Reconstructing surface uplift rates in active orogens is critical for understanding how deep Earth processes shape topography, but such estimates require both rapid uplift and preservation of young marine deposits. The southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP) in Türkiye provides an exceptional example, preserving Upper Miocene and late Middle-Pleistocene marine deposits at ∼2.2 km and ∼1.1 km of elevation, respectively, indicating multiphase uplift. We investigated the TOL-1 section in the Mut Basin, which preserves late Middle-Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage 7) marine deposits at 1177 m above mean sea level (amsl); the highest in the world. The section records two key calcareous nannofossil bioevents: the last occurrence of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa (0.46 Ma) and the first occurrence of Emiliania huxleyi (0.26 Ma). Foraminiferal biostratigraphy, marked by the consistent presence of Globigerinella calida from the base, indicates that deposition began after ca. 0.53 Ma. Ostracod assemblages reveal a transition from upper epibathyal to littoral environments, with a shallowing-upward trend beginning at ca. 0.40 Ma. Paleomagnetic data indicate normal polarity, consistent with deposition during the current normal polarity Brunhes Chron. By integrating biostratigraphy, paleobathymetric reconstructions (∼50 m below mean sea level), and sea-level estimates at 0.23 Ma (∼−18 m), we calculated a mean uplift rate of ∼5.2 m/k.y. This exceptionally high rate may be attributed to slab break-off of the still-subducting eastern Cyprus slab combined with mantle flow from the Arabian slab window at the Eastern Anatolian collision zone. These findings provide a rare high-resolution temporal benchmark for linking stratigraphic records of marine deposition with deep-seated processes and rapid surface uplift in active convergent margins.

The Antalya Basin is a late post-orogenic basin formed under extensional and compressional regimes within the Isparta Angle, comprising the Manavgat, K & ouml;pr & uuml;& ccedil;ay, and Aksu sub-basins unconformably overlying the western Taurides. The Manavgat Sub-basin, at the eastern margin of the Antalya Basin, preserves Quaternary fan deltaic successions that record the interplay of tectonics, sediment supply, and sea-level fluctuations. To refine the stratigraphy of the Manavgat Sub-basin and improve our understanding on the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Antalya Basin, we present new lithostratigraphic and micropaleontological data from a composite section (MNV) of the Manavgat Formation. The MNV composite section records deposition within a deltaic system comprising fan delta front, fan delta front/fan prodelta, and renewed fan delta front facies, reflecting alternating prograding - retrograding cycles. Calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the base of the MNV section is younger than similar to 0.26 Ma (upper Middle Pleistocene) based on the presence of Emiliania huxleyi. These biostratigraphic constraints extend the age of marine deposition in the Manavgat Sub-basin into the late Middle Pleistocene, which is significantly younger than previously reported Miocene or Lower Pleistocene marine deposits. This revised regional chronology for the Antalya Basin allow us to interpret a mean uplift rate of similar to 0.8 m/kyr since the late Middle Pleistocene offering new insights into the tectono-sedimentary evolution at the junction between the southwestern flank of the Central Anatolian Plateau and the Western Anatolian Extensional Province.

Understanding deep-time marine biodiversity change under the combined effects of climate and connectivity changes is fundamental for predicting the impacts of modern climate change in semi-enclosed seas. We quantify the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene [11.63 to 3.6 million years (Ma)] taxonomic diversity of the Mediterranean Sea for calcareous nannoplankton, dinocysts, foraminifera, ostracods, corals, molluscs, bryozoans, echinoids, fishes, and marine mammals. During this time, marine biota was affected by global climate cooling and the restriction of the Mediterranean's connection to the Atlantic Ocean that peaked with the Messinian salinity crisis. Although the net change in species richness from the Tortonian to the Zanclean varies by group, species turnover is greater than 30% in all cases, reflecting a high degree of reorganization of the marine ecosystem after the crisis. The results show a clear perturbation already in the pre-evaporitic Messinian (7.25 to 5.97 Ma), with patterns differing among groups and subbasins.

Massive salt accumulations, or salt giants, have formed in highly restricted marine basins throughout geological history, but their impact on biodiversity has been only patchily studied. The salt giant in the Mediterranean Sea formed as a result of the restriction of its gateway to the Atlantic during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) 5.97 to 5.33 million years ago. Here, we quantify the biodiversity changes associated with the MSC based on a compilation of the Mediterranean fossil record. We conclude that 86 endemic species of the 2006 pre-MSC marine species survived the crisis, and that the present eastward-decreasing richness gradient in the Mediterranean was established after the MSC.

