The Marne di Monte Serrone ("Monte Serrone Marl") is a
geological formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...
in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, dating to roughly between 181 and 178
million years ago
The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds.
Usage
Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago) ...
,
[Baldanza, 1989][Sabatino et al., 2009] and covering the early and middle
Toarcian
The Toarcian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 182.7 Ma (million years ago) and 174.1 Ma. It follows the Pliensbachian and is followed by the Aalenian.
The Toarcian ...
stage of the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
Period of central
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
It is the regional equivalent to the Toarcian units of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
such as the
Turmiel Formation, units in
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
, such as the
Budoš Limestone and units like the
Wazzant Formation and the
Azilal Formation
The Azilal Formation (historically Toundute Continental Series and Wazzant Formation)Known wholly in the past by the current sub-unit terms ''Toundute Continental Series'' and ''The Wazzant Formation'' is a geological unit in the Azilal and Ouarz ...
of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
.
[Monaco, 1994]
Description
The Marne di Monte Serrone was first defined by Pialli in 1969.
[Pialli, 1969]
The formation is characterised for be one of the most complete sections of the Toarcian paleobiographical strata around Europe.
[Palliani & Mattioli, 1994] It is also one of the best places on southern Europe where the strata shows the effects of the
Lower Toarcian anoxic event (TAE). The formation also provides data about the changes after the Toarcian AE, with changes on the deposited micritic limestones and marls, what shows a local sedimentary response to the Toarcian climatic perturbation induced by the Vulcanism of the Southern
Karoo-Ferrar
The Karoo and Ferrar Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are two large igneous provinces in Southern Africa and Antarctica respectively, collectively known as the Karoo-Ferrar, Gondwana,E.g. or Southeast African LIP, associated with the initial break- ...
that boiled the carbon cycle and change the mechanism of Earth climate. The dawn after the Toarcian AE is presented locally by changes on the environments, to more seashore to lagoonal ones.
[Satolli et al., 2018]
Depositional environment
The environment of the formation has been compared to the present on the Toarcian
Betic Cordillera strata, with a corridor of pelagic environments with influence from emerged reliefs.
[Nini et al., 1996] Other sections are related to nearby emerged lands, seashore deposits and even inland deposition, due to the changes in lithology (especially with the clay minerals
kaolinite and
smectite
A smectite (from ancient Greek ''σμηκτός'' smektos 'lubricated'; ''σμηκτρίς'' smektris 'walker's earth', 'fuller's earth'; rubbing earth; earth that has the property of cleaning) is a mineral mixtures of various swelling sheet sil ...
). Due to that, the main depositional layers of the formation are believed to come from an environment intermediate between pelagic and nearshore settings.
[Parisi et al., 1996]
Due to the influence of different depositional settings, the lithology of the formation was widely distributed, with changes on the mineralological composition. The clay Mineral assemblages, with the neritic sedimentation, expose a change on the deposition, as it can be seen on the Valdorbia Section, where on the Middle Toarcian the reduction of this minerals indicate a sea-level fall, with a change from a
bathyal
The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagi ...
to a
middle shelf environment. Additionally there is a record of changes on the fauna, specially bivalves that suggests a variable flow regime at the major wave base as a result of a storm event.
[Ortega Huertas et al., 1993]
Fossil content
The biota of the formation comprise mostly marine microinvertebrates and algae, with the presence of
ammonites and abundant pollen in the Middle Toarcian sections.
Nanoplankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...
is one of the most representative finds of the layers, appearing deposited with interruptions, probably due to changes on the oxygen content of the sea floor.
[Noël et al., 1993] Phytoplankton includes abundant
dinoflagellate cysts and
acritarch
Acritarchs are organic microfossils, known from approximately 1800 million years ago to the present. The classification is a catch all term used to refer to any organic microfossils that cannot be assigned to other groups. Their diversity refle ...
s, specially the genus ''
Micrhystridium''. There registered a transgression on the sea level on the Lower Toarcian, with a rise, giving the Umbria-Marche Basin pelagic conditions, and a
regression during the Middle Toarcian. Those changes implicate the disappearance of genera of dinoflagellates from the strata to be replaced with new ones.
[Palliani et al., 1998][Palliani et al., 1999] Some dinoflagellate genera such as ''
Mendicodinium'' are more abundant in the Marne di Monte Serrone than in any other unit discovered until 1997.
[Palliani et al., 1997]
Foraminiferal analysis had been done, revealing changes in the salinity, with ''
Spirillina'' as the most abundant genus found, followed by ''
Prodentalina'', ''
Eoguttulina'', ''
Lenticulina'', ''
Nodosaria'', ''
Lingulonodosaria'' and ''
Pseudonodosaria''.
[Rodríguez Tovar et al., 2016] Invertebrate remains are mainly
brachiopod
Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...
s (''
Pseudokingena'', ''
Nannirhynchia'' and ''
Lokutella'', among others) and
ammonites; ''
Eodactylites'', ''
Pleuroceras'', ''
Canavaria'', ''
Trinacrioceras'', ''
Lioceratoides'', and ''
Praepolyplectus'' as predominant genera.
[Bilotta et al., 2010]
Other marine fauna includes
Holothuriida
Holothuriida is an order of sea cucumbers. Taxa within the order Holothuriida were previously classified in the order Aspidochirotida, which was determined to be polyphyletic in 2017. Some taxa were also reclassified into the clades Synallactida ...
n ''
Sclerites
A sclerite ( Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonl ...
'', unidentified
crinoid
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...
s, fragmentary
asteroidea
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...
ns and fish teeth, similar to the genera ''
Saurostomus'' and ''
Dapedium
''Dapedium'' (from el, δαπέδων , 'pavement') is an extinct genus of primitive neopterygian ray-finned fish. The first-described finding was an example of ''D. politum'', found in the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, on the Jurassic Coast of E ...
''.
[Monaco et al., 1994]
There are terrestrial fossils and sediments, specially clay. The main source area for the clay could have been the palaeosoils developed on the Carbonate
Latium-Abruzzo Platform, although more recent studies prove a continental origin.
[Perilli et al., 2008] The Main fossils from terrestrial deposits are plant Pollen, mostly
Pteridophyta
A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as " cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns ...
spores and
Circumpolles, and
Palynomacerals.
[Palliani & Riding, 1997] The genera includes ''
Leptolepidites'' (
Lycopsida
Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...
) spp., ''
Trilites'' (
Filicopsida
The Polypodiidae, commonly called leptosporangiate ferns, formerly Leptosporangiatae, are one of four class (biology), subclasses of ferns, and the largest of these, being the largest group of living ferns, including some 11,000 species worldwide ...
) spp., ''
Ischyosporites'' (
Pteridopsida
The Polypodiidae, commonly called leptosporangiate ferns, formerly Leptosporangiatae, are one of four subclasses of ferns, and the largest of these, being the largest group of living ferns, including some 11,000 species worldwide. The group has ...
) spp. or ''
Foveosporites'' (
Selaginellaceae
''Selaginella'' is the sole genus of vascular plants in the family Selaginellaceae, the spikemosses or lesser clubmosses.
This family is distinguished from Lycopodiaceae (the clubmosses) by having scale-leaves bearing a ligule and by having ...
) spp. and others less abundant, such as the genus ''
Callialasporites'' (
Coniferales
The order Pinales in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, comprises all the extant conifers. The distinguishing characteristic is the reproductive structure known as a cone produced by all Pinales. All of the extant conifers, such as cedar ...
).
There is a curious reduction of the
Cheirolepidiaceae
Cheirolepidiaceae is an extinct family of conifers. They first appeared in the Triassic, and were widespread during most of the Mesozoic era. They are united by the possession of a distinctive pollen type assigned to the form genus '' Classopolli ...
genus ''
Classopollis'', abundant on coeval associations from northern Europe,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, northeast
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, as a possible effect of paleoclimatic changes.
[Palliani, 1997] In 2019 was recovered that Marne di Monte Serrone seashore section was part of the now lost continent of
Greater Adria Greater Adria was a paleomicrocontinent that existed from 240 to 140 million years ago. The paleomicrocontinent is named after ''Adria'', a geologic region found in Italy, where evidence of the microcontinental fragment was first observed. Greater ...
