Pliocene Transgression in the Western Mediterranean Sea: Strontium Isotopes from Cuevas Del Almanzora (Se Spain)

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Abstract
The deposition of marine sediments in the deep Mediterranean basins following the Messinian salinity crisis (“Zanclean Deluge”) began at 4.9 Ma and continued until normal marine conditions prevailed at 4.6 Ma. The Betic Strait of southeast Spain, the Rif Strait of northern Morocco, and the Strait of Gibraltar have been postulated as possible entry ways for the marine waters into the Mediterranean. Two possible explanations have been offered for the timing of the deposition of marine hemipelagic marls in the Vera Basin (Cuevas del Almanzora section) within the Betic Strait: (1) early Pliocene, representing the “Zanclean Deluge” (Cita et al., 1980), (2) Messinian (∼5.7 Ma), representing the last marine stage before the Messinian salinity crisis (Benson and Rakic‐El Bied, 1991; Benson et al., 1991). The strontium isotopic ratio on mixed assemblages of foraminifers from these marine marls was determined in order to assess their ages. The average 87Sr/86Sr (0.709033±24) of the seven measured samples is, compared to the base of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary stratotype at Capo Rossello, Sicily, higher by 38 × 10−6 and yields an age of 4.6±0.5 Ma when compared to the established open ocean Sr seawater curve. The determined age indicates that (1) the first 3.6 m of marine deposits of the Cuevas del Almanzora section sensu Cita et al. (1980) including the passage zone are Pliocene, (2) the earliest marine Pliocene might not be represented at Cuevas del Almanzora indicating that this marginal basin at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, yet within the former Betic Strait, was filled progressively by a marine transgression originating from the Mediterranean Sea around 4.6 Ma. The absence of lowermost Pliocene sediments could suggest that the Betic Strait did not serve as a conduit for the water masses entering the Mediterranean basins during the early Pliocene; and (3) the presence of an early evolutionary stage of Globorotalia margaritae in the Moroccan Bou Regreg section (approximately 5.8–5.6 Ma) and in the Spanish Cuevas del Almanzora section (later than 4.6±0.5 Ma) are diachronous suggesting that straightforward correlations of micropaleontological events within the Mediterranean area with micropaleontologic events of open marine sections should be tested thoroughly by independent methods like Sr isotopes.

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