The Messinian salinity crisis and its precursor events have been the greatest environmental perturbation of the Mediterranean Sea to date, offering an opportunity to study the response of marine ecosystems to extreme hydrological change and a large-scale biological invasion. The restriction of the marine connection between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean resulted in stratification of the water column and high-amplitude variations in seawater temperature and salinity already from the early Messinian. Here, we present a unified and revised marine fossil record of the Mediterranean (10.5281/zenodo.13358435, Agiadi et al., 2024) that covers the Tortonian stage, the pre-evaporitic Messinian stage, and the Zanclean stage and encompasses 23 032 occurrences of calcareous nannoplankton, dinoflagellates, foraminifera, corals, ostracods, bryozoans, echinoids, mollusks, fishes, and marine mammals. This record adheres to the FAIR principles, is updated in terms of taxonomy, and follows the currently accepted stratigraphic framework. Based on this record, knowledge gaps are identified, which are due to spatiotemporal inconsistencies in sampling effort and the distribution of sedimentary facies, as well as the inherent differences in the preservation potential between the groups. Additionally, sampling bias in old records may have distorted the record in favor of larger, more impressive taxa within groups. This record is now ready to be used to answer both geological and biological questions about the Mediterranean Sea and beyond and is amendable when new fossil data are brought to light.

Several crustal and lithospheric mechanisms lead to deformation and vertical motion of the upper plate during subduction, but their relative contribution is often enigmatic. Multiple areas of the Hellenic Forearc have been uplifting since Plio-Quaternary times, yet spatiotemporal characteristics and sources of this uplift are poorly resolved. The remarkable geology and geomorphology of Kythira Island, in the southwestern Hellenic forearc, allow for a detailed tectonic reconstruction since the Late Miocene. We present a morphotectonic map of the island, together with new biostratigraphic dating and detailed analyses of active fault strikes and marine terraces. We find that the Tortonian-Pliocene stratigraphy in Kythira records ~100 m of subsidence, and a wide coastal rasa marks the ~2.8-2.4 Ma maximum transgression. Subsequent marine regression of ~300-400 m and minor E-W tilt are recorded in ~12 marine terrace levels for which we estimate uplift rates of ~0.2-0.4 mm/yr. Guided by simple landscape evolution models, we interpret the coastal morphology as the result of initial stability or of slow, gradual sea-level drop since ~2.8-2.4 Ma, followed by faster uplift since ~1.5-0.7 Ma. Our findings on- and offshore suggest that E-W extension is the dominant mode of regional active upper crustal deformation, and N-S normal faults accommodate most, if not all of the uplift on Kythira. We interpret the initiation of E-W extension as the result of a change in plate boundary conditions, in response to either propagation of the North Anatolian Fault, incipient collision with the African plate, mantle dynamics or a combination thereof.

Unraveling the evolution of supradetachment basins developed in the hanging wall of low‐angle detachment faults may be an invaluable tool in reconstructing the tectonic evolution of highly extended terrains. These basins may record major regional tectonic events related to the exhumation of metamorphic core complexes, and the reconstruction of their evolution helps to quantify the amount of extension accommodated by such processes. Here we present stratigraphic and structural field evidence and micropaleontological constraints to the Neogene‐to‐Quaternary evolution of the supradetachment Gediz Graben that developed on top of the exhuming Central Menderes Massif (SW Turkey). This basin displays three different structural styles during its evolution: (i) it initiated as a ramp basin following the activation of the Gediz Detachment in the Middle Miocene, (ii) evolved as a half graben during the late Miocene following the activation of high‐angle brittle faults at its southern margin, and (iii) reached its final symmetric graben configuration in Late Pliocene (?)‐Quaternary times following the activation of its northern margin. New micropaleontological data document a short‐lived upper Tortonian marine episode in the basin, and major along‐strike variations in exhumation are documented on its southern margin. Our reconstruction shows how sedimentary basins originally formed in the hanging wall of detachment faults may eventually end up in tectonic contact with the mylonitic footwall. Finally, we highlight the importance of magmatism in localizing the deformation in highly extended terrains and in controlling the evolution of supradetachment systems.

