Quick
Search: 		  
advanced search
 GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help 
Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France Signup for GSW Email News
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France; March-April 2009; v. 180; no. 2; p. 95-104; DOI: 10.2113/gssgfbull.180.2.95
© 2009 Societe Geologique de France
This Article
Right arrow Résumé
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Caruso, A.
Right arrow Articles by Sprovieri, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

Astronomical dating of two Pliocene alkaline volcanic ash layers in the Capo Rossello area (southern Sicily, Italy): implications for the beginning of the rifting in the Sicily Channel

Antonio Caruso1*, Paolo Censi2, Pietro Aricò2, Carmelina Meli2 and Mario Sprovieri3

1 Dipartimento di Geologia e Geodesia, Università di Palermo, via Archirafi 22, 90123 Palermo, Italy. acaruso{at}unipa.it
2 Dipartimento di Chimica e Fisica della Terra (CFTA), Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi 36, 90123 Palermo, Italy
3 IAMC Sezione Geomare Sud - CNR Calata Porta di Massa Interno porto di Napoli, 80100 - Napoli, Italy

Two volcaniclastic ash layers (AL1 and AL2) are intercalated throughout the middle Pliocene sedimentary sequences of Punta Piccola and Capo Rossello exposed along the south coast of Sicily (Italy). Astronomical calibration of the Punta Piccola section provided an age of 2.676 Ma for the deposition of the AL1 layer. The high-resolution bio-cyclostratigraphy of the Capo Rossello section, in combination with detailed correlations with previously astronomically calibrated coeval sequences, provided an age of 2.225 Ma for the deposition of the AL2 layer.

Mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical results from the two volcaniclastic layers suggest a Na-alkaline differentiated magmatism for the volcanic source, similar to the one which formed the alkaline rocks of the island of Pantelleria (Sicily Channel). These results indicate that isolated volcanic activity and/or early differentiated magmatic events may have occurred in the area of the Sicily channel well before the well-known late Pleistocene volcanic activity.

Key Words: Sicily Channel rift • Biostratigraphy • Astronomical calibration • Pliocene • Volcanic ash layers






JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2010 by Societe Geologique de France