Paleoclimate and extensional tectonics of short-lived lacustrine environments. Lower Cretaceous of the Panormide Southern Tethyan carbonate platform (NW Sicily)

Accepted Manuscript Paleoclimate and extensional tectonics of short-lived lacustrine environments. Lower Cretaceous of the Panormide Southern Tethyan carbonate platform (NW Sicily) Luca Basilone, Francesco Perri, Attilio Sulli, Salvatore Critelli PII:

S0264-8172(17)30350-1

DOI:

10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.08.041

Reference:

JMPG 3058

To appear in:

Marine and Petroleum Geology

Received Date: 24 June 2017 Revised Date:

30 August 2017

Accepted Date: 31 August 2017

Please cite this article as: Basilone, L., Perri, F., Sulli, A., Critelli, S., Paleoclimate and extensional tectonics of short-lived lacustrine environments. Lower Cretaceous of the Panormide Southern Tethyan carbonate platform (NW Sicily), Marine and Petroleum Geology (2017), doi: 10.1016/ j.marpetgeo.2017.08.041. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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Paleoclimate and extensional tectonics of short-lived lacustrine environments. Lower

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Cretaceous of the Panormide Southern Tethyan Carbonate Platform (NW Sicily)

3 Luca Basilone*1, Francesco Perri°, Attilio Sulli*, Salvatore Critelli°

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*Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, 90123

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Palermo (Italy)

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°Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS),

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Italy

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corresponding author: Luca Basilone ([email protected])

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Abstract

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Subaerial erosion and continental sedimentation interbedded with shallow-water carbonates

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are unequivocal stratigraphic records to evaluate paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate evolution

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of emerged landmass. Stratigraphic analysis of the Cretaceous Monte Gallo section of the Mesozoic Panormide

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carbonate platform, in the northern side of the Palermo Mountains (NW Sicily) records a

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peculiar continental-derived clays that interrupted the shallow-water carbonate sedimentation.

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These clays rest, with lenticular geometries, above the tectonically-enhanced subaerial erosional

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unconformity of the Barremian-Lower Aptian Requienid limestones and are covered by the

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Upper Cretaceous Rudistid limestone.

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Sedimentological investigation combined with mineralogical and petrographic results reveal

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the occurrence of alkaline to saline lake clays deposition in pond-filling depositional

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environment recording stressed conditions (evaporation) especially in its final living phase. They

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were formed when a half graben/tilted-block tectonics produced footwall uplift of the Gallo

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faulted-blocks carbonate platform.

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Paleoclimate evaluations of the continental-derived clays highlighted that a period of warm-

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humid conditions, which favoured their formation, interrupted the uniform warm climate

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conditions highlighting a greenhouse climate phase.

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Keywords: lacustrine clays; uplift; weathering; warm-humid paleoclimate; Lower Cretaceous; Sicily

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1. Introduction

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The occurrence of continental clay deposits intercalated within shallow-water carbonate

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sequences is indicative of periods of abrupt environmental changes, including subaerial exposure

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related to syn-sedimentary tectonics. Carbonate platforms and related continental soil intercalations have been described and

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interpreted from a number of extensional basins, comprising the Mesozoic Tethyan margins

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(Bernoulli et al., 1990, Mindszenty et al., 1995; Perrone et al., 2006; Critelli et al., 2008, 2017;

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Boni et al., 2012; Graziano et al., 2016), the South Atlantic (Brice et al., 1980; Bertani and

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Carozzi, 1985), or the Miocene rift system of the Gulf of Aden (Bosence et al., 1996). Most of

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these intercalations have been related to continental sedimentation both of lacustrine deposits

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and of the product of alteration of volcanic to igneous parent rocks (i.e., bauxites), highlighting

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syn-sedimentary tectonics, uplift and subaerial exposure of the carbonate platform strata.

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Chemical and mineralogical composition of clastic sediments provide important clues

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regarding features of the source rocks, tectonic setting, paleoenvironmental conditions at the

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time of deposition (e.g. Critelli et al., 2007, Caracciolo et al., 2012) including the nature of

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chemical weathering, which yield insights into paleoclimatic conditions (i.e., weathering index,

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Nesbitt and Young, 1982; McLennan et al., 1993; Fedo et al., 1995; Arribas et al., 2007; Barbera

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et al., 2011; Perri and Ohta, 2014; Perri et al., 2015; Amendola et al., 2016).

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Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines sedimentology, mineralogy and

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petrography, and the integration of their results, it is possible to make up for the lack of the

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information about the stratigraphic signature of these clay intercalations and to provide insight

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and answers to some questions regarding the geological processes concurring in their formation.

