Integrated stratigraphy and astronomical tuning of lower-middle Pleistocene Montalbano Jonico section (southern Italy)

Astronomical calibration of the lower-middle Pleistocene Montalbano Jonico section located in the Lucania Basin (Southern Italy) is presented. Previous papers widely discussed the integrated stratigraphy (calcareous nannofossils, sapropel stratigraphy, benthic and planktonic oxygen stable isotopes) and the paleoenvironmental features of this section and its potential suitability for the selection of the Middle Pleistocene Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). In this study, new planktonic ?18O data, additional biostratigraphical constraints and new tephrochronology on volcaniclastic layers occurring within the studied record are reported. The new chronostratigraphic framework provides a robust base for correlation of the oxygen isotope stratigraphy for the Montalbano Jonico section with the glacial and interglacial fluctuations of the Oceanic and Mediterranean ?18O reference deep-sea records. Specifically, the lower part of the Montalbano Jonico section (Interval A) provides correlation of the planktonic and benthic ?18O cycles to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 36 to MIS 23. Interval A includes a distinct peak of left-coiled neogloboquadrinids, the Globoratalia crassaformis influx, the First Occurrence of Gephyrocapsa omega, and the First Common Occurrence and Last Common Occurrence of Reticulofenestra asanoi. These stratigraphical constraints support the tuning of five sapropel layers included in this part of the section to insolation cycles i-112, i-104, i-102, i-90 and i-86. The upper part of the section (Interval B), which includes the temporary disappearance (td2) of G. omega and tephra layer V5, Ar/Ar age dated at 719.5 ± 12.6 ka, is consistent with identification of MIS 22 to MIS 16 in the planktonic ?18O pattern. The ?18O time series of the whole section was reconstructed using the midpoints of individual sapropels and their correlative precession minima, visual comparison of the ?18O pattern with the record available at the Mediterranean ODP Site 975, and, in the upper part of the section, the Ar/Ar age of tephra V5. The developed astronomical tuning revealed that the Montalbano Jonico section covers an interval from 1240 ka to 645 ka. A significant change in sedimentation rate occurs between Intervals A (0.53 m/ky) and Interval B (0.91 m/ky) at about 870 ka and is consistent with a sea-level drop from a bathyal to a circalittoral environment. Bioevents recognised in the Montalbano Jonico section have been dated according to the astronomical calibration, and age assignments of tephra V1-V4 and V6-V9 are also proposed. The Montalbano Jonico section fills the gap between the top of the Vrica section and the base of the Ionian informal Middle Pleistocene stage, and represents a Mediterranean reference section for the Mid-Pleistocene transition.