A revised marine fossil record of the Mediterranean before and after the Messinian salinity crisis
- Author(s)
- Konstantina Agiadi, Niklas Hohmann, Elsa Gliozzi, Danae Thivaiou, Francesca R. Bosellini, Marco Taviani, Giovanni Bianucci, Alberto Collareta, Laurent Londeix, Costanza Faranda, Francesca Bulian, Efterpi Koskeridou, Francesca Lozar, Alan Maria Mancini, Stefano Dominici, Pierre Moissette, Ildefonso Bajo Campos, Enrico Borghi, George Iliopoulos, Assimina Antonarakou, George Kontakiotis, Evangelia Besiou, Stergios D. Zarkogiannis, Mathias Harzhauser, Francisco Javier Sierro, Angelo Camerlenghi, Daniel García-Castellanos
- Abstract
The Messinian salinity crisis and its precursor events have been the greatest environmental perturbation of the Mediterranean Sea to date, offering an opportunity to study the response of marine ecosystems to extreme hydrological change and a large-scale biological invasion. The restriction of the marine connection between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean resulted in stratification of the water column and high-amplitude variations in seawater temperature and salinity already from the early Messinian. Here, we present a unified and revised marine fossil record of the Mediterranean (1.5281/zenodo.13358435, Agiadi et al., 224) that covers the Tortonian stage, the pre-evaporitic Messinian stage, and the Zanclean stage and encompasses 23 32 occurrences of calcareous nannoplankton, dinoflagellates, foraminifera, corals, ostracods, bryozoans, echinoids, mollusks, fishes, and marine mammals. This record adheres to the FAIR principles, is updated in terms of taxonomy, and follows the currently accepted stratigraphic framework. Based on this record, knowledge gaps are identified, which are due to spatiotemporal inconsistencies in sampling effort and the distribution of sedimentary facies, as well as the inherent differences in the preservation potential between the groups. Additionally, sampling bias in old records may have distorted the record in favor of larger, more impressive taxa within groups. This record is now ready to be used to answer both geological and biological questions about the Mediterranean Sea and beyond and is amendable when new fossil data are brought to light.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geology, Department of Palaeontology
- External organisation(s)
- Utrecht University, University of Warsaw, Università Degli Studi Roma Tre, Naturhistorisches Museum Basel, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics "Adriano Buzzati-Traverso", CNR, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, University of Pisa, Université Bordeaux, Universidad de Salamanca, University of Groningen, University of Turin, Università Politecnica delle Marche, University of Florence, Museo de Alcalá de Guadaíra, Società Reggiana di Scienza Naturali, University of Patras, University of Oxford, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM), Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Institut de Ciències de la Terra Jaume Almera
- Journal
- Earth System Science Data
- Volume
- 16
- Pages
- 4767-4775
- No. of pages
- 9
- ISSN
- 1866-3508
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4767-2024
- Publication date
- 10-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105118 Palaeontology, 106003 Biodiversity research
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 14 - Life Below Water
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/02d8602f-f762-414c-99c5-89d0c3a58d14