Neogene to Quaternary tidal mixed deposits of southern Italy: implications for palaeogeographic reconstructions

Longhitano S. G. (*), Chiarella D. (*), Di Stefano A. (**), Messina C. (***), Sabato L. (****) & Tropeano M. (****)
(*) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy. E-mail: sergio.longhitano@unibas.it (**) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Catania, Corso Italia 55, 95100 Catania, Italy. (***) Statoil ASA Exploration, 0246 Oslo, Norway. (****) Department of Earth Sciences and Geoenvironments, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.

A number of Neogene to Quaternary successions of southern Italy are silici-bioclastic in composition. These mixed facies recorded tide-influenced and tide-dominated environments, accumulated in tectonically-controlled bays and straits. The Miocene-to-Pleistocene tidal mixed facies of Basilicata, Calabria and NE Sicily, consist of laterally-accreted cross-strata that exhibit a rhythmic alternation of siliciclastic and bioclastic set of laminae. Tidal bundling is characteristically revealed by the cyclicity of semi-diurnal and diurnal to monthly and yearly periodicities. The variation in the occurrence of this rhythmic segregation and the 'length' of the tidal record in the studied deposits are considered indicative of the possible interplay between waves, storms and currents which strengths are, in turn, strictly dependent on engulfed or strait palaeo-settings.

Neogene to Quaternary, mixed deposits, crossstratification, tidal cyclicity, straits and bays, southern Italy