Upper Miocene deposits at the southern margin of the Guadalquivir Foreland Basin (central Betic Cordillera, S. Spain). Implications for the closure timing of the Atlantic-Mediterranean connections

• Published in: Revue de Micropaléontologie
• Main Authors: Aguirre Rodríguez, Julio, Braga Alarcón, Juan Carlos, Martín-Pérez, José A., Martín Martín, José Manuel, Puga Bernabeu, Ángel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2022
• Subjects: Planktonic foraminifera; Calcareous nannoplankton; Tortonian-Messinian; Guadalhorce corridor; Antequera; Teba; Marcos; Corridor The; Corridor, The
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10481/76991; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revmic.2022.100690

Acknowledgments We acknowledge the comments and suggestions made by two re- viewers, which have improved the quality of the paper. We thank Jodi Eckart for her help correcting the English text. Dr Sánchez-Almazo helped with the SEM analyses and photographs of foraminifers. This paper has been supported by the research project PGC2018–099391-B- 100 of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Competitividad, and the research group RMN190 of the Junta de Andalucía. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate deposits accumulated in several satellite sub-basins at the southern margin of the Guadalquivir Basin, the foreland basin of the Betic Cordillera (S. Spain). The prevailing coarse-grained sediments and deposition in shallow-water settings make it difficult to establish the precise age of the complete successions. For this reason, in previous studies, these deposits were attributed to the late Tortonian, although a Messinian age was not totally ruled out. The age of the upper Miocene deposits in the central part of the Guadalquivir Basin is here re-evaluated based on the analysis of several sections distributed in different areas: Antequera, Iznájar-Cuevas de San Marcos, Teba, and Bobadilla Estación. According to planktonic foraminifer and nannoplankton assemblages, the marine sedimentary infill of this sector of the southern margin of the Guadalquivir Basin is late Tortonian-early Messinian (late Miocene) in age. The occurrence of marine deposits characterized by the dominance of Globorotalia miotumida group, dextrally-coiled G. scitula, and the presence of G. margaritae, Globigerina multiloba, Discoaster quinqueramus, Amaurolithus primus, A. amplificus, and Reticulofenestra rotaria at the northern end of the Guadalhorce Corridor, the last active gateway in the Betic Cordillera connecting the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, indicates that it remained open until the early Messinian. Research project PGC2018–099391-B- 100 of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Competitividad Research group RMN190 of ...