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Tephra layers are a unique tool for stratigraphy. Their geologically instantaneous deposition across wide areas makes them a powerful instrument for dating and correlating distant localities. In this paper, we apply tephra fingerprinting for highresolution stratigraphic purposes in the upper Miocene portion of the Pisco Formation, which crops out along the southern Peruvian coast. The Pisco Formation diatomaceous strata host an important marine vertebrate Fossil-Lagerstätte, whose palaeontological relevance has entailed the necessity of reconstructing a detailed chronostratigraphic framework using 39Ar-40Ar dating and tephra correlations. Distal ashes from the Central Andes volcanoes are frequent in the Pisco Formation, but their similar glass composition and mineral assemblage, together with the shallow marine environment limiting tephra preservation, could be unpromising for tephra-based correlations. In this study, tephra layers from measured stratigraphic sections were fingerprinted with a combined petrographic and microanalytical approach, including glass shard morphology and granulometric analyses. Based on the obtained results, we correlated sections several kilometres apart, greatly increasing the chronostratigraphic detail. Major element composition of biotite proved a valuable tool to discriminate the Central Andes metaluminous to peraluminous tephra deposited in the Peruvian forearc basins. This study highlights the applicability of tephra fingerprinting in unfavourable shallow marine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cenozoic convergence between the Eurasian and African plates and concurrent slab roll-back processes have produced a progressive extension in back-arc areas, such as the Aegean region and western Anatolia. There is still a long-standing controversy as to whether this was a continuous or stepwise process. To shed light on this controversy and on the driving mechanism of regional extension, we present palaeomagnetic and geochronological results from the Söke Basin located at the southeastern rim of the İzmir-Balıkesir Transfer Zone. Our improved geochronology shows that volcanic activity in the region occurred between 11.66 and 12.85 Ma. Middle to late Miocene palaeomagnetic data for the Söke Basin show a c. 23° clockwise rotation, whereas early Miocene data show a c. 28° counterclockwise rotation. The primary nature of the magnetization is indicated by a positive tilt test. The resulting c. 51° counterclockwise rotations during the middle Miocene signify a major tectonic reorganization, during a period when an interruption of exhumation of metamorphic massifs has been reported. We suggest that the İzmir-Balıkesir Transfer Zone is the main driver of the reorganization in the region. The regional fingerprint of this tectonic reorganization coincides with the acceleration of trench retreat and illustrates the surface impact of tearing of the Hellenic slab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcanism across the North Tanzanian Divergence Zone (NTD), part of the East African Rift System, occurred episodically from the late Miocene to Recent. Here, we present a summary of previously published K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages, new 40Ar/39Ar ages, and geochemical and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic analyses on samples collected from several volcanoes distributed across the NTD: Burko, Monduli, Tarosero, Ketumbeine, Gelai, Kerimasi and Meru. The locus of volcanism over this period progressed from the southwestern portion of the NTD to the north and east, with a main pulse occurring at about 2.3 Ma, possibly marking the inception of a main rifting event. We model the source of the NTD volcanic rocks as a metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle that includes minor and variable amounts of garnet and amphibole. REE data indicate variations in residual garnet content, consistent with varying depth of melt separation. Radiogenic isotopic data show systematic variations requiring the involvement of up to three components. Two alternative but not exclusive tectonic scenarios are proposed: one requiring the involvement of contributions from recent plume-related fluids, and one explaining the observed geochemical variations by melting of a lithosphere layered by multiple metasomatic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large palaeosinkholes located in the NW of Gozo (central Mediterranean Sea, Malta) offer excellent exposures that provide information on the geometry and kinematics of large karst-related collapse structures. Detailed geological analysis of these peculiar palaeosinkholes indicates that deep-seated evaporite dissolution is the most feasible hypothesis to explain their formation, according to the following evidence. (1) Several structures have been formed by progressive foundering of cylindrical blocks with limited internal deformation as revealed by the synsedimentary subsidence recorded by their Miocene sedimentary fill. This subsidence mechanism is more compatible with interstratal dissolution of evaporites than karstification and cave development in limestone formations. (2) The dimensions and deformation style of the palaeosinkholes are similar to those of other collapse structures related to deep-seated dissolution of salt-bearing evaporites. (3) The arcuate monocline associated with some of these collapse structures is also a characteristic feature of subsidence related to dissolution of evaporites. However, no major evaporite formations have been documented so far in the subsurface of the Malta Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surficial silicifications have been long considered to be indicative of warm and dry climates. Here we describe various forms of supergene silicification in a Miocene lacustrine sequence in the Missour Basin near Jbel Ghassoul (Morocco) in a landscape with accentuated relief. The silicification is almost exclusively limited to a 10-40 m wide zone from the edges of scarp and mesa landforms. This distribution is interpreted to record the locations where groundwaters which produced the silicification discharged from a higher level palaeolandscape. The main component of the silica was imported late and significantly post-dates the deposition of the sediments. This implies that significant volumes of silica-bearing solutions flowed through these formations in response to a hydraulic gradient generated by relief. Silicification thus occurred only after uplift and incision of the sedimentary fill of the Missour Basin. The zones of silicification of the Jbel Ghassoul sequence can be linked geomorphologically to remnants of high-level pediments that have been dated in the literature to the early to middle Pleistocene and interpreted to have been formed during cold climates. Low temperatures in outcrops near the discharge zones during cold periods are considered to be a key factor in silica precipitation from groundwaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The only place where Neogene-Quaternary rocks crop out for the entire Tuscan Archipelago in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea is the island of Pianosa. In particular, the Miocene deposits record the depositional and tectonic evolution of the Northern Tyrrhenian region during this time period. These deposits are subdivided into two successions separated by a low-angle unconformity. The older, middle Burdigalian succession represents a calciturbidite shallow marine system, whereas the younger late Tortonian-early Messinian succession comprises a continental alluvial system that evolves upwards into a lagoonal-marginal marine environment. Here we present sedimentological, palaeontological and petrographical data that support a new stratigraphic and palaeogeographical framework for reconstructing the opening of the Northern Tyrrhenian back-arc basin. The early Miocene succession records a pre-rift marine depositional phase followed by a late Burdigalian-Langhian erosional phase. This was followed by a period of synrift continental-marginal deposition, as recorded by the late Miocene succession, terminated by an important phase of uplift, probably induced by the start of magmatic activity in the Tuscan Archipelago area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]