-mar -chigiano 7 BE-MA Editrice p 36ndash38

Coccioni R Montanari A Fornaciari E Rio D Zeven-boom D 1997 Potential integrated stratigraphy of theAquitanian to upper Burdigalian section at Santa Croce diArcevia (NE Apennines Italy) In Montanari A OdinG S Coccioni R (Eds) Miocene Stratigraphy an inte-grated approach Elsevier Science B V Amsterdamp 279ndash295

Cornamusini G Foresi L M DallrsquoAntonia B BossioA Mazzei R Salvatorini G 2014 The Miocene of thePianosa Island a key for the puzzle on the opening of theNorthern Tyrrhenian back-arc basin (Central Mediter-ranean) Journal of the Geological Society 171 801ndash819

DallrsquoAntonia B Di Stefano A Foresi L M 2001 Inte-grated micropalaeontological study (ostracods and cal-careous plankton) of the Langhian western Hyblean suc-cession Palaeogeography Palaeocology Palaeoeclima-tology 176 59ndash80

Deino A Channell J Coccioni R De Grandis GDe Paolo D J Fornaciari E Emmanuel L LaurenziM A Montanari A Rio D Renard M 1997 Inte-grated stratigraphy of the upper BurdigalianndashlowerLanghian section at Moria (Marche Region Italy) InMontanari A Odin G S Coccioni R (Eds) MioceneStratigraphy an integrated approach Elsevier ScienceB V Amsterdam p 315ndash341

Di Stefano A 1995 Biostratigrafia a nannofossili calcareidei sedimenti medio-supramiocenici del settore occiden-tale del Plateau Ibleo (Sicilia Sud-Orientale) Bollettinodella Societagrave Paleontologica Italiana 34(2) 147ndash162

Di Stefano A Foresi L M Lirer F Iaccarino S M Tur-co E Amore F O Mazzei R Morabito S Salvatori-ni G Abdul Aziz H 2008 Calcareous plankton highresolution bio-magnetostratigraphy for the Langhian ofthe Mediterranean area Rivista Italiana di Paleontologiae Stratigrafia 114 51ndash76

Di Stefano A Verducci M Cascella A Iaccarino S M2011a Calcareous plankton events at the EarlyMiddleMiocene transition of DSDP Hole 608 comparison withMediterranean successions for the definition of theLanghian GSSP Stratigraphy 8(2ndash3) 145ndash161

Di Stefano A Verducci M Maniscalco R Speranza FForesi L M 2011b High-resolution stratigraphy of theContrada Pesciarello borehole succession (SE Sicily) a


lower Langhian reference section for the Mediterraneanregion Stratigraphy 8(2ndash3) 111ndash124

Fisher R A 1953 Dispersion on a sphere Proceedings ofthe Royal Society of London 217 295ndash305

Foresi L M Baldassini N Sagnotti L Lirer F Di Ste-fano A Caricchi C Verducci M Salvatorini G Maz -zei R 2014 Integrated stratigraphy of the St Thomassection (Malta Island) a reference section for the lowerBurdigalian of the Mediterranean Region Marine Micro -paleontology 111 66ndash89

Foresi L M Bonomo S Caruso A Di Stefano E Sal-vatorini G Sprovieri R 2002 Calcareous planktonhigh resolution biostratigraphy (foraminifera and nanno-fossils) of the uppermost Langhianndashlower SerravallianRas Il-Pellegrin section (Malta) Rivista Italiana di Pale-ontologia e Stratigrafia 108(2) 195ndash210

Foresi L M Iaccarino S M Mazzei R Salvatorini GBambini A M 2001 Il plancton calcareo (foraminiferie nannofossili) del Miocene delle Isole Tremiti Paleon-tographia Italica 88 1ndash62

Foresi L M Verducci M Baldassini N Lirer F MazzeiR Salvatorini G Ferraro G Da Prato S 2011 Inte-grated stratigraphy of St Peterrsquos Pool section (Malta)new age for the Upper Globigerina Limestone memberand progress towards the Langhian GSSP Stratigraphy8(2ndash3) 125ndash143

Fornaciari E Di Stefano A Rio D Negri A 1996 Mid-dle Miocene quantitative calcareous nannofossil bios-tratigraphy in the Mediterranean region Micropaleontol-ogy 42 37ndash63

