Abstract Carbonate build-ups mainly constructed by encrusting coralline red algae are currently developing on Mediterranean soft bottoms, at depths ranging from 20 m to 160 m. They are usually referred to as 'coralligène de plateau'. Few fossil examples of these bioconstructions have been described in the literature and their evolution in the context of a stratigraphic cycle has never been modelled in detail. Cutro marine terrace (Calabria, southern Italy) preserves mid-Pleistocene deposits assigned to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 or MIS 9. Extensive algal build-ups representing the deepest unit of the succession occur in the outer and central portion of the terrace, interpreted as the most distal setting from the palaeo-shoreline. Two studied sections, Vrica and Telegrafo, showed that the solid biogenic framework grew over a basal rhodolithic layer, which was stabilized by the binding activity and overgrowth of non-geniculate Corallinales (calcareous red algae). Therefore, these bioconstructions represent a rare fossil example of coralligène de plateau. At the Telegrafo section, Titanoderma pustulatum has been identified as the major rhodolith component. The build-ups are dominated by T. pustulatum , associated mainly with Mesophyllum spp. and locally with Lithophyllum stictaeforme. Rhodalgal bioclastic deposits are found in lateral contact with the build-ups. The two facies developed together under a hydrodynamic regime where phases of sedimentation from storm-driven currents alternated with phases of calm conditions. They were deposited during a single stratigraphic cycle beginning with the generation of a ravinement surface during the transgressive systems tract (TST) and ending with the burial of the coralligène by well-sorted shoreface bioclastic sands. Optimal and extensive growth of the coralligène took place during the highstand systems tract (HST).

Abstract Plio-Quaternary basinward-prograding heterozoan carbonate wedges with seaward-dipping, steep clinoforms and significant along-strike extension, are common both on land and along the submerged margins of the Mediterranean area. They developed as distally steepened ramps on storm-dominated, relatively steep-gradient margins, commonly controlled by tectonics. Dispersal of the skeletal hash was mainly due to storm-driven downwelling and geostrophic currents, changing into gravity flows down the clinoformed ramp margin. Due to active winnowing and bypass in the shallow-water settings, biocalcarenite ramps were entirely detached from the shoreline. Sequence-stratigraphic architecture of cropping out prograding bodies indicates the presence of internal unconformity surfaces bounding shingled units with sigmoidal to oblique clinoforms. Similar wedges identified by seismic survey on the margins of the Tyrrhenian Sea generally show a back-stepping pattern, with the deeper-located wedges related to the last lowstand and the subsequent wedges reflecting episodic stillstands during sea-level rise. A critical role in determining the efficiency of the carbonate factory is thought to have been played by the increase in the strength of atmospheric and marine circulation which accompanied the long-term climatic change affecting the Mediterranean area since 3.1 Ma, especially during cooler to colder stages.

Abstract The aim of this study is to reconstruct the evolution of the Strongoli area, a critical sector of the Crotone Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy), where a thick Middle–Upper Pliocene marine succession is present. The Strongoli succession shows prominent changes in the sedimentary environment that are partly forced by tectonics. Major tectonostratigraphic events have been recognized that might correlate with spreading pulses in the back-arc Tyrrhenian Sea. In particular, we demonstrate that a dramatic basinal collapse at c. 2.3 Ma correlates with the so-called ‘Calabrian transgression’ Auctorum and is close in age to the oceanization of the Marsili Basin.

Abstract A c. 50 m thick section located in the Crotone Basin (southern Italy) was investigated using oxygen isotopes, pollen and planktonic foraminifera. The section records two complete transgressive-regressive cycles mainly driven by glacio-eustasy. Biostratigraphy and oxygen isotope chronology indicate that the section spans from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 22 ( c. 0.87 Ma) to MIS 18.3 ( c. 0.73 Ma), thus straddling the Matuyama-Brunhes (M-B) boundary which occurs in the middle of MIS 19. The rich pollen assemblages provide a unique record of the vegetation in the central Mediterranean during the Early-Middle Pleistocene climatic transition. Interglacials are characterized by a mesothermic vegetation similar to the present day, whereas a rain-demanding conifer forest dominates the glacials of MIS 20 and MIS 18. This is unexpected because it is generally considered that during the Pleistocene, glacials in central Mediterranean were characterized by steppe (arid) conditions. By contrast, arid conditions occur during the deglaciations. These results are inconsistent with the widespread practice of linking glacials with arid conditions in the central Mediterranean during Pliocene and Early Pleistocene times. This study emphasizes the need to establish more accurate land-sea correlation.