Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis
This study describes the hydroclimate evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the early Messinian (7.2 to 6.5 Ma) time-interval based on analysis of a succession at Agios Myron (Crete, Greece), prior to the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96–5.33 Ma). Specifically, we report se...
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ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/420429 2023-11-12T04:24:48+01:00 Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis Kontakiotis, George Butiseacă, Geanina A. Antonarakou, Assimina Agiadi, Konstantina Zarkogiannis, Stergios D. Krsnik, Emilija Besiou, Evangelia Zachariasse, Willem Jan Lourens, Lucas Thivaiou, Danae Koskeridou, Efterpi Moissette, Pierre Mulch, Andreas Karakitsios, Vasileios Vasiliev, Iuliana Stratigraphy and paleontology Stratigraphy & paleontology 2022-04-15 application/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/420429 en eng 0031-0182 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/420429 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess Environmental stress Messinian Salinity Crisis Sea surface salinity Sea surface temperature Step-wise restriction Tectonics-climate interplay Oceanography Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Article 2022 ftunivutrecht 2023-11-01T23:28:26Z This study describes the hydroclimate evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the early Messinian (7.2 to 6.5 Ma) time-interval based on analysis of a succession at Agios Myron (Crete, Greece), prior to the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96–5.33 Ma). Specifically, we report sea surface temperature and salinity reconstructions based on a combined analysis of biomarkers and oxygen isotopes of planktonic foraminifera. Data reveal that a negative water budget and strong hydrologic and climate variability characterized the eastern Mediterranean Basin at this time, and we identify three distinct phases. In Phase 1 (7.2–6.9 Ma), a shift to more positive oxygen isotope values in planktonic foraminifera at ~7.2 Ma is attributed to progressive gateway restriction of Mediterranean–Atlantic corridors and subsequent cooling until 6.9 Ma. In Phase 2 (6.9–6.7 Ma), distinct warm and hypersaline events (at 6.9–6.82 and 6.72 Ma) resulted in stressed marine microfauna during periods of strong evaporation. An important step-change in the Mediterranean restriction at 6.72 Ma may have resulted from shallowing of the Mediterranean gateways and reduced Mediterranean marine outflow. During Phase 3 (6.7–6.5 Ma) this gateway shallowing reduced the oceanic input into the Mediterranean Basin causing significant hydrological changes, reflected in a wide range of temperature and salinity fluctuations accompanied by enhanced water-column stratification. The data presented here counterbalance the general lack of quantitative temperature and especially salinity estimates available for the Mediterranean Messinian, time interval where we still highly rely on modelling for such evaluations. This study highlights the severity of preconditioning stages leading to the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Mediterranean and sets values for extreme salinity conditions that could still host marine life. Article in Journal/Newspaper Planktonic foraminifera Utrecht University Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental stress Messinian Salinity Crisis Sea surface salinity Sea surface temperature Step-wise restriction Tectonics-climate interplay Oceanography Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology |
spellingShingle |
Environmental stress Messinian Salinity Crisis Sea surface salinity Sea surface temperature Step-wise restriction Tectonics-climate interplay Oceanography Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology Kontakiotis, George Butiseacă, Geanina A. Antonarakou, Assimina Agiadi, Konstantina Zarkogiannis, Stergios D. Krsnik, Emilija Besiou, Evangelia Zachariasse, Willem Jan Lourens, Lucas Thivaiou, Danae Koskeridou, Efterpi Moissette, Pierre Mulch, Andreas Karakitsios, Vasileios Vasiliev, Iuliana Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
topic_facet |
Environmental stress Messinian Salinity Crisis Sea surface salinity Sea surface temperature Step-wise restriction Tectonics-climate interplay Oceanography Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Earth-Surface Processes Palaeontology |
description |
This study describes the hydroclimate evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the early Messinian (7.2 to 6.5 Ma) time-interval based on analysis of a succession at Agios Myron (Crete, Greece), prior to the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.96–5.33 Ma). Specifically, we report sea surface temperature and salinity reconstructions based on a combined analysis of biomarkers and oxygen isotopes of planktonic foraminifera. Data reveal that a negative water budget and strong hydrologic and climate variability characterized the eastern Mediterranean Basin at this time, and we identify three distinct phases. In Phase 1 (7.2–6.9 Ma), a shift to more positive oxygen isotope values in planktonic foraminifera at ~7.2 Ma is attributed to progressive gateway restriction of Mediterranean–Atlantic corridors and subsequent cooling until 6.9 Ma. In Phase 2 (6.9–6.7 Ma), distinct warm and hypersaline events (at 6.9–6.82 and 6.72 Ma) resulted in stressed marine microfauna during periods of strong evaporation. An important step-change in the Mediterranean restriction at 6.72 Ma may have resulted from shallowing of the Mediterranean gateways and reduced Mediterranean marine outflow. During Phase 3 (6.7–6.5 Ma) this gateway shallowing reduced the oceanic input into the Mediterranean Basin causing significant hydrological changes, reflected in a wide range of temperature and salinity fluctuations accompanied by enhanced water-column stratification. The data presented here counterbalance the general lack of quantitative temperature and especially salinity estimates available for the Mediterranean Messinian, time interval where we still highly rely on modelling for such evaluations. This study highlights the severity of preconditioning stages leading to the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Mediterranean and sets values for extreme salinity conditions that could still host marine life. |
author2 |
Stratigraphy and paleontology Stratigraphy & paleontology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kontakiotis, George Butiseacă, Geanina A. Antonarakou, Assimina Agiadi, Konstantina Zarkogiannis, Stergios D. Krsnik, Emilija Besiou, Evangelia Zachariasse, Willem Jan Lourens, Lucas Thivaiou, Danae Koskeridou, Efterpi Moissette, Pierre Mulch, Andreas Karakitsios, Vasileios Vasiliev, Iuliana |
author_facet |
Kontakiotis, George Butiseacă, Geanina A. Antonarakou, Assimina Agiadi, Konstantina Zarkogiannis, Stergios D. Krsnik, Emilija Besiou, Evangelia Zachariasse, Willem Jan Lourens, Lucas Thivaiou, Danae Koskeridou, Efterpi Moissette, Pierre Mulch, Andreas Karakitsios, Vasileios Vasiliev, Iuliana |
author_sort |
Kontakiotis, George |
title |
Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
title_short |
Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
title_full |
Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
title_fullStr |
Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
title_sort |
hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern mediterranean prior to the messinian salinity crisis |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/420429 |
genre |
Planktonic foraminifera |
genre_facet |
Planktonic foraminifera |
op_relation |
0031-0182 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/420429 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1782339274345021440 |