Sedimentary features of the Lower Pleistocene mixed siliciclastic- bioclastic tidal deposits of the Catanzaro Strait (Calabrian Arc, south Italy)

The Plio-Pleistocene infill of the Catanzaro Basin (central Calabria) includes a Lower Pleistocene (Calabrian), ~80 m thick interval made up of mixed (bioclastic-siliciclastic) sand-sized sediments. The Catanzaro palaeo-strait (Fig. 1) is interpreted as an E-W-elongated, narrow linear basin linked the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas, producing a marine seaway or strait which was tidally-dominated during the Lower Pleistocene. Two main fault systems bound the basin: an ENE-WSW to WNW-ESE-trending system to the North and an E-W-trending system to the South, both showing an en-échelon-type pattern (TANSI et alii, 2007). The Plio-Pleistocene infill of the Catanzaro Basin unconformably overlies the Upper Miocene conglomerates and evaporites and, locally, the Paleozoic crystalline basement. From the bottom to the top, the Catanzaro Basin infill consists of a Pliocene unit (about 100 m thick) made up of limestone and marls, and erosively overlain by the mixed succession focus of this work. This succession is top-truncated by Quaternary terraced deposits and/or by surfaces of modern exposure (CHIARELLA, 2011). Mixed deposits of the Catanzaro Strait consist of a series of vertically-stacked bidirectional cross strata (Fig. 2) which exhibit a sedimentary facies association typical of tidal dominated environments, including herringbones, bundles and re-activation surfaces (e.g., LONGHITANO et alii, 2012a, b).