, with the confirmation of a continental origin for the plant matter, as was proposed in 1997.
[Van Hinsbergen et al., 2019]
See also
*
Azilal Group, North Africa
*
Calcare di Sogno, Italy
*
Mizur Formation, North Caucasus
*
Cattamarra Coal Measures
The Cattamarra Coal Measures is an Early Jurassic geological unit in Western Australia. Description
They are part of the Perth Basin, and are a sequence of non-marine, probably fluvial sandstones, shales and silts including bituminous coal, and ...
, Australia
*
Djupadal Formation
The Djupadal Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in Skåne County, southern Sweden. It is Early Jurassic (probably Pliensbachian-Toarcian, or Late Toarcian) in age. It is part of the Central Skåne Volcanic Province, know by the ...
, Central Skane
*
Ciechocinek Formation
The Ciechocinek Formation (also known as the Gryfice Formation at Suliszewo), formerly known in Germany as the Green Series (German: ''Grüne Serie'') is a Jurassic (lower Toarcian) geologic formation that extends across the Baltic coast, from ...
, Germany and Poland
*
Irlbach Sandstone, Germany
*
Fernie Formation
The Fernie Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Jurassic age. It is present in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.Poulton, T.P., Tittemore, J. and Dolby, G. 1990. Jurassic ...
, Alberta and British Columbia
**
Poker Chip Shale
The Fernie Formation is a stratigraphic unit of Jurassic age. It is present in the western part of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in western Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.Poulton, T.P., Tittemore, J. and Dolby, G. 1990. Jurassic ...
*
Kandreho Formation
The Kandreho Formation is an Early Jurassic (middle or late Toarcian) geological formation of the Mahajanga Basin of Madagascar. The marly limestones of the formation were deposited in a subtidal lagoonal environment. The formation overlies the ...
, Madagascar
*
Kota Formation
The Kota Formation is a geological formation in India. The precise age of Kota Formation are uncertain, but it dates from the Early to Middle Jurassic, and is split into a Lower Member and Upper Member.Prasad GVR, and Manhas BK. 2007A new docodont ...
, India
*
Krempachy Marl Formation, Poland and Slovakia
*
Lava Formation, Lithuania
*
List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Italy
See also
* Lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Europe
These lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Europe enumerate the rock layers which preserve the fossilized remains of ancient life in Europe by the modern countries wher ...
*
Los Molles Formation
The Los Molles Formation is a geologic formation of Early to Middle Jurassic age, located at northern and central part of Neuquén Basin at Mendoza Shelf in Argentina. It is overlain by the Niyeu–Lajas Formation.McIlroy et al., 2005
Descrip ...
, Argentina
*
Mawson Formation
The Mawson Formation is a geological formation in Antarctica, dating to roughly between 182 and 177 million years ago and covering the Toarcian stages of the Jurassic Period in the Mesozoic Era. Vertebrate remains are known from the formation. T ...
, Antarctica
*
Navajo Sandstone
The Navajo Sandstone is a geological formation in the Glen Canyon Group that is spread across the U.S. states of southern Nevada, northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, and Utah as part of the Colorado Plateau province of the United States.Anonymo ...
, Utah
*
Posidonia Shale
The Posidonia Shale (german: Posidonienschiefer, also called Schistes Bitumineux in Luxembourg) geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early Jurassic (Toarcian) geological formation of southwestern and northeast Germany, northern Swit ...
,
Lagerstätte
A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These f ...
in Germany
*
Saubach Formation
The Saubach Formation is a geological formation in Austria and Germany, dating to about 180–174 mya (unit), million years ago.Böhm, F. (2003). Lithostratigraphy of the Adnet Group (Lower to Middle Jurassic, Salzburg, Austria) (pp. 231–268). V ...
, Austria
*
Sachrang Formation, Austria
*
Whitby Mudstone
The Whitby Mudstone is a Toarcian (Early Jurassic; ''Falciferum''-''Bifrons'' in regional chronostratigraphy) geological formation in Yorkshire and Worcestershire, England.[Whiteaves Formation
The Whiteaves Formation is a geologic formation in British Columbia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Jurassic period.
