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Stable isotopic evidence for latest Miocene sea-level fall in the Mediterranean region

Nature volume 300, pages 163–166 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

The discovery of a marked isochronous decrease of carbon isotope ratio values (∼0.5–0.8‰ in marine carbonates at about 6.2 Myr has stimulated several speculations regarding the origin of this event1–3. Here we report stable isotope studies of planktonic and benthic foraminifera from the late Miocene Carmona–Dos Hermanos section in southwestern Spain which suggest that (1) the carbon shift at 6.2 Myr is directly associated with a eustatic sea-level lowering recorded in the same section; (2) the shift in δ13C at 6.2 Myr and other times may be related to an increased flux of marine and terrigenous organic matter depleted in 13C and eroded from the continental shelves during sea-level lowstands; and (3) the sea-level fall at 6.2 Myr triggered the rapid shift towards hypersaline conditions in the Mediterranean well before the deposition of the Messinian evaporites.

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Author notes

  1. T. S. Loutit

    Present address: Exxon Production Research Co., PO Box 2189, Houston, Texas, 77001, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, 02881, USA

    T. S. Loutit

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    L. D. Keigwin Jr

Authors
  1. T. S. Loutit
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  2. L. D. Keigwin Jr
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Loutit, T., Keigwin, L. Stable isotopic evidence for latest Miocene sea-level fall in the Mediterranean region. Nature 300, 163–166 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/300163a0

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