At the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP), marine deposits that overlie the Central Tauride units at up to 2 km of elevation were used to constrain the onset of uplift to the middle-late Miocene. This study demonstrates that much younger marine deposits cap the southern margin. We recognize the Last Common Occurrence of Neogloboquadrina spp. (sin) (0.61 Ma) and Pseudoemiliania lacunosa (0.467 Ma), which points to an early middle Pleistocene age. The benthic fauna indicates an epibathyal marine environment (400 to 500 m paleodepth), with an associated paleocoastline now at similar to 1,500 to 1,600 m above sea level. Our new results imply uplift rates of up to 3.21-3.42 mm/yr for the CAP southern margin since the deposition of the young marine units. In the area, the evaluation of late Pleistocene and Holocene uplift rates of similar to 1 mm/yr points to a post early middle Pleistocene short-lived period of rapid uplift of the CAP southern margin, which can correlate the short-lived surface uplift signal in numerical models of slab breakoff. Overall, this work demonstrates that the majority of the modern topography at the CAP southern margin (1,500 to 1,600 m) was only recently acquired, pointing to the absence of a significant orographic barrier along the southern plateau margin prior to 500 ka. The multiphased uplift recognized at the CAP southern margin by previous authors, as well as the fast uplift rate documented in this work, can be linked to lithosphere delamination and subsequent slab breakoff during the Arabian-Anatolian continental collision. Plain Language Summary At the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP), marine deposits that overlie the Central Tauride units at up to 2 km of elevation were used to constrain the onset of uplift to the Middle-Late Miocene. This study demonstrates that much younger marine deposits cap the southern margin. We recognize some bioevents within the calcareous plankton that point to an early Middle Pleistocene age (ca. 475 Ma). The benthic fauna indicate an epibathyal marine environment (400 to 500 m palaeodepth), with an associated palaeo-coastline now at ca. 1500 to 1600 ma.s.l. Our new results imply uplift rates of ca. 3 mm/yr for the CAP southern margin since the deposition of the young marine units. Overall, this work demonstrates that the majority of the modern topography at the CAP southern margin (1500 to 1600 m) was only recently acquired, pointing to the absence of a significant orographic barrier along the southern plateau margin prior to 500 ka. Such rapid uplift of the CAP southern margin after the early Middle Pleistocene would have caused major palaeogeographic and palaeoclimate changes in the area, which likely influenced local biodiversity.

The Mediterranean Basin is a semi-enclosed basin highly sensitive to climate changes such as evaporation-precipitation processes and glacial-interglacial transitions. It is composed by two main basins, the Western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean, which are differently sensitive to the high latitude and low latitude climate interactions. Such differences could translate in different reactions to climate changes recorded in the bottom sediments, i.e. the enhanced effects of the freshwater inputs on the bottom oxygenation in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this paper we investigate the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate derived from the study of Early Pleistocene (Calabrian) deep marine deposits cropping out along the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau at the Gulnar East section (southern Turkey). Using benthic and planktonic foraminifers the bottom oxygenation and the sea surface temperature (SST) were evaluated through the calculation of the benthic foraminifera oxygen index (BFOI) and palaeoclimate curve. The results show that the marine epibathyal palaeonvironment in this Eastern Mediterranean area reacted to the palaeoclimate changes with the water mass stratification (warm periods) and/or with enhanced primary productivity (cool/cold periods) leading to the deposition of sapropel layers with different degrees of bottom oxygenation.

Mediterranean marginal basins recorded the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) in various structural settings, including syn-rift, thrust-top, foredeep, and foreland basins. During the MSC, the Apennines were one of the mobile belts of the peri-Mediterranean chain. Starting from more hinterland areas, allochthonous units of both the northern and southern Apennines migrated toward the Adriatic foreland, developing allochthonous-top sedimentary basins. One of these basins, on top of the Molise allochthonous units (southern Apennines), recorded almost all of the main steps of the MSC. In a gypsum quarry district, the occurrence of conduits yielding flow-mobilized sediments, which cross-cut the Lower Evaporites, testifies to a fluid-migration event responsible for the formation of a brecciated mudgrade limestone buildup. This event can be connected with the Mediterranean drawdown responsible for the Messinian erosional surface (MES). The post-evaporitic marly succession that unconformably overlies the Lower Evaporites and the “Brecciated limestones” is characterized by the presence of Paratethyan molluscs and ostracods (Loxoconcha muelleri and Loxocorniculina djafarovi zones), and small mammals, among which is recorded the occurrence of Stephanomys debruijni. A disconformity within the post-evaporitic succession divides it into lower (p-ev1) and upper (p-ev2) Lago-Mare deposits. A further erosional surface separates the Messinian Lago-Mare sediments from fully marine lower Zanclean (MPl2 Zone) deposits. Whilst the unconformity separating the Lower Evaporites and the Lago-Mare deposits (although enhanced by a tectonic event) could be related to a late Messinian base level drop (MES1), as well as the disconformity between p-ev1 and p-ev2 (MES2), the younger angular unconformities affecting both the Lago-Mare deposits (p-ev2) and the fully marine Pliocene sediments might be related to two different phases of orogenic transport. Those events affected the Molise allochthonous units during their Late Miocene-Early Pliocene forelandward migration.

