Base of large Gephyrocapsa and astronomical calibration of early Pleistocene sapropels in Site 967 and Hole 969D: Solving the chronology of the Vrica section (Calabria, Italy)

Abstract

Calcareous plankton biochronology and the astronomical calibration of sapropels are presented for the early Pleistocene in Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 967 and Hole 969D with the aim to solve the existing chronology problem in the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary stratotype section of Vrica, Italy. Detailed sapropel correlations between these ODP sites and the Vrica and Singa sections, corroborated by calcareous plankton biostratigraphy, indicate that the Vrica section is continuous and that the base of the large Gephyrocapsa is diachronous on a global scale.