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The main purpose of this paper is a multimethod characterisation of a clays package,

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stratigraphically located between the Lower and Upper Cretaceous carbonate platform strata

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outcropping in the Monte Gallo (Palermo Mts, NW Sicily, Fig. 1a). Detailed sedimentological,

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mineralogical and petrographic analysis, pointing out the continental origin of these clays, 3

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provided new contributions regarding the environments of deposition, tectono-sedimentary

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setting, provenance of the clay minerals and source terrane, environmental changes and climate

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at the time of deposition.

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Monte Gallo is an isolated relief located in the northern sector of the Palermo Mountains (Fig.

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1a). The latter, making part of the western Sicily Fold and Thrust Belt (FTB), are the result of

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the tectonic emplacement of geological bodies, consisting of Mesozoic-Cenozoic shallow-water

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and deep-water carbonates derived from the deformation of different paleogeographic domains

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pertaining the Southern Tethyan continental margin (Catalano et al., 2013a; Basilone et al.,

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2016a).

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The western Sicily FTB and its submerged northern extension, submerged in the southern

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Tyrrhenian Sea, is located between the Sardinia and the Pelagian-Ionian blocks (inset in Fig. 1a).

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In this sector of the Mediterranean area, the main compressional movements, after the Paleogene

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Alpine orogeny, began with the latest Oligocene-Early Miocene counter clockwise rotation of

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Corsica-Sardinia and its collision with the African continental margin (Oldow et al., 1990;

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Gattacceca and Speranza, 2002; Catalano et al., 2008; 2013b; Gasparo Morticelli et al., 2015;

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Critelli et al., 2017).

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The study area (Fig. 1a) is a NW-SE-striking faulted antiform, involving the whole Monte

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Gallo Mesozoic carbonate succession. The extensional and transtensional tectonics due to the

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opening of Tyrrhenian Sea (Malinverno and Ryan, 1986; Gueguen et al., 1998), dissecting with

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E-, W- and NW-dipping faults the older structures, is responsible of the present-day

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morphostructural setting (Cella et al., 2004; Di Maggio et al., 2009; Agate et al., 2017).

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The 900m-thick Upper Triassic-Eocene shallow-water carbonate Panormide succession (Fig.

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1b), whose lithostratigraphic units were recently revised and amended (Catalano et al., 2013a;

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Basilone, 2017), is characterized by neritic facies, with periodic subaerial exposure (documented 4

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by Jurassic bauxites) and pelagic sedimentation episodes (Ferla et al., 2002; Di Stefano et al.,

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2002; Basilone and Di Maggio, 2016). Stratigraphic and structural data are consistent with a Triassic–Jurassic paleogeography

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characterised by a wide carbonate platform developed on the Sicilian sector of the African

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continental crust, flanked, to the (present-day) north, by a large basinal area, growing on a

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stretched continental crust (Catalano et al., 1996). The former Sicilian region became a passive

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margin since the Jurassic, when the Ionian ocean opened in the wake of the northward drifting

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Adriatic plate (Dercourt et al., 1986; Dewey et al., 1989; Perrone et al., 2006). The original

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location of the Panormide carbonate platform along the Tethyan margin during the Cretaceous is

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matter of different interpretations (Fig. 1c). A geodynamic model is based on the concept that

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Adria was an independent microplate and the Ionian Tethys oceanic branch was connected to the

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Alpine Tethys, separating Adria from Africa (Dercourt et al., 1986; Catalano et al., 2001; Finetti,

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2005). A second model is based on the hypothesis that Adria was a Mesozoic promontory of

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Africa, with two different oceanic domains, the Alpine Tethys and the Ionian Tethys separated

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by a continental sector (Stampfli and Borel, 2002; Rosenbaum et al., 2004).

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3. Sampling and methods

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Fieldwork, physical-stratigraphy and facies analysis were applied along several measured and

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sampled sections to define the lithological features of the units, their sedimentological and

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environmental setting, geometries and stratigraphic boundaries. Thin sections have been

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analysed using petrographic microscope and applying microfacies Dunham’s classification. The

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resulting lithofacies were calibrated by using biostratigraphic data, mostly based on algae and

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benthic foraminifer biozonations (Montanari, 1965; Camoin, 1983; Chiocchini et al., 2008).

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The section of Figure 2 was measured and sampled from a morphologic indentation of the

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northern side of Monte Gallo. Samples, collected from bottom to top of the study section, were

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investigated to assess their micropaleontologic, mineralogical and petrographic features. 5

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Bulk-rock and clay minerals composition were obtained using the following methods and equipment:

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1. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM): morphological studies on selected natural dry samples

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were performed using a transmission electron microscope, ModelEM-100, equipped with energy

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dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), for the study of chemical composition of clay minerals,

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calcite, chlorides and finely dispersed ferromanganese oxide mineral phases.