Fornaciari E Rio D 1996 Latest Oligocene to early mid-dle Miocene quantitative calcareous nannofossil biostra -ti graphy in the Mediterranean region Micropaleontology42 1ndash36

Garecka M 2005 Calcareous nannoplankton from thePodhale Flysch (OligocenendashMiocene Inner CarpathiansPoland) Methods and Applications in Micropaleontology124 353ndash369

Gartner S 1992 Miocene nannofossil chronology in theNorth Atlantic DSDP Site 608 Marine Micropaleontol-ogy 18(4) 307ndash331

Guerrera F Tramontana M Donatelli U Serrano F 2012Spacetime tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Umbria-Romagna-Marche Miocene Basin (Northern ApennineItaly) a foredeep model Swiss Journal of Geosciences105 325ndash341

Hakyemez A Toker V 2010 Planktonic foraminiferal bio -stratigraphy from the sedimentary cover of Troodos Mas-sif Northern Cyprus Remarks on Aquitanian-Langhianbiozonation Stratigraphy 7(1) 33ndash59

Haq B U Lohman G P 1976 Early Cenozoic nanno-plankton biogeography of the Atlantic Ocean Marine Mi-cropaleontology 1 119ndash194

Hilgen F J Abels H A Iaccarino S M Krijgsman WRaffi I Sprovieri R Turco E Zachariasse W J 2009The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of theSerravallian Stage (Middle Miocene) Episodes 32 152ndash166

Holkova K 2013 Morphological variability of the Para -tethyan Oligocene-Miocene small reticulofenestrid coc-colites and its paleoecological and paleogeographical im-plications Acta Paleontologica Polonica 58(3) 651ndash668

Iaccarino S M 1985 Mediterranean Miocene and Plio -cene planktic Foraminifera In Bolli H M SaundersJ B Perch-Nielsen K (Eds) Plankton StratigraphyCambridge University Press New York p 283ndash314

Iaccarino S M Di Stefano A Foresi L M Turco E Bal-dassini N Cascella A Da Prato S Ferraro L Gen-nari R Hilgen F J Lirer F Maniscalco R Mazzei RRiforgiato F Russo B Sagnotti L Salvatorini GSperanza F Verducci M 2011 High-resolution inte-grated stratigraphy of the Mediterranean Langhian Com-parison with the historical stratotype and new perspectivesfor the GSSP Stratigraphy 8(2ndash3) 199ndash215

Iaccarino S M Premoli Silva I Biolzi M Foresi L MLirer F Turco E Petrizzo M R 2007 Practical man-ual of Neogene planktonic foraminifera In Biolzi MIaccarino S M Turco E Checconi A Rettori R(Eds) International School on Planktonic Foraminifera(Neogene Planktonic Foraminifera) Perugia Italy 141 p

Iaccarino S M Salvatorini G 1982 A framework ofplanktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy for early Mio -cene to Late Pliocene Mediterranean area PaleontologiaStratigrafica ed Evoluzione 2 115ndash125

Kennett JP Srinivasan MS 1983 Neogene PlanktonicForaminifera A Phylogenetic Atlas Hutchinson Ross Pub-lishing Company Stroudsburg Pennsylvania (USA) 265 p

Kirschvink J L 1980 The least-squares line and plane andthe analysis of palaeomagnetic data Geophysical Journalof the Royal Astronomical Society 62 699ndash718

Krijgsman W Kent D V 2004 Non-uniform occurrence ofshort-term polarity fluctuations in the Geomagnetic FieldNew results from Middle to Late Miocene sediments of theNorth Atlantic (DSDP Site 608) In Channell E T KentD V Lowrie W Meert J G (Eds) Timescales of the Pa-leomagnetic Field Geophysical Monograph Series 145American Geophysical Union p 161ndash174

Lirer F Cascella A Cesarano M Casciello E PapponeG 2007 Micropaleontological study of the Miocene cal-careous turbidite deposits of the Faeto and Tufillo forma-tions (Eastern sector of the Southern Apennines chain) Riv-ista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 113(2) 269ndash286

Lirer F Iaccarino S M 2005 Integrated stratigraphy (cy-clostratigraphy and biochronology) of late MiddleMiocene deposits in the Mediterranean area and compar-ison with the North and Equatorial Atlantic Oceans syn-thesis of the major results Terra Nova 17 338ndash349

Lourens L J Hilgen F J Shackleton N J Laskar J Wil-son D 2004 The Neogene Period In Gradstein FMOgg JG Smith AG (Eds) A Geologic Time Scale 2004Cambridge University Press Cambridge p409ndash430

McFadden P L 1990 A new fold test for paleomagneticstudies Geophysical Journal International 103 163ndash169

McFadden P L McElhinny M W 1990 Classification ofthe reversal test in paleomagnetism Geophysical JournalInternational 130 725ndash729


Makrodimitras G Stoykova K Vakalas I Zelilidis A2010 Age determination and paleogeographic recon-struction of Diaponida Islands in NW Greece based oncalcareous nannofossils Bulletin of the Geological Soci-ety of Greece 43(2) 675ndash684

Mancin N Pirini C Bicchi E Ferrero E Valleri G 2003Middle Eocene to middle Miocene planktonic fora miniferalbiostratigraphy for internal basins (Monferrato and North-ern Apennines Italy) Micropaleontology 49 341ndash358

Martini E 1971 Standard Tertiary and Quaternary cal-careous nannoplankton zonation In Farinacci A (Eds)Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Plankton-ic Microfossils Rome Italy 1970 p 739ndash785

Marunteanu M 1999 Litho- and biostratigraphy (calcare-ous nannoplankton) of the Miocene deposits from theouter Moldavides Geologica Carpathica 50(4) 313ndash324

Miller K G Feigenson M D Wright J Bradford C M1991 Miocene isotope reference section Deep SeaDrilling Project Site 608 an evaluation of isotope and bio -stratigraphic resolution Paleoceanography 6(1) 33ndash52

Montanari A Bice D M Capo R Coccioni R Deino ADe Paolo D J Emmanuel L Monechi S Renard MZevenboom D 1997 Integrated stratigraphy of the Chat-tian to mid-Burdigalian pelagic sequence of the ContessaValley (Gubbio Italy) In Montanari A Odin G S Coc-cioni R (Eds) Miocene Stratigraphy an integrated ap-proach Elsevier Science B V Amsterdam p 249ndash277

Mourik A A Abels H A Hilgen F J Di Stefano AZachariasse W J 2011 Improved astronomical age con-straints for the Middle Miocene climate transition basedon high-resolution stable isotope records from the centralMediterranean Maltese Island Paleoceanography 26PA1210 doi1010292010PA001981

Okada H Bukry D 1980 Supplementary modificationand introduction of code numbers to the low latitude coc-colith biostratigraphy zonation Marine Micropaleontol-ogy 51 321ndash325

Olafsson G 1991 Quantitative calcareous nannofossilsbiostratigraphy and biochronology of Early through LateMiocene sediments from DSDP Hole 608 Meddelandenfraumln Stockholm Universitets Institution foumlr Geologi ochGeokemi 203 1ndash28

Postuma J A 1971 Manual of planktonic foraminiferaAmsterdam Elsevier Publishing Company 420 p

Raffi I Backman J Fornaciari E Paumllike H Rio DLourens L Hilgen F 2006 A review of calcareous nan-nofossil astrobiochronology encompassing the past 25 mil-lion years Quaternary Science Reviews 25 3113ndash3137

Rio D Raffi I Villa G 1990 PliocenendashPleistocene cal-careous nannofossil distribution patterns in the WesternMediterranean In Kastens K A Mascle J et al (Eds)Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program ScientificResults 107 (College Station TX) p 513ndash533

Roumlgl F Nagymarosy A 2004 Biostratigraphy and corre-lation of the Lower Miocene Michelstetten and Ernst-brunn sections in the Waschberg Unit Austria (UpperEgerian to Eggenburgian Central Paratethys) CourierForschungsinstitut Senckenberg 246 129ndash151

Ruddiman W F Kidd R B Thomas E et al 1987 Site608 In Ruddiman W F et al (Eds) Initial Reports ofthe Deep Sea Drilling Project 94 Washington DC Gov-ernment Printing Office p 149ndash246

Salvatorini G Cita M B 1979 Miocene foraminiferalstratigraphy DSDP Site 397 (Cape Bojador North At-lantic) In Ryan W B F et al (Eds) Initial Reports ofthe Deep Sea Drilling Project 47(1) p 317ndash373

Shackleton N J Crowhurst S J Weedon G P Laskar J1999 Astronomical calibration of OligocenendashMiocenetime Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ofLondon Series A ndash Mathematical Physical and Engineer-ing Sciences 357 1907ndash1929

Speranza F Sagnotti L Mattei M 1997 Tectonics of theUmbriandashMarche-Romagna Arc (central northern Apen-nines Italy) New paleomagnetic constraints Journal ofGeophysical Research 102 3153ndash3166

Spezzaferri S 1994 Planktonic foraminiferal biostratigra-phy and taxonomy of the Oligocene and lower Miocenein the oceanic record An overview Paleontographia Ital-ica 81 1ndash187

Spezzaferri S 1996 Paleoclimatic interpretations of thelate Oligocene-early Miocene planktonic foraminiferalrecord from the Lemme-Carrosio Section (NorthernItaly) Giornale di Geologia 581(1ndash2) 119ndash139

Sprovieri R Bonomo S Caruso A Di Stefano ADi Stefano E Foresi L M Iaccarino S M Lirer FMazzei R Salvatorini G 2002 An integrated calcare-ous plankton biostratigraphic scheme and biochronologyfor the Mediterranean Middle Miocene Rivista Italianadi Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 108(2) 337ndash353

Theodoridis S 1984 Calcareous nannofossils biozonation ofthe Miocene and revision of the Helicoliths and DiscoasterUtrecht Micropaleontological Bulletins 32 1ndash271

Turco E Cascella A Gennari R Hilgen F J IaccarinoS M Sagnotti L 2011a Integrated stratigraphy of theLa Vedova section (Conero Riviera Italy) and implica-tions for the BurdigalianLanghian boundary Stratigra-phy 8(2ndash3) 89ndash110

Turco E Iaccarino S M Foresi L M Salvatorini G Ri-forgiato F Verducci M 2011b Revisiting the taxono-my of the intermediate stages in Globigerinoides ndash Prae-orbulina lineage Stratigraphy 8(2ndash3) 163ndash188

Wade B S Pearson P N Berggren W A Paumllike H2011 Review and revision of Cenozoic tropical plank-tonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and calibration to thegeomagnetic polarity and astronomical time scale Earth-Science Reviews 104 111ndash142

Young JR 1998 Neogene In Bown PR (Eds) Nannofos-sil Biostratigraphy Chapman and Hall London p225ndash265

Zijderveld J D A 1967 A C demagnetization of rocksAnalysis of results In Collinson D W Creer K MRuncorn S K (Eds) Methods in Palaeomagnetism El-sevier New York p 254ndash286

Manuscript received February 11 2014 rev version ac-cepted November 12 2014


1 Introduction

The Moria section in the UmbrondashMarche Apennine ofCentral Italy represents a well-known lowerndashmiddleMiocene sedimentary sequence in the Mediterraneanregion (Fig 1) The section has been subject to detai-led integrated stratigraphic studies over the past twodecades because of the favorable exposure the pres-ence of abundant calcareous plankton and the presenceof radiometrically datable layers (Fornaciari and Rio1996 Fornaciari et al 1996 Deino et al 1997 Di Ste-fano et al 2008) A detailed lithostratigraphy has beenpresented by Deino et al (1997) who published an integrated bio-magnetostratigraphic study (Fig 2) forthe ca 100 m thick succession However reliable pa-leomagnetic directions are limited and discontinuousthroughout the studied section In this study we re-ex-amined the lower 55-m-thick portion of the sectioncoinciding with the lower part of the section reportedby Deino et al (1997) (Figs 2 3) namely the segmentencompassing the BisciaroSchlier transition

The interpretation of the observed magnetozoneswas made through tie-points provided by main calca -reous plankton horizons Furthermore a number of additional plankton events were detected and magne-tostratigraphically constrained The obtained data wereintegrated with those gathered previously by Di Ste-fano et al (2008) and compared with other Mediter-ranean sections and with North Atlantic DSDP Hole