Ostracod faunal turnover and oxygen isotope data (foraminifera) along the Valle di Manche (VdM) section are herein compiled. Specifically, the material reported in this work includes quantitative palaeoecological data and patterns of ostracod fauna framed within a high-resolution oxygen isotope stratigraphy (δ18O) from Uvigerina peregrina. In addition, the multivariate ostracod faunal stratigraphic trend (nMDS axis-1 sample score) is calibrated using bathymetric distributions of extant molluscs sampled from the same stratigraphic intervals along the VdM section. Data and analyses support the research article "Dynamics of benthic marine communities across the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary in the Mediterranean region (Valle di Manche, Southern Italy): biotic and stratigraphic implications" Rossi et al. [1].

The Valle di Manche (VdM) section (Calabria, Southern Italy) offers the opportunity to investigate the ostracod turnover along a continuous shelf succession straddling the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary, and compare it against other paleoenvironmental (i.e., mollusks) and paleoclimatic (Uvigerina peregrina delta O-18) records. High resolution (ca. 1 sample/m) ostracod fauna quantitative data, coupled with gradient analysis (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling), document a strong relationship between changes in faunal composition and lithofacies vertical stacking patterns. The comparison between the mollusk and ostracod-derived ordination data demonstrates that the meio- and macro-faunal turnover is guided by a common complex gradient: bathymetry. The integrated ostracod-mollusk gradient analysis also provides a trend in water depths along the section, highlighting to what extent such multivariate approach can improve the paleoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic interpretation of ancient shallow marine successions. When plotted stratigraphically, ordination major axis sample scores reveal two increasing-decreasing patterns in water depth that fit well with the T-R cycles previously identified. Paleobathymetric estimates combined with the vertical distribution of key ostracod groups (i.e., epiphytic taxa on sandy substrates vs. deep-sea mud related taxa) allow refining depositional trends, stratal stacking patterns and position of previously not well resolved sequence stratigraphic surfaces within each T-R cycle (e.g., Transgressive Surface-TS). Indeed, two rapid increases in water depth values mark the TSs that separate shallowing-upward, progradational (RST) from deepening upward, retrogradational (TST) stratal stacking patterns of shelf deposits. The TSs, which underline fine-grained successions dominated by deep-sea mud-lover taxa, are invariably constrained to the inception of interglacials Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 21 and 19, identified within the VdM section by benthic foraminifera delta O-18 values. Within both the VdM T-R cycles, the deepest conditions (ca. 140 m of water depth) are invariably identified within the Neopycnodonte unit, slightly above the lightest delta O-18 intervals. The overlying decreasing bathymetric trend, coupled with shifts in ostracod ecological groups, allows to identify in the bryozoans lithofacies the stillstand + falling of the relative sea-level, also tracked by a progressively heavier delta O-18 record. More stable paleobathymetric conditions (around 40-45 m of water depth) characterize the overlying silt-sand deposits dominated by epiphytic species and showing the heaviest delta O-18 values.

We present detailed Messinian paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the Adana Basin based on a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes the fossil content of the Kuzgun and Handere Formations. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes that affected the Adana Basin during the Messinian, we analyzed mollusk, ostracod, planktonic and benthonic foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages from 2 stratigraphic sections near Kabasakal village (Adana, southern Turkey). To determine if the environmental changes recognized in the Adana Basin are local or regional, and to understand the extent to which the global changes in oceanic circulation impacted the Mediterranean sedimentary basins, we compare our results with Messinian sections from other locations in the Mediterranean region (northern Italy, southern Italy, Cyprus, Algeria, and southern Turkey). The occurrence of N. humerosa, G. bulloides, G. woodi, N. acostaensis, N. atlantica (planktonic forams), S. multiflora, T. rugosa, P. elongata, C. scitula, L. lipadusensis (ostracods), R. rotaria, A. primus, and A. delicatus (calcareous nannofossils) allows us to constrain the uppermost part of the Kuzgun Formation to the early Messinian. The ostracod assemblages indicate an enclosed marine environment characterized by sporadic local freshwater inputs that decreased the salinity of the basin. In contrast, in the late Messinian Handere Formation, the presence of Paratethyan ostracods pertaining to the Loxoconcha mulleri zone and to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi zone in the Handere Formation indicates the occurrence of the Messinian brackish water Lago-Mare event in the Adana Basin, which occurred throughout the Mediterranean between 5.60 and 5.33 Ma.

Abstract According to the literature, the Adana Basin, at the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Basin in southern Turkey, records the Pliocene stage with shallow-marine to fluvial deposits. Our micropalaeontological analysis of samples from the Adana Basin reveal Late Lago–Mare biofacies with Paratethyan ostracod assemblages pertaining to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi zone. Grey clays rich in planktonic foraminifera lie above the Lago–Mare deposits. Within the grey clays, the continuous occurrence of the calcareous nannofossil Reticulofenestra zancleana and the base of the Reticulofenestra pseudoumbilicus paracme points to an Early Zanclean age (5.332–5.199 Ma). Both ostracod and benthic foraminifera indicate epibathyal and bathyal environments. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr measurements on planktonic and benthic foraminifera fall below the mean global ocean value for the Early Zanclean, indicating potentially insufficient mixing of low 87 Sr/ 86 Sr Mediterranean brackish ‘Lago–Mare’ water with the global ocean in the earliest Pliocene. We utilize the ages and palaeodepths of the marine sediments together with their modern elevations to determine uplift rates of the Adana Basin of 0.06 to 0.13 mm a −1 since 5.2–5.3 Ma (total uplift of 350–650 m) from surface data, and 0.02–0.13 mm a −1 since c. 1.8 Ma (total uplift of 30–230 m) from subsurface data. Supplementary material: Microphotographs of foraminifers, ostracods, and calcareous nannofossils, plots of the calcareous nannofossil frequencies, occurrence of foraminifers and ostracods in the study sections, results of Sr isotopic analysis, and a complete list of fossils are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18535 .

The Legnagnone section (North-eastern Apennines) represents one of the few shallow water records of the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis. Here we present a detailed description of a ~200kyr time interval encompassing the pre-/syn-evaporitic transition based on a multidisciplinary approach, integrating sedimentological, bio-magnetostratigraphical, palaeontological and stable isotope data. Such a shallow water setting is potentially more sensitive to the palaeoenvironmental change leading to the MSC than the more often studied deeper Mediterranean basin. The aquatic palaeoenvironmental reconstruction proposed here is based on the study of foraminifer, ostracod and mollusc assemblages. It depicts a change from infralittoral (20–50m) to inner circalittoral environment (60–100m) that, since 6.12Ma, was progressively affected by a reduction of oxygen at the sea floor punctuated by short-lived anoxic events. At least three cooling events have been recognized on the basis of relative abundance data in mid to high altitude pollen, which, before 6.03Ma, are in phase with abundance peaks of Turborotalia spp., a taxon indicating eutrophic and cool surface waters. The absence of stress-tolerant benthic foraminifers during these peaks points to strong ventilation episodes triggered by a generally cooler climate. The proximity of a deltaic system and the consequent riverine input probably caused a salinity decrease of the surface waters, hindering the proliferation of planktonic foraminifers in the water column, which prevalently occur in short influxes and disappear at ca. 6Ma. Our results suggest that the onset of the crisis occurred during a phase of relative sea level high stand, whereas no evidences of sea level drop can be envisaged. The palaeoclimatic reconstruction based on palynological data indicates the dominance of a “subtropical humid forest” vegetation type, where fresh water swamps are well represented. From 6.03Ma onward, the transition to the salinity crisis is marked by more pronounced cyclical expansions of the temperate broad-leaved deciduous forest, along with herbaceous taxa. The establishment of the strongly evaporative condition at the crisis onset is not associated with major vegetational changes towards drier conditions, but linked to a sudden increase of δ18O and the disappearance of benthic foraminifers just prior to the deposition of the 1st laminated carbonate, which represents the base of the Primary Lower Gypsum unit.