Messinian paleoenvironmental changes in the easternmost Mediterranean Basin: Adana Basin, southern Turkey


FARANDA C., GLIOZZI E., CIPOLLARI P., GROSSI F., Darbas G., GÜRBÜZ K., ...More

TURKISH JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, vol.22, no.5, pp.839-863, 2013 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 22 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Doi Number: 10.3906/yer-1205-11
  • Journal Name: TURKISH JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.839-863
  • Keywords: Adana Basin, Messinian, paleontology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, eastern Mediterranean, southern Turkey, LAGO-MARE EPISODE, CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSIL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, SECTION NORTHERN APENNINES, CENTRAL ANATOLIAN PLATEAU, SALINITY CRISIS, TORTONIAN/MESSINIAN BOUNDARY, STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK, INTEGRATED STRATIGRAPHY, TRIPOLI FORMATION, PISSOURI BASIN
  • Çukurova University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

We present detailed Messinian paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Adana Basin based on a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes the fossil content of the Kuzgun and Handere Formations. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes that affected the Adana Basin during the Messinian, we analyzed mollusk, ostracod, planktonic and benthonic foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages from 2 stratigraphic sections near Kabasakal village (Adana, southern Turkey). To determine if the environmental changes recognized in the Adana Basin are local or regional, and to understand the extent to which the global changes in oceanic circulation impacted the Mediterranean sedimentary basins, we compare our results with Messinian sections from other locations in the Mediterranean region (northern Italy, southern Italy, Cyprus, Algeria, and southern Turkey). The occurrence of N. humerosa, G. bulloides, G. woodi, N. acostaensis, N. atlantica (planktonic forams), S. multiflora, T. rugosa, P. elongata, C. scitula, L. lipadusensis (ostracods), R. rotaria, A. primus, and A. delicatus (calcareous nannofossils) allows us to constrain the uppermost part of the Kuzgun Formation to the early Messinian. The ostracod assemblages indicate an enclosed marine environment characterized by sporadic local freshwater inputs that decreased the salinity of the basin. In contrast, in the late Messinian Handere Formation, the presence of Paratethyan ostracods pertaining to the Loxoconcha mulleri zone and to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi zone in the Handere Formation indicates the occurrence of the Messinian brackish water Lago-Mare event in the Adana Basin, which occurred throughout the Mediterranean between 5.60 and 5.33 Ma.