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2. X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD): The mineralogy of the whole-rock powder was

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determined by X-ray diffraction using a Bruker D8 Advance diffractometer (CuKα radiation,

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graphite secondary monochromator, sample spinner; step size 0.02; speed 1 s for step) at the

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Università della Calabria (Italy). The <2 µm grain-size fraction was then separated by settling in

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distilled water. Oriented mounts were prepared, by evaporation of a clay-water suspension on the

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glass slides. X-ray diffraction analyses were carried out on air-dried specimens, glycolated at 60

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°C for 8 hours, and heated at 375 °C and at 550 °C for 1 hour (Moore and Reynolds, 1997).

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Semiquantitative mineralogical analysis of the bulk rock was performed on random powders

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measuring peak areas using the WINFIT computer program (Krumm, 1996). The weight

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percentage of each mineral was obtained according to the procedure proposed by Cavalcante et

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al. (2007). Total loss on ignition (L.O.I.) was calculated for the studied samples after heating the

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samples for 3 h at 900 °C; these values are used to better quantify the carbonates present in the

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studied samples. The percentage of illite (%I) and stacking order (Reichweite; R) of the I-S

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mixed layers were determined on the spectrum of the glycolated specimen according to Moore

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and Reynolds (1997).

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4. Results

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The studied Cretaceous rocks of the Monte Gallo section (Fig. 1b) consist of two main

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carbonate units: the Requienid limestone (Lower Cretaceous) and the Rudistid limestone (Upper

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Cretaceous). These carbonates are separated among them by an uneven shaped unconformity 6

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surface, which is an erosional truncation of the topmost beds of the Requienid limestone and a

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downlap lateral termination of the lower beds of the Rudistid limestone (Fig. 3). Locally, the

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boundary is accompanied by the presence of a clays package (Fig. 4a), here informally named

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Costa Mazzone clays.

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4.1. Stratigraphy and facies analysis

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From the bottom, the succession consists of:

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Requienid limestone: 70-150 m-thick of deepening upward cycles of m-thick dark-grey graded bioclastic floatstone and wackestone-packstone with requienids (Offneria sp.,

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Precaprina sp.), large gastropods (Nerinea sp.), coated grains, benthic foraminifers

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(Cuneolina ex. gr. camposauri-laurentii Sartoni and Crescenti, Palorbitolina lenticularis

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(Blumenbach), P. praecursor (Montanari), Rectodictioconus giganteus Schroeder), corals

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and green algae (Cayeuxia sp., Triploporella cf. decastroi Barattolo), with additional

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contribution from microbial nodules and crusts (Bacinella irregularis Radoicic,

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Lithocodium sp.), alternated with dm-thick darkish oolitic and bioclastic packstone-

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grainstone with abraded and broken ooids and, locally, cm-thick laminated wackestone-

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packstone with fenestrae, peloids and algae fragments. The rich fossil content fixes these

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beds to the Barremian-Lower Aptian (Tab. 1). Depositional environment is referred to a

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protected lagoon bordered by oolitic sand bar (Basilone and Di Maggio, 2016).

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Costa Mazzone clays (MAZ) are 280 cm-thick packages of brownish-to-yellowish fine-

grained pelites, clays and marly clays (Tab. 1). Some horizons have been differentiated in

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the field (Figs. 2, 4b). The main lithofacies consists of: i) blackish pelites alternated with

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mm-thick dark-green marls and thin calcareous levels (horizons a, c, Figs. 2, 4c); ii)

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blackish to yellowish pelitic clays and marls with rare yellowish marly clay intercalations

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(horizons b, d, Fig. 2); iii) mm-thick varve-type rhythmic alternation of red-yellowish

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marls and greenish-to-darkish laminated clays (horizon e, Figs. 2, 4d); iv) few cm-thick 7

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limestones of karst origin (horizon f, Figs. 2, 4e). These clays cover with draped

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morphologies the erosional surface cutting the Barremian-Lower Aptian Requienid

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limestone and are preserved in small troughs (some metres in depth, Fig. 4a). They pass

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upwards to the Upper Albian-Cenomanian Rudistid limestones through both a transitional

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(Fig. 4f) and erosional contact (Figs. 4b, d).

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Rudistid limestone: up to 200 m-thick shallowing-upward cycles of darkish-grey thickbedded rudistid boundstone, bioclastic floatstone with rudistid fragments, graded

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packstone-grainstone with large Nerinea sp., Orbitolina sp., and darkish oolitic-to-

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bioclastic packstone-grainstone. The skeletal component is represented by caprinids

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(Caprina schiosensis, Caprinula sp., Ichtyosarcolites rotundus), caprotinids (Polyconites

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verneuilli), large radiolitids (Sauvagesia sp., Durania sp., Radiolites sauvagesi, R.

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nebrodensis), benthic foraminifers (Orbitolina (Conicorbