Vol. 29 No.2 June 2006

Journal of International Geoscience

Published by the International Union of Geological Sciences

by Maria Bianca Cita1, Luca Capraro2, Neri Ciaran.3, Enrico Di Stefano4, Maria Marino3,
Domenico Rio2, Rodolfo Sprovieri4, and Gian Battista Vai5

Calabrian and Ionian: A proposal for the de.nition of Mediterranean stages for the Lower
and Middle Pleistocene

1 Universita di Milano, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘Ardito Desio’, via Mangiagalli 34. 20133 Milano, Italy.
2 Universita di Padova, Dipartimento di Geologia, Paleontologia e Geo.sica, via Giotto 1, 35137 Padova, Italy.
3 Universita di Bari, Dipartimento di Geologia e Geo.sica, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.
4 Universita di Palermo, Dipartimento di Geologia e Geodesia, corso Tukory 131, 90134 Palermo, Italy.
5 Universita di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geologico-Ambientali, Piazza di Porta San Donato, 1, 40126 Bologna, Italy.

Abstract 

The need to standardise stratigraphical subdivisions of continuous marine sedimentary successions that outcrop for hundreds metres, using clearly de.ned points .xed in the .eld is strongly felt. A proposal is presented here to formalize regional stages for the Lower Pleistocene (Calabrian) and for the Middle Pleistocene (Ionian) in Italy. The sections are well exposed, carefully investigated using multiple criteria (an integrated stratigraphical approach) and located in the central part of the Mediterranean. This area is recognized worldwide as a classical region for the Neogene and the Pleistocene sequences. The terrestrial record is directly correlated with the deep-sea record, as determined from ODP Sites 653 (Tyrrhenian Sea), 963 (Sicily Channel) and 964 (Ionian Sea) from the central Mediterranean. The present formal proposal is consistent with the INQUA and ICS decision to de.ne and correlate the Plio/Pleistocene boundary (GSSP at Vrica) within the Olduvai Subchron, at 1.81 My, the Lower/Middle Pleistocene boundary at the Matuyama/Brunhes reversal at 0.78 My and the Middle/Upper Pleistocene boundary with the base of MIS 5,approximately 0.13My. The present proposal also is consistent with the call for stage unit stratotypes that emphasize both the physical content of a stage and its boundaries (Hilgen et al., 2006).

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