The Western Tyrrhenian Sea revisited: New evidence for a rifted basin during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Lymer, Gaël; Lofi, Johanna; Gaullier, Virginie; Maillard, Agnès; Thinon, Isabelle; Sage, Françoise; Chanier, Frank; Vendeville, Bruno C.

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2017.12.009

Cited by 28 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…The southern part of the Cornaglia Terrace (Figure 5a) is the maximum expression of this phase, this region subsided at the present depth of 3 km and was later infilled by Messinian evaporites, as also observed by Lymer et al. (2018). Based on drilling results, the initial opening of the Tyrrhenian Basin was interpreted to be Tortonian (Kastens et al., 1988; Sartori et al., 2001), or older (Lymer et al., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Extensional tectonics during the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin formation and a new morpho‐tectonic map

et al. 2020

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We present a new tectonic map focused upon the extensional style accompanying the formation of the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin. Our basin‐wide analysis synthetizes the interpretation of vintage multichannel and single‐channel seismic profiles, integrated with modern seismic images, P‐wave velocity models, and high‐resolution morpho‐bathymetric data. Four distinct evolutionary phases of the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin opening are further constrained, redefining the initial opening to Langhian/Serravallian time. Listric and planar normal faults and their conjugates bound a series of horst and graben, half‐graben and triangular basins. Distribution of extensional faults, active throughout the basin since Middle Miocene, allows us to define an arrangement of faults in the northern/central Tyrrhenian mainly related to a pure shear which evolved to a simple shear opening. At depth, faults accommodate over a Ductile‐Brittle Transitional zone cut by a low‐angle detachment fault. In the southern Tyrrhenian, normal, inverse and transcurrent faults appear to be related to a large shear zone located along the continental margin of the northern Sicily. Extensional style variation throughout the back‐arc basin combined with wide‐angle seismic velocity models allows to explore the relationships between shallow deformation, faults distribution throughout the basin, and crustal‐scale processes as thinning and exhumation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Extensional tectonics during the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin formation and a new morpho‐tectonic map

et al. 2020

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“…According to this geological setting, the Po Plan‐Adriatic basin can be defined as an intermediate basin sensu Lymer et al. (). Lymer et al.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lymer et al. () describe intermediate basins as located between peripheral shallow basins (with the presence of lower evaporates only overlain by Pliocene deposits) and deep basins (with the presence of thick halite), covering a wide range of both bathymetries and MSC deposits.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the deep part of the basin, the sedimentary sequence is only composed of siliciclastic deposits, also during the MSC post-evaporitic maximum desiccation phase . According to this geological setting, the Po Plan-Adriatic basin can be defined as an intermediate basin sensu Lymer et al (2018). Lymer et al (2018) describe intermediate basins as located between peripheral shallow basins (with the presence of lower evaporates only overlain by Pliocene deposits) and deep basins (with the presence of thick halite), covering a wide range of both bathymetries and MSC deposits.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diagnostic evaporitic deposits (Allen, jackson, & Fraser, 2016;Hs€ u, Cita, & Ryan, 1973;Hs€ u et al, 1977;M€ uller & Mueller, 1991;Selli, 1960) and erosional unconformities across the entire Mediterranean (Bertoni & Cartwright, 2006;Lofi, et al, 2005;Lofi, Sage, et al, 2011) enable to date this event between 5.33 and 5.97 Ma (Krijgsman, Hilgen, Raffi, Sierro, & Wilson, 1999;Manzi et al, 2013). Many of the erosional unconformities merge into a single polygenic surface (usually referred to as the Margin Erosional Surface [MES] Lofi et al, 2005;CIESM, 2008, Lymer et al, 2018 in the upstream of deep marginal and intermediate basins (Lymer et al, 2018;Roveri, Flecker, et al, 2014), thereby providing evidence for erosion in the Mediterranean margin. Many of the key depositional units and erosional markers of the MSC, however, are buried underneath kilometre-thick sedimentary units and currently located offshore (Gorini, Montadert, & Rabineau, 2015;Lofi, Sage, et al, 2011;Thinon et al, 2016;Urgeles et al, 2011), while accessible outcrops are strongly deformed by late Cenozoic tectonics (e.g., Sicily, Butler, Lickorish, Grasso, & Pedley, 1995;Caruso, Pierre, Blanc-Valleron, & Rouchy, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Restored topography of the Po Plain‐Northern Adriatic region during the Messinian base‐level drop—Implications for the physiography and compartmentalization of the palaeo‐Mediterranean basin

et al. 2018

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The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) involved the progressive isolation of the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic between 5.97 and 5.33 Ma, and a sea‐level fall whose timing, modalities, and magnitude remain actively debated. At that time, the central Mediterranean was undergoing strong tectonic activity due to the rollback of the Adria slab and eastward migration of the Apenninic belt. The combined effects of the post‐evaporitic MSC sea‐level drop and morphostructural changes (due to the Intra‐Messinian phase) resulted in a regional unconformity, which shows erosive markers and conformable relationships with the Messinian and Mio–Pliocene boundary in the Po Plain and Northern Adriatic Foreland. Here, we produce a palaeotopographic reconstruction of the Po Plain‐Northern Adriatic region (PPNA) during the Messinian peak desiccation event based on such regional unconformity. We mapped this surface through wells and 2D seismic data form Eni's private dataset. The unconformity shows V‐shaped incisions matching the present‐day southern Alpine valleys and filled with Messinian post‐evaporitic and Pliocene deposits, suggesting that the modern drainage network is at least of late Messinian age. The Messinian unconformity has been restored to its original state through flexural‐backstripping numerical modelling. The resulting landscape suggests a maximum sea‐level drop of 800–900 m during the MSC peak, and is consistent with stratigraphic and sedimentologic data provided by previous works. The modelled shoreline separates the subaerially eroded land from an elongated basin composed by two ca. 400 and 1,000 m deep depocentres during the maximum sea‐level drop. These results suggest that the Mediterranean was split in at least three sub‐basins subject to independent base levels, fresh‐water budgets, and flexural responses during the maximum lowstand.

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Magmatism and Tectonics in the Central Mediterranean

Mantovani,

Viti,

Babbucci

et al. 2024

Neogenic Evolution of the Mediterranean Region

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The Western Tyrrhenian Sea revisited: New evidence for a rifted basin during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Cited by 28 publications

References 69 publications

Extensional tectonics during the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin formation and a new morpho‐tectonic map

Extensional tectonics during the Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin formation and a new morpho‐tectonic map

Restored topography of the Po Plain‐Northern Adriatic region during the Messinian base‐level drop—Implications for the physiography and compartmentalization of the palaeo‐Mediterranean basin

Magmatism and Tectonics in the Central Mediterranean

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