A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea

Larisa A. Golovina; Eleonora P. Radionova; Christiaan G.C. van Baak; Wout Krijgsman; D. V. Palcu

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109269

A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea

Larisa A. Golovina, Eleonora P. Radionova, Christiaan G.C. van Baak, Wout Krijgsman, D. V. Palcu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Russian Academy of Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Various hypotheses exist on the age and origin of the so-called “Pebbly Breccia” unit in the deep-sea record of DSDP Hole 380A of the Euxinian (Black Sea) Basin. Here, we present a detailed study of diatom and nannofossil assemblages of Hole 380A. Our diatom records show a characteristic sequence of appearance of markers species, which we can correlate to the recently established bio-magnetostratigraphic time frame of the Zheleznyi Rog section on the Black Sea coast of the Taman Peninsula (Russia). It shows that the Pebbly Breccia is sandwiched between Upper Maeotian deposits, and must have been deposited at an age between 6.7 and 6.3 Ma. The appearance of nannoplankton and the marine diatom association at above the Pebbly breccia (Unit IVc) suggests a short-term incursion of marine conditions. The age of Unit IVc, based on diatom data, is 6.3–6.1 Ma. The nannoplankton record is mainly represented by species that do not have stratigraphic value. The previously reported presence of Ceratolithus acutus in the Black Sea is explained by misinterpretation of destructed elements of ascidian spicules. We conclude that the Pebbly Breccia is not related to a desiccated Black Sea at Messinian Salinity Crisis times, but it corresponds to a late Maeotian episode of gravitational instability in the SW Black Sea region.

Original language	English
Article number	109269
Journal	Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Volume	533
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109269
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2019

Funding

The micropaleontological research complies with the state theme AAAA-A17-117030610119-6 of the Geological Institute RAS. We greatly acknowledge the constructive comments of Thomas Algeo (journal editor), Gabor Tari and an anonymous reviewer that significantly improved the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research , project 19-05-00743 А and the by the Netherlands Geosciences Foundation (ALW) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through the VICI-grant of WK. The investigations were furthermore initiated by the joint Dutch-Russian collaboration project (NWO/RFFfigBR project 047.017.005/05-05-89000). Staff at the IODP Bremen Core Repository (BCR) are thanked for their help during sampling. We also thank Iuliana Vasiliev, Arjen Grothe and Sergey Popov for their help, advise and fruitful discussions.

Keywords

Ceratolithus acutus
Desiccation
Diatoms
Mass transport
Messinian
Paratethys

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109269

A late Maeotian ageFinal published version, 7.58 MBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

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title = "A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea",

abstract = "Various hypotheses exist on the age and origin of the so-called “Pebbly Breccia” unit in the deep-sea record of DSDP Hole 380A of the Euxinian (Black Sea) Basin. Here, we present a detailed study of diatom and nannofossil assemblages of Hole 380A. Our diatom records show a characteristic sequence of appearance of markers species, which we can correlate to the recently established bio-magnetostratigraphic time frame of the Zheleznyi Rog section on the Black Sea coast of the Taman Peninsula (Russia). It shows that the Pebbly Breccia is sandwiched between Upper Maeotian deposits, and must have been deposited at an age between 6.7 and 6.3 Ma. The appearance of nannoplankton and the marine diatom association at above the Pebbly breccia (Unit IVc) suggests a short-term incursion of marine conditions. The age of Unit IVc, based on diatom data, is 6.3–6.1 Ma. The nannoplankton record is mainly represented by species that do not have stratigraphic value. The previously reported presence of Ceratolithus acutus in the Black Sea is explained by misinterpretation of destructed elements of ascidian spicules. We conclude that the Pebbly Breccia is not related to a desiccated Black Sea at Messinian Salinity Crisis times, but it corresponds to a late Maeotian episode of gravitational instability in the SW Black Sea region.",

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AU - Golovina, Larisa A.

AU - Radionova, Eleonora P.

AU - van Baak, Christiaan G.C.

AU - Krijgsman, Wout

AU - Palcu, D. V.

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ER -

A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this

A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this

A Late Maeotian age (6.7–6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea