Article
Geography, Physical
Katja Muzek, Oleg Mandic, Valentina Hajek Tadesse, Mathias Harzhauser, Marijan Kovacic, Tomislav Kurecic, Durdica Pezelj
Summary: Lake Pannon, a large lake in the late Neogene period, played a significant role in the Pannonian Basin. The lake's benthic fauna went through adaptive radiation, resulting in the emergence of many endemic species. Some of these species serve as markers for the Lago Mare interval in the Mediterranean Basin. The outflow of water from Lake Pannon to the Eastern Paratethys did not occur at the same time as the hypothetical drainage event in the Mediterranean Basin.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
F. Andreetto, K. Matsubara, C. J. Beets, A. R. Fortuin, R. Flecker, W. Krijgsman
Summary: The debate over the water level of the Mediterranean during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) has been examined using sedimentary records and Sr isotope ratios of ostracods in marginal basins of SE Spain. The results suggest that these basins required an additional water source with a lower Sr isotope signature, likely derived from the main Mediterranean waterbody, indicating a relatively high and fluctuating water level in at least the Western Mediterranean during the Lago-Mare stage of the MSC.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
V Manzi, R. Gennari, S. Lugli, D. Persico, M. Roveri, I Gavrieli, Z. Gvirtzman
Summary: The study reveals that the onset of the MSC occurred simultaneously in deep- and shallow-water settings, leading to a rapid accumulation of massive salt deposits in deep basins within a short period of approximately 60 kyr. This rapid sedimentation rate may have negative impacts on marine organisms.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Weizhao Yang, Nathalie Feiner, Daniele Salvi, Hanna Laakkonen, Daniel Jablonski, Catarina Pinho, Miguel A. Carretero, Roberto Sacchi, Marco A. L. Zuffi, Stefano Scali, Konstantinos Plavos, Panayiotis Pafilis, Nikos Poulakakis, Petros Lymberakis, David Jandzik, Ulrich Schulte, Fabien Aubret, Arnaud Badiane, Guillem Perez I de Lanuza, Javier Abalos, Geoffrey M. While, Tobias Uller
Summary: The study reveals the evolutionary history and genetic structure of common wall lizards using population genomic and phylogenomic analyses, identifying six major lineages and demonstrating the significant impact of Mediterranean geology and climate on the evolutionary history and population genetic structure of extant species.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Geology
Gijs van Dijk, Jasper Maars, Federico Andreetto, F. Javier Hernandez-Molina, Francisco. J. J. Rodriguez-Tovar, Wout Krijgsman
Summary: A unique sedimentary deposit called the Arenazzolo Formation in the Sicilian Caltanissetta Basin, Italy, has been studied to understand its origin and its link to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This sandy deposit was formed by persistent bottom currents during a transgression, possibly associated with the reconnection of major isolated water bodies.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Massimo Bellucci, Daniel Aslanian, Maryline Moulin, Marina Rabineau, Estelle Leroux, Romain Pellen, Jeffrey Poort, Anna Del Ben, Christian Gorini, Angelo Camerlenghi
Summary: The study of salt tectonics at salt-bearing margins reveals differences in the Western Mediterranean Sea compared to other regions, with a clear relationship between salt structures and crustal segmentation. The influence of temperature parameters on salt deformation is suggested to play a significant role in the mechanisms of salt tectonics.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
F. Pilade, I. Vasiliev, D. Birgel, F. Dela Pierre, M. Natalicchio, A. Mancini, G. Carnevale, R. Gennari
Summary: This study uses alkenone-based proxies and other data to reconstruct surface water temperatures and paleoenvironmental conditions in the Mediterranean basin during the late Miocene to early Pliocene period. The results suggest that the Mediterranean basin gradually returned to marine conditions before the end of the late Miocene, and fully marine conditions were established in the early Pliocene. This highlights the importance of alkenone-based proxies in environmental reconstruction, especially when fossil records of primary producers are limited.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maximilian Wagner, Stamatis Zogaris, Patrick Berrebi, Joerg Freyhof, Stephan Koblmueller, Pierre Magnan, Martin Laporte
Summary: In the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, freshwater fishes, particularly the freshwater blenny species of the Salaria genus, are studied for their genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships. The research shows that the freshwater blennies are a good model for studying phylogeographic structure in the Mediterranean basin, with differentiation dating back to major environmental changes in the Messinian salinity crisis and further during the Plio- and Pleistocene periods. Despite the wide distribution of Salaria fluviatilis, there are conservation concerns for some distinct populations within the species.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Paul Meijer
Summary: This study investigates semi-enclosed seas through the application of basic theory, examining how basin geometry, connectivity, and atmospheric forcing control basin-averaged salinity and temperature. Analysis of Mediterranean region data is used to illustrate the interpretations, focusing on phenomena like the Messinian Salinity Crisis and precessional variations in the Mediterranean Sea record. The study also incorporates heat balance and the interplay of basin temperature and salinity under different conditions.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
F. Andreetto, A. M. Mancini, R. Flecker, R. Gennari, J. Lewis, F. Lozar, M. Natalicchio, F. Sangiorgi, M. Stoica, F. Dela Pierre, W. Krijgsman
Summary: This study provides insights into the paleoenvironment of the Mediterranean Basin at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis based on analysis of the Pollenzo Section in NW Italy. The results suggest that the Piedmont Basin was hydrologically connected to the Mediterranean Basin during the final stage, indicating a high water level in the Mediterranean Basin.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
George Kontakiotis, Geanina A. Butiseaca, Assimina Antonarakou, Konstantina Agiadi, Stergios D. Zarkogiannis, Emilija Krsnik, Evangelia Besiou, Willem Jan Zachariasse, Lucas Lourens, Danae Thivaiou, Efterpi Koskeridou, Pierre Moissette, Andreas Mulch, Vasileios Karakitsios, Iuliana Vasiliev
Summary: This study describes the hydroclimate evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the early Messinian time interval. The results reveal a negative water budget and strong hydrologic and climate variability during this period, with three distinct phases identified. The study provides important data for temperature and salinity estimates during the Mediterranean Messinian, complementing existing modeling assessments.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geology
Mario Borrelli, Edoardo Perri, Salvatore Critelli, Laurent Gindre-Chanu
Summary: The Calcare di Base, formed before the massive halite deposition in the Mediterranean region, has been a subject of debate regarding its genesis, environmental conditions, and deposition timing. It is extensively found in Southern Italy, where a continental/shallow-marine to slope system was active during the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The deposition of Calcare di Base occurred in an arid climate regime with intermittent humid phases, leading to widespread carbonate and evaporitic deposition in a sabkha-type environment.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Michael S. Dale, Hector Marin-Moreno, Ismael Himar Falcon-Suarez, Carlos Grattoni, Jonathan M. Bull, Lisa C. McNeill
Summary: This study quantifies the evolution of overpressure at two distinct locations in the Western Mediterranean, showing that high overpressure can be generated in salt basins under conditions of high deposition rates and low permeabilities.
Article
Geology
Mathia Sabino, Daniel Birgel, Marcello Natalicchio, Francesco Dela Pierre, Jorn Peckmann
Summary: This study investigates the impact of the crisis on the carbon cycle in the Mediterranean Sea. The results show that the crisis led to C-13 enrichment of the DIC pool, primarily due to the export of C-12 to the seafloor after phytoplankton blooms, and limited replenishment of remineralized carbon due to the stabilization of thermohaline stratification.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oana A. Dumitru, Jacqueline Austermann, Victor J. Polyak, Joan J. Fornos, Yemane Asmerom, Joaquin Gines, Angel Gines, Bogdan P. Onac
Summary: Sea-level reconstructions using phreatic overgrowths on speleothems from caves in Mallorca, Spain provided snapshots of Neogene and Quaternary sea levels, with estimates of global mean sea level during significant transitions in the Earth's history. The study highlights the importance of understanding past sea level variation in relation to climate change.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Konstantina Agiadi, Rafal Nawrot, Paolo G. Albano, Efterpi Koskeridou, Martin Zuschin
Summary: The study explores the applicability of the mean temperature approach to fossil fish faunas using otolith assemblage data. It shows that the calculated mean temperatures of the otolith assemblage can successfully capture compositional shifts in marine fish faunas based on variations in their climatic affinity driven by regional climate differences.
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Alba Gonzalez-Lanchas, Javier Dorador, Francisco J. Rodriguez-Tovar, Francisco J. Sierro, Jose-Abel Flores
Summary: This study investigates the response of the macrobenthic trace maker community to deep paleoenvironmental conditions in the western Mediterranean Alboran Sea. The results show that oxygen availability and surface organic productivity are the key factors controlling the variations in the community. The intense Alboran Upwelling System during Termination V resulted in decreased bioturbation and the formation of an Organic Rich Layer, while the stable surface production during MIS 11c led to an oligotrophic and stable deep environment. The Heinrich-type events 3 and 2 had a minor impact on surface organic production but enhanced deep-water circulation and removal.
Article
Geography, Physical
Francesca Bulian, Tanja J. Kouwenhoven, Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo, Wout Krijgsman, Nils Andersen, Francisco J. Sierro
Summary: Integration of foraminiferal and geochemical data from West Alboran Basin allowed evaluation of the effects of the initial Mediterranean-Atlantic restriction event preceding the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The study revealed profound impacts on deep waters in the basin, as well as a correlation between the local Mediterranean change and the global Late Miocene Carbon Isotope Shift.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fadl Raad, Ronja Ebner, Hanneke Heida, Paul Meijer, Johanna Lofi, Agnes Maillard, Daniel Garcia-Castellanos
Summary: This study applies a physics-based modelling technique to the Central Mallorca Depression (CMD) in order to understand the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) events. The results suggest that a persistent connection between the CMD and the Mediterranean can explain the volume of Primary Lower Gypsum, but not the deposition of halite.
Article
Geology
Wouter de Weger, F. Javier Hernandez-Molina, Francisco Javier Sierro, Domenico Chiarella, Estefania Llave, Juan J. Fedele, Francisco Javier Rodrigues-Tovar, Olmo Miguez-Salas, Mohamed Amine Manar
Summary: This study reports the sedimentary evolution and facies distribution of a contourite channel system related to the late Miocene palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water in the Rifian Corridor, Morocco. The channel evolution and facies distribution are found to be related to spatiotemporal changes in flow characteristics of the palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water.
Article
Biology
Konstantina Agiadi, Frederic Quillevere, Rafal Nawrot, Theo Sommeville, Marta Coll, Efterpi Koskeridou, Jan Fietzke, Martin Zuschin
Summary: Mesopelagic fishes play crucial roles in marine food webs, are a vast but largely untapped food resource, and contribute significantly to the biological carbon pump. However, their future under climate change scenarios remains uncertain.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Simon Blondel, Jonathan Ford, Aaron Lockwood, Anna Del Ben, Angelo Camerlenghi
Summary: In the challenging context of acquiring seismic data in the Mediterranean Sea, reprocessing legacy data has become increasingly important for improving data quality. The study presents newly reprocessed dataset SALTFLU, acquired in the Algerian basin by OGS in 2012. A 'broadband' reprocessing strategy was applied to offset-limited airgun reflection seismic data in deep water settings. The reprocessed images provide new geological insights on the Mediterranean sub-surface, improving our knowledge of the Algerian basin and revealing previously unresolved volcanic structures.
MARINE GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Paleontology
Lucia A. Azibeiro, Michal Kucera, Lukas Jonkers, Angela Cloke-Hayes, Francisco J. Sierro
Summary: The composition of planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in the surface sediments of the Mediterranean Sea varies along two environmental gradients, which are influenced by nutrient availability in deep waters and differences in nutrient advection caused by density stratification. Environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, nutrient concentrations, and density gradients explain a significant portion of the variance in the composition of the assemblages. This study suggests that sea surface temperature plays a secondary role in the Mediterranean Sea compared to other environmental variables.
MARINE MICROPALEONTOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Angela Girone, Adriano De Astis, Francisco J. Sierro, Ivan Hernandez-Almeida, Montserrat Alonso Garcia, Maria F. Sanchez Goni, Patrizia Maiorano, Maria Marino, Samanta Trotta, David Hodell
Summary: The study investigates the orbital configuration and millennial-scale climate changes during MIS 19 by analyzing the planktonic foraminifera assemblages at IODP Site U1385 in SW Iberian Margin. Comparisons are made between sea surface temperature (SST) estimates, geochemical data, biomarker and pollen records from the same site, and SST and ice-rafted debris records from North Atlantic at IODP Site U1314. The results suggest that the instability of ice sheets during MIS 20 and MIS 19 affected both the North Atlantic and the Iberian Margin, leading to changes in thermal gradient and punctuated warming/cooling phases in the ocean and on land during Termination IX.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Simon E. Rouwendaal, Daniel Birgel, Vincent Grossi, Giovanni Aloisi, Laetitia Guibourdenche, Amanda L. Labrado, Benjamin Brunner, Jean-Marie Rouchy, Joern Peckmann
Summary: The formation of authigenic carbonate and native sulfur replacing gypsum in the Lorca Basin, Spain, could be explained by organoclastic sulfate reduction and bacterial sulfide oxidation. Two types of sulfur-bearing carbonate (laminated and brecciated) from the late Miocene Lorca Basin were studied to understand the nature of this replacement. The study reveals variable conditions and timing of gypsum replacement and suggests the possible involvement of methanogens in addition to anaerobic methanotrophic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria in the mineral-forming processes in the sedimentary subsurface.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
David Dominguez-Villar, Kristina Krklec, Francisco J. Sierro
Summary: The relatively stable temperature of cave interiors is mainly caused by thermal conduction, which transfers the surface temperature signal to the karst underground. The thickness of bedrock cover influences the amplitude attenuation and signal delay of thermal anomalies, resulting in a dominant role of thermal conduction in cave temperature variability. The calculated thermal diffusivity shows a correlation with the thickness of bedrock cover and further experimental studies are needed to better understand its distribution in karst settings.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Carine Lezin, Agnes Maillard, Francis Odonne, Francisco J. Sierro, Frank Chanier, Virginie Gaullier, Gary Colinet, Luis J. Chueca, Valerie Chavagnac, Fadl Raad
Summary: To better understand the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), the chronostratigraphy and stratigraphic position of the Messinian erosional surface in Ibiza, an island located between the peripheral Messinian basins of southeastern Spain and the Palma Basin, were studied. Five lithological units were identified and compared with those in Mallorca. The findings show evidence of continentalization at the end of the Miocene, including karstification, erosion, and the formation of valleys connected to submarine canyons. This collapse was caused by a sea-level fall during the MSC, and is recorded on all the slope domains of the Mediterranean margins.
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Allana Queiroz de Azevedo, Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo, Francesca Bulian, Francisco J. Sierro, Deborah Tangunan, Yasuhiro Takashimizu, Ana Luiza S. Albuquerque, Kaoru Kubota, Carlota Escutia, Richard D. Norris, Sidney R. Hemming, Ian R. Hall
Summary: This article investigates the Southern African monsoon during the late Miocene-early Pliocene period in southern Africa. By analyzing elemental geochemistry, stable isotopes, and marine sediment data, the dynamics of the monsoon were reconstructed. The study found that the expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet had a significant impact on the monsoon.
PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Thibauld M. Bejard, Andres S. Rigual-Hernandez, Jose A. Flores, Javier P. Tarruella, Xavier Durrieu de Madron, Isabel Cacho, Neghar Haghipour, Aidan Hunter, Francisco J. Sierro
Summary: This study investigates the calcification response of planktic foraminifera in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea over different time scales. The results show different seasonal calcification patterns across species and indicate that environmental factors such as temperature and seawater carbonate parameters have species-specific effects on calcification. Furthermore, the study finds a decrease in planktic foraminifera calcification in the western Mediterranean since the late Holocene, including the industrial era, which is likely associated with ongoing ocean acidification and regional sea surface temperature trends.
