Lower Toarcian palynostratigraphy of Pozzale, central Italy

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Abstract
Palynological studies of the Lower Toarcian Pozzale section of central Italy (Tethyan Realm, Mediterranean province) have revealed significant differences between palynomorph assemblages from the Boreal and Tethyan realms and marked similarities between the two bioprovinces of the Tethyan Realm (Mediterranean and Sub‐Mediterranean). The Pozzale dinoflagellate cyst assemblages differ from coeval north European assemblages because of the earlier first occurrence of dinoflagellate cysts belonging to the Parvocysta suite, the abundance of the genus Mendicodinium and the absence of Nannoceratopsis. These features have also been recorded in Tethyan localities belonging to the Sub‐Mediterranean province (e.g. Portugal) and in transitional areas between the Tethyan and the Boreal domain (e.g. southern France and Hungary). The Pozzale sporomorph assemblages differ from coeval associations from northern Europe, Portugal, northeast Italy and Israel chiefly due to the low relative proportions of the pollen genus Classopollis. This scarcity in central Italy may be a composite effect of the gradual spread of humid conditions in western Europe during the Early Jurassic and/or of the shifting of the paleoenvironment toward distal conditions due to eustatic rises.