Integrated stratigraphy for the Late Quaternary in the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea

A high-resolution integrated stratigraphy is presented for the Late Quaternary in the southern-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea. It is based on calcareous plankton taxa (planktonic foraminifera and nannoplankton) distribution, delta O-18(Globigerinoides ruber) record, tephrostratigraphy and radiometric dating methods (Pb-210 and Cs-137, AMS C-14) for a composite sediment core (from the top to the bottom, C90-1m, C90 and C836) from the continental shelf of the Salerno Gulf. High sedimentation rates from ca 1 cm/100 y for the early Holocene, to 3.45 cm/100 y for the middle Holocene to 8.78 cm/100 y from late Holocene and to 20 cm/100 y for the last 600 AD, make this area an ideal marine archive of secular paleoclimate changes. Quantitative distributional trend in planktonic foraminifera identify seven known (1F-7F) eco-biozones, and several auxiliary bioevents of high potential for Mediterranean biostratigraphic correlation. Recognised were: the acme distribution of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma r.c. between 10.800 +/- 0.400 ka BP and 5.500 +/- 0.347 ka BP, a strong increase in abundance of Globorotalia truncatulinoides r.c. and l.c. at 5.500 +/- 0.347 ka BP and at 4.571 +/- 0.96 ka BP, respectively, an acme interval of Globigerinoides quadrilobatus (between 3.702 +/- 0.048 ka BP and 2.70 +/- 0.048 ka BP) and the acme/paracme intervals of T. quinqueloba (acme between 3.350 +/- 0.054 ka BP and 1.492 +/- 0.016 ka BP; paracme between 1.492 +/- 0.016 ka BP and 0.657 +/- 0.025 ka BP; acme beginning 0.657 +/- 0.025 ka BP). These results, integrated with trends of selected calcareous nannofossil species (Florisphaera profunda, Brarudosphaera bigelowii, Gephyrocapsa oceanica and Emiliania huxleyi) and delta O-18(G. ruber) signature, are consistent with the most important pre-Holocene and early Holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic phases i.e., the Bolling-Allerod, the Younger Dryas and the time interval of Sapropel S1 deposition in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. These features revealed the high potential of this shallow water environment for high-resolution stratigraphy and correlation for the western Mediterranean. In addition, the chemical characterization of seven tephra layers supplied further data about the age and the dispersal area of some well-known Campi Flegrei explosive events, inferring the possible occurrence of explosive activity at Vesuvius around the middle of the 6th century, and contributing to refine the tephrostratigraphic framework for the last 15 ka in the south-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.