See also
* List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Italy
* Toarcian turnover
* Toarcian formations
** Marne di M ...]
, British Columbia
*
:Toarcian Stage
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite LSA , last=Perilli , first=N. , last2=Reale , first2=V. , last3=De Oliveira , first3=L.C.V. , year=2008 , title=Ages of the onset of marly sedimentation and of the black shales in the Tuscan Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy) , url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286900981_Ages_of_the_onset_of_marly_sedimentation_and_of_the_black_shales_in_the_tuscan_basin_Northern_Apennines_Italy , journal=
Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia , volume=114 , pages=45–60 , accessdate=2020-03-17
* Palliani, R. B., & Riding, J. B. (1999). Relationships between the early Toarcian anoxic event and organic-walled phytoplankton in central Italy. Marine Micropaleontology, 37(2), 101-116
* Palliani, R. B., Cirilli, S., & Mattioli, E. (1998). Phytoplankton response and geochemical evidence of the lower Toarcian relative sea level rise in the Umbria-Marche basin (Central Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 142(1-2), 33–50.
* Palliani, R. B., Riding, J. B., & Torricelli, S. (1997). The dinoflagellate cyst Mendicodinium Morgenroth, 1970, emend. from the lower Toarcian (Jurassic) of central Italy. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 96(1-2), 99-111
* Palliani, R. B., & Riding, J. B. (1997). Lower Toarcian palynostratigraphy of Pozzale, central Italy. Palynology, 21(1), 91-103.
* Palliani, R. B. (1997). Toarcian sporomorph assemblages from the Umbria‐Marche basin, central Italy. Palynology, 21(1), 105–121.
* Nini, C., Nocchi, M., & Venturi, F. (1996). The Toarcian marly-calcareous succession in the M. Martani area (Northern Apennines): lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleoecology and effects of Tethysian event on the depositional environment. BOLLETTINO-SOCIETA PALEONTOLOGICA ITALIANA, 35, 281–320.
* Monaco, P. (1994). Hummocky cross-stratifications and trace fossils in the Middle Toarcian of some sequences of Umbria-Marche Apennines. Geobios, 27, 679–688.
* Monaco, P., Nocchi, M., Ortega Huertas, M., Palomo, I., & Martínez, F. (1994). Depositional trends in the Valdorbia Section (Central Italy) during the Early Jurassic, as revealed by micropaleontology, sedimentology and geochemistry. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 87(1), 157-223
* Bucefalo Palliani, R., & Mattioli, E. (1994). Enrichment in organic matter within the Early Toarcian Marne di Monte Serrone Formation: a synchronous event in the Umbria-Marche Basin (central Italy). Paleopelagos, 4, 129–140.
* Noël, D., Busson, G., Cornée, A., & Manginin, A. M. (1993). Le nannoplancton calcaire et la formation des alternances calcaires-marnes dans le Lias des bassins de Marches-Ombrie (Italie). Rivista italiana di paleontologia e stratigrafia, 99(4).
* Ortega Huertas, M., Monaco, P., & Palomo, I. (1993). First Data on Clay Mineral Assemblages and Geochemical Characteristics of Toarcian Sedimentation in the umbriamarche basin (central Italy). Clay Minerals, 28(2), 297–310.
* Baldanza, A. (1989). The type section of Marne di Monte Serrone Formation: stratigraphic analysis based on ammonites, calcareous nannofossils and foraminifera assemblages. Mesozoic Cenozoic Stratigraphy in the Umbria-Marche Area. Mere. Descr. Carta Geol. Ital, 39, 185.
* Pialli, G. (1969). Un episodio marnoso del Lias superiore nel bacino umbro-marchigiano: le marne di M. Serrone. Stabilimento tipografico Genovese.
Geologic formations of Italy
Jurassic System of Europe
Toarcian Stage
Jurassic Italy
Marl formations
Open marine deposits
Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Europe
Paleontology in Italy
Formations
Formations