608 (Ruddiman et al 1987 Miller et al 1991 Olaffson1991 Gartner 1992 Di Stefano et al 2011a) This re-sulted in an improved stratigraphic resolution for theinterval ranging from the base of Chron C6n (197 Ma)to Chron C5ADr (147 Ma) and the establishment ofcorrelations between the Mediterranean region and theNorth Atlantic Ocean across the lowerndashmiddle Mio -cene boundary

2 Geological setting

The Moria section (base 43deg 30176 N 12deg 35619 Etop 43deg 30151 N 12deg 35533 E) crops out in theUmbriandashMarche Apennines of Central Italy along theroad connecting the villages of Palcano and Moria onthe west side of Mount Petrano in the Marche Region(Figs 1 3) The section includes the uppermost part ofthe Bisciaro Formation (Fm) and most of the SchlierFm which represent the lowerndashmiddle Miocene de-posits of the UmbriandashMarche succession (Capuano2009)

The UmbriandashMarche succession was deposited in apelagic environment from the early Jurassic to the ear-ly Cretaceous within an extensional tectonic regimelinked to the Tethyan rifting phase followed by hemi -pelagic deposition within a sector that connected theflexured foreland and the foredeep Thus during thelate Cretaceous to early Oligocene the calcareous


Fig 1 Location map of the Moria section and of the other sections considered in the text














4 Methodology
















6 Biostratigraphy





















































Fig

8

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tion

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orte

d as

num

ber

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eld

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Z =

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n N

anno

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and

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ded

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esi e

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(201

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9 Conclusions







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4 Methodology
















6 Biostratigraphy





















































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8

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tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

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anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

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ded

by D

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t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

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w (1

969)

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= M

edite

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min

ifer

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atio

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nclu

ding

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cari

no e

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esi

et a

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ogy

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1)

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(2

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(2

011b

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nd F

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i et a

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nter

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9 Conclusions







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4 Methodology
















6 Biostratigraphy





















































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8

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num

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men

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eld

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9 Conclusions







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6 Biostratigraphy





















































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6 Biostratigraphy





















































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men

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r fi

eld

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ion

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rnac

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and

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(19

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by D

iSte

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t al

(200

8) I

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rino

et a

l (2

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esi e

t al

(201

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ifer

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(2

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) a

nd F

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aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References





























































































































Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References



















































































































Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References







































































































Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References




























































































Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References




















































































Fig

8

Bio

-mag

neto

stra

tigra

phic

cor

rela

tions

bet

wee

n th

e co

nsid

ered

sec

tions

bas

ed o

n th

e di

stri

butio

nof

sel

ecte

d ta

xa w

ith r

efer

ence

to th

e A

stro

nom

ical

ly T

uned

Neo

gene

Tim

e Sc

ale

(AT

NT

S04

Lou

rens

et a

l 20

04)

Num

bers

and

let

ters

ref

er t

o th

e bi

ostr

atig

raph

ic e

vent

s lis

ted

in T

able

3 A

bund

ance

pat

-te

rns

of ta

xa a

re e

xpre

ssed

in p

erce

ntag

es e

xcep

t for

Par

aglo

boro

talia

sia

kens

isat

the

La

Ved

ova

sec-

tion

(Tur

co e

t al

2011

a) w

here

it is

rep

orte

d as

num

ber

of s

peci

men

s pe

r fi

eld

M71

= M

artin

i (19

71)

MN

Z =

Med

iterr

anea

n N

anno

foss

il Z

onat

ion

incl

udin

g Fo

rnac

iari

and

Rio

(19

96)

emen

ded

by D

iSte

-fa

no e

t al

(200

8) I

acca

rino

et a

l (2

011)

For

esi e

t al

(201

4) B

69 =

Blo

w (1

969)

MFZ

= M

edite

rran

ean

Fora

min

ifer

Zon

atio

n i

nclu

ding

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(20

07 2

011)

and

For

esi

et a

l (2

014)

Chr

onol

ogy

for

bioe

vent

s ob

tain

ed f

rom

Iac

cari

no e

t al

(2

007

201

1)

DiS

tefa

no e

t al

(2

008

201

1a)

Tur

co e

t al

(2

011b

) a

nd F

ores

i et a

l (2

014)

LC

I =

Low

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

UC

I =

Upp

er C

over

ed I

nter

val

















9 Conclusions







References



































































































9 Conclusions







References































































































9 Conclusions







References






















































































9 Conclusions







References



















































































References







































































































































































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