The Early Pleistocene is an epoch characterized by several climatic oscillations with obliquity as the dominant forcing parameter. The lower and upper boundaries of this time interval coincide with two important climatic events: the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation and the Middle Pleistocene Transition, the latter marking a world in which climate is dominated by eccentricity. The Mediterranean area was strongly affected by the Early Pleistocene climatic changes ; one of the most important biotic events is here represented by the appearance of the boreal guest Arctica islandica at the beginning of the Calabrian Stage, indicating significant cooling of the Mediterranean Sea. The Arda River marine succession, cropping out in Western Emilia, Northern Italy, has been shown to continuously covers this time interval, mainly based on nannofossils and foraminifers; it is also very rich in macrofossils, representing an ideal setting to study the climatic oscillations of the Early Pleistocene and understand how seasonality varies along the section using bivalves and their geochemical signature as archives of global change. We have undertaken sclerochemistry of pristine bivalve shells belonging to Glycymeris inflata, Glycymeris insubrica and Arctica islandica coming from several stratigraphic horizons from the Arda River succession. One of the main outcomes of these analyses is the recognition of an increase in the amplitude of the oscillation of the oxygen isotope record from the base to the top of the section. This suggests an increase in temperature seasonality during the deposition of the succession, which became more pronounced toward the Middle Pleistocene Transition. These results also offer the opportunity to unravel the interplay among the different factors affecting the oxygen isotope record, i.e. salinity, temperature and glacial advance and retreat.

Bivalve shells as fossil archivves of global change : a tool to investigative seasonality towards the middle Pleistocene transition / G. Crippa, L. Angiolini, C. Bottini, E. Erba, F. Felletti, C. Frigerio, M.J. Leng, M.R. Petrizzo, G. Raineri, M.H. Stephenson. ((Intervento presentato al convegno International Palaeontological Congress tenutosi a Mendoza nel 2014.

Bivalve shells as fossil archivves of global change : a tool to investigative seasonality towards the middle Pleistocene transition

G. Crippa
Primo
;
L. Angiolini
Secondo
;
C. Bottini;E. Erba;F. Felletti;M.R. Petrizzo;
2014

Abstract

The Early Pleistocene is an epoch characterized by several climatic oscillations with obliquity as the dominant forcing parameter. The lower and upper boundaries of this time interval coincide with two important climatic events: the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation and the Middle Pleistocene Transition, the latter marking a world in which climate is dominated by eccentricity. The Mediterranean area was strongly affected by the Early Pleistocene climatic changes ; one of the most important biotic events is here represented by the appearance of the boreal guest Arctica islandica at the beginning of the Calabrian Stage, indicating significant cooling of the Mediterranean Sea. The Arda River marine succession, cropping out in Western Emilia, Northern Italy, has been shown to continuously covers this time interval, mainly based on nannofossils and foraminifers; it is also very rich in macrofossils, representing an ideal setting to study the climatic oscillations of the Early Pleistocene and understand how seasonality varies along the section using bivalves and their geochemical signature as archives of global change. We have undertaken sclerochemistry of pristine bivalve shells belonging to Glycymeris inflata, Glycymeris insubrica and Arctica islandica coming from several stratigraphic horizons from the Arda River succession. One of the main outcomes of these analyses is the recognition of an increase in the amplitude of the oscillation of the oxygen isotope record from the base to the top of the section. This suggests an increase in temperature seasonality during the deposition of the succession, which became more pronounced toward the Middle Pleistocene Transition. These results also offer the opportunity to unravel the interplay among the different factors affecting the oxygen isotope record, i.e. salinity, temperature and glacial advance and retreat.
2014
Early Pleistocene; bivalve shells; sclerochemistry
Settore GEO/01 - Paleontologia e Paleoecologia
Bivalve shells as fossil archivves of global change : a tool to investigative seasonality towards the middle Pleistocene transition / G. Crippa, L. Angiolini, C. Bottini, E. Erba, F. Felletti, C. Frigerio, M.J. Leng, M.R. Petrizzo, G. Raineri, M.H. Stephenson. ((Intervento presentato al convegno International Palaeontological Congress tenutosi a Mendoza nel 2014.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/251627
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