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Abstract: Macro-benthic assemblages from the Lower to Middle Pleistocene of the Valle di Manche (VdM) section (Crotone Basin, Southern Italy) were used to assess the value of merging paleoecological quantitative patterns into a sequence stratigraphic framework. Two-way cluster and detrended correspondence (DCA) analyses were applied to the macrofossil data matrix comprising 22 samples, 157 species and 5761 specimens. Specifically, two-way cluster analysis allowed for the characterization of five shelf-related biofacies and four sub-biofacies along section. Biofacies change along the VdM generally supported previous sequence stratigraphic interpretations and suggests that faunal turnover is the result of habitat tracking. DCA stratigraphic curves (=DC1 sample scores), calibrated to the depth preferences of extant species, provided quantitative estimates of bathymetry and the assessment of related parameters (e.g., grain-size, sedimentation/turbidity). When plotted stratigraphically, calibrated DC1 scores highlight the magnitude of relative sea-level fluctuations at the scale of the section as well as individual sequences and systems tracts. Additionally, DCA-derived paleobathymetric trends track the oscillations of the δ18O record, indicative of global sea-level change. Based on this comparison, it is held that macro-benthic assemblages, once supported by a robust statistical interpretation, can be employed successfully as a proxy for δ18O, depicting the variability in local water depths. The potential of this approach is especially high for studies in shallow-water depositional settings where dependable δ18O data are typically difficult to obtain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present a detailed paleoecologic analysis of avian assemblages from the Mousterian layers of the Middle Paleolithic Grotta del Cavallo site in southern Italy. Findings improve knowledge of the landscape that was exploited by Neanderthals. During the MIS 7, 6 and 3, the cave was surrounded by extensive grasslands and shrublands, locally interspersed by open woodland and rocky outcrops, whereas the coastal plain (currently underwater) hosted wetlands. Water bird taxa show an increase in population size during the cool-temperate climatic interval attributed to MIS 3, possibly linked to more humid conditions or a shorter distance between the wetland settings and the cave, compared to the previous glacial phase (MIS 6). In addition, coverage-based rarefied richness suggests higher avian diversity during MIS 3, which may reflect greater landscape heterogeneity due to the presence of wetland habitats. The tentative discovery of Branta leucopsis , together with several bird species currently found at higher altitudes, reinforces geochemically-derived palaeoclimate inferences of cooler than the present conditions. These assemblages also include the first fossil occurrence of Larus genei worldwide, the first Italian occurrence of Emberiza calandra , the oldest Italian occurrence of Podiceps nigricollis, and the occurrence of the rarely reported Sylvia cf. communis. Taphonomic analyses indicate that bone modifications are mainly due to physical syn - and post-depositional processes, and that the assemblage mainly accumulated through short-range physical transport and the feeding activities of nocturnal raptors. • Fossil birds from Mousterian layers are analysed in detail for the first time. • The bird taxa showed the presence of open habitats and wetlands. • First fossil occurrence ever of Larus genei and first occurrence in Italy of Emberiza calandra. • The accumulation of bird bones is mainly due to activity of nocturnal raptors and physical processes. • Eco-taphonomic patterns detail the landscape exploited by Neanderthals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Valle di Manche (VdM) section (Calabria, Southern Italy) offers the opportunity to investigate the ostracod turnover along a continuous shelf succession straddling the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary, and compare it against other paleoenvironmental (i.e., mollusks) and paleoclimatic ( Uvigerina peregrina δ 18 O) records. High-resolution (ca. 1 sample/m) ostracod fauna quantitative data, coupled with gradient analysis (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling), document a strong relationship between changes in faunal composition and lithofacies vertical stacking patterns. The comparison between the mollusk- and ostracod-derived ordination data demonstrates that the meio- and macro-faunal turnover is guided by a common complex gradient: bathymetry. The integrated ostracod-mollusk gradient analysis also provides a trend in water depths along the section, highlighting to what extent such multivariate approach can improve the paleoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic interpretation of ancient shallow marine successions. When plotted stratigraphically, ordination major axis sample scores reveal two increasing-decreasing patterns in water depth that fit well with the T-R cycles previously identified. Paleobathymetric estimates combined with the vertical distribution of key ostracod groups (i.e., epiphytic taxa on sandy substrates vs. deep-sea mud related taxa) allow refining depositional trends, stratal stacking patterns and position of previously not well resolved sequence stratigraphic surfaces within each T-R cycle (e.g., Transgressive Surface-TS). Indeed, two rapid increases in water depth values mark the TSs that separate shallowing-upward, progradational (RST) from deepening upward, retrogradational (TST) stratal stacking patterns of shelf deposits. The TSs, which underline fine-grained successions dominated by deep-sea mud-lover taxa, are invariably constrained to the inception of interglacials Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 21 and 19, identified within the VdM section by benthic foraminifera δ 18 O values. Within both the VdM T-R cycles, the deepest conditions (ca. 140 m of water depth) are invariably identified within the Neopycnodonte unit, slightly above the lightest δ 18 O intervals. The overlying decreasing bathymetric trend, coupled with shifts in ostracod ecological groups, allows to identify in the bryozoans lithofacies the stillstand+falling of the relative sea-level, also tracked by a progressively heavier δ 18 O record. More stable paleobathymetric conditions (around 40–45 m of water depth) characterize the overlying silt-sand deposits dominated by epiphytic species and showing the heaviest δ 18 O values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding past seasonal temperature variability in the ocean is essential to evaluate the effects of future climate change on marine ecosystems. Here, we estimate seasonal water temperature amplitudes from stable oxygen isotope (δ 18 O shell ) values of fossil shells of Arctica islandica (assuming δ 18 O water = + 0.9 ± 0.1‰ V-SMOW). Specimens were collected from three Pleistocene successions (Emilian and Sicilian substages of the Calabrian) in Central and Southern Italy (i.e., Rome, Lecce and Sicily). Biostratigraphic analyses from Rome Quarry deposits indicate an age between 1.6 and 1.2 Ma, whereas Sicily and Lecce successions are slightly more recent (between 1.1 and 0.62 Ma). Prior to carbonate geochemical analysis, we checked the shells for potential diagenetic alterations (e.g., from aragonite to calcite) using confocal Raman microscopy. δ 18 O shell transects indicate an annual temperature amplitude of about 3 °C during the Early Pleistocene. This is in sharp contrast to reconstructions based on faunal assemblages, according to which the simultaneous occurrence of boreal and warm-water species in the Calabrian Mediterranean Sea suggests a much higher seasonality (ca. 10 °C). The low seasonality and the relatively cold water (9–10 °C) indicate the outcrops represent colder climatic conditions compared to modern times, and suggest the occurrence of a maximum glacial phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Shell-rich biodetrital carbonate lithosomes punctuate the Plio-Pleistocene marine shallow-water successions of the Mediterranean basins. These m-thick sedimentary packages often display large-scale clinostratified geometry and show a remarkable rhythmic alternation with mudstone lithosomes. Our palaeoecological analysis defines the depositional settings and hints to the factors involved in the development of these peculiar bio-detrital carbonate units. Six distinct biofacies, have been identified through a two-way cluster analysis based on the macrofossil content, mostly molluscs, and matched with sedimentary facies. These are Aequipecten gr. opercularis and Bittium reticulatum biofacies, Anomia ephippium biofacies, Ditrupa arietina and Tritia semistriata biofacies, Corbula gibba and Saccella commutata biofacies, Timoclea ovata and Corbula gibba biofacies, Timoclea ovata and Anomia ephippium biofacies. Quantitative analyses suggest that these bio-detrital deposits have a multiphase history, and that, along with their bracketing marine mudstones, are not nearshore or shoreface deposits but developed in mid to outer shelf settings. Our results suggest that sea-level change was neither the only nor the main factor controlling the internal stacking pattern of individual biocalcarenites. They provide instead arguments in favour of periodic, high-amplitude climatic/oceanographic oscillations determining significant modifications of the source-to-sink dynamics of the basin and affecting the trophic structure, the supply of terrigenous sediments, as well as the energy and pattern of bottom currents of shelfal areas. Highlights • We present a paleoecological study on Neogene marine macrobenthos of the Appennine. • Our results suggest a new climatic/oceanographic model for biocalcarenite formation. • For this carbonates the eustatic forcing not appear the main genetic parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]