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Maria Triantaphyllou, University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geonvironment (Greece)
Assimina Antonarakou , University of Athens (Greece)
Lucas Lourens, University of Utreccht (Netherlands)
Patrizia Ziveri, UAB (Spain)
Efthymios Tsolakis, Geological Survey of Cyprus (Cyprus)
Stella Tsaila-Monopolis, University of Patras (Greece)
Georgios Theodorou, University of Athens (Greece)
Michael Dermitzakis, University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geonvironment (Greece)
Georgios Kontakiotis, University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geonvironment (Greece)
Emorfia Konstantinidou, University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geonvironment (Greece)
Maria Athanasiou, University of Athens, Faculty of Geology & Geonvironment (Greece)
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The Pissouri Basin (Cyprus Island) corresponds to a small tectonically controlled depression elongated NNW?SSE and widening southward in the direction of the deep Mediterranean domain.
In the centre of the basin, the section Pissouri North, about 100 m thick, consists of well-preserved cyclic marine sediments. We focused our analyses on the lower part of the section where calcareous plankton biostratigraphy defined the HO of Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilicus and Sphenolithus spp., recognising the NN14/15-NN16 nannofossil biozone boundary that points to Late Zanclean age. TOC data, isotope records and micropaleontological analysis revealed the presence of numerous cycles including organic-rich laminated brownish sapropelitic marly layers alternating with grey homogeneous marls. Astronomically tuned climatic proxy records during the Late Zanclean suggest a complex pattern of climate fluctuations.
The data enable us to distinguish the main climatic constraints regulating the depositional conditions that resulted in the sapropelitic/homogeneous marl cyclic alternations. The sapropelites developed during the Late Zanclean - close to Zanclean - Piacenzian boundary- suggest a climate characterised by a period of warm - temperate and humid conditions and a highly stratified water column that occurred at times of precession minima.
Funding has been provided by Research Projects 70/3/7093 and 70/4/3570 financed by Cyprus Geological Survey and NKUA-SARG.
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