A two-step process for the reflooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Type Article
Date 2012-04
Language English
Author(s) Bache Francois1, 2, 3, Popescu Speranta-Maria4, Rabineau MarinaORCID5, Gorini Christian2, 3, Suc Jean-Pierre2, 3, Clauzon Georges6, Olivet Jean-Louis7, Rubino Jean-Loup8, Melinte-Dobrinescu Mihaela Carmen9, Estrada Ferran10, Londeix Laurent11, Armijo Rolando4, Meyer Bertrand2, 3, Jolivet Laurent12, Jouannic Gwenael13, Leroux EstelleORCID5, 7, Aslanian DanielORCID7, Dos Reis Antonio Tadeu14, Mocochain Ludovic15, Dumurdzanov Nikola16, Zagorchev Ivan17, Lesic Vesna18, Tomic Dragana18, Cagatay M. Namik19, 20, Brun Jean_pierre21, Sokoutis Dimitrios22, Csato Istvan23, Ucarkus Gulsen19, 20, Cakir Ziyadin19, 20
Affiliation(s) 1 : GNS Sci, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand.
2 : Univ Paris 06, ISTEP, UMR 7193, F-75005 Paris, France.
3 : CNRS, ISTEP, UMR 7193, F-75005 Paris, France.
4 : CNRS, Inst Phys Globe Paris, Lab Tecton, UMR 7154, F-75005 Paris, France.
5 : IUEM, Domaines Ocean UMR 6538, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
6 : Univ Paul Cezanne, CEREGE, UMR 6635, F-13545 Aix En Provence 04, France.
7 : IFREMER, LGG, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
8 : TOTAL, TG ISS, CSTJF, F-64018 Pau, France.
9 : Natl Inst Marine Geol & Geoecol, Bucharest 70318, Romania.
10 : CSIC, Inst Ciencias Mar Barcelona, E-08039 Barcelona, Spain.
11 : Univ Bordeaux 1, CNRS, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33405 Talence, France.
12 : Univ Orleans, ISTO, UMR 6113, F-45071 Orleans 2, France.
13 : Univ Paris 11, Lab IDES, UMR 8148, F-91405 Orsay, France.
14 : UERJ Brazil, Dept Oceanog Geol, BR-20550900 Rio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
15 : Ecole Normale Super, Lab Geol, UMR 8538, F-75231 Paris 05, France.
16 : Sts Cyril & Methodius Univ, Fac Min & Geol, Stip 2000, Macedonia.
17 : Bulgarian Acad Sci, Inst Geol, BU-1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
18 : Geolomagnet Inst, Belgrad 11000, Serbia.
19 : Istanbul Tech Univ, Sch Mines, TR-34469 Istanbul, Turkey.
20 : Eurasia Inst Earth Sci, TR-34469 Istanbul, Turkey.
21 : Univ Rennes 1, Geosci Rennes UMR 6118, F-35042 Rennes, France.
22 : Vrije Univ Amsterdam, ISES, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.
23 : Collin Coll, Dept Geol, Plano, TX 75075 USA.
Source Basin Research (0950-091X) (Wiley-blackwell), 2012-04 , Vol. 24 , N. 2 , P. 125-153
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2011.00521.x
WOS© Times Cited 130
Keyword(s) paleo environmental changes, miocene pliocene boundary, section marche province, earliest zanclean age, desiccated deep basin, di tetto formations, northern apennines, southern France, decic basin, depositional environments
Abstract The Messinian Salinity Crisis is well known to have resulted from a significant drop of the Mediterranean sea level. Considering both onshore and offshore observations, the subsequent reflooding is generally thought to have been very sudden. We present here offshore seismic evidence from the Gulf of Lions and re-visited onshore data from Italy and Turkey that lead to a new concept of a two-step reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The refilling was first moderate and relatively slow accompanied by transgressive ravinement, and later on very rapid, preserving the subaerial Messinian Erosional Surface. The amplitude of these two successive rises of sea level has been estimated at =500 similar to m for the first rise and 600900 similar to m for the second rise. Evaporites from the central Mediterranean basins appear to have been deposited principally at the beginning of the first step of reflooding. After the second step, which preceeded the Zanclean Global Stratotype Section and Point, successive connections with the Paratethyan Dacic Basin, then the Adriatic foredeep, and finally the Euxinian Basin occurred, as a consequence of the continued global rise in sea level. A complex morphology with sills and sub-basins led to diachronous events such as the so-called Lago Mare.This study helps to distinguish events that were synchronous over the entire Mediterranean realm, such as the two-step reflooding, from those that were more local and diachronous. In addition, the shoreline that marks the transition between these two steps of reflooding in the Provence Basin provides a remarkable palaeogeographical marker for subsidence studies.
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Bache Francois, Popescu Speranta-Maria, Rabineau Marina, Gorini Christian, Suc Jean-Pierre, Clauzon Georges, Olivet Jean-Louis, Rubino Jean-Loup, Melinte-Dobrinescu Mihaela Carmen, Estrada Ferran, Londeix Laurent, Armijo Rolando, Meyer Bertrand, Jolivet Laurent, Jouannic Gwenael, Leroux Estelle, Aslanian Daniel, Dos Reis Antonio Tadeu, Mocochain Ludovic, Dumurdzanov Nikola, Zagorchev Ivan, Lesic Vesna, Tomic Dragana, Cagatay M. Namik, Brun Jean_pierre, Sokoutis Dimitrios, Csato Istvan, Ucarkus Gulsen, Cakir Ziyadin (2012). A two-step process for the reflooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Basin Research, 24(2), 125-153. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2011.00521.x , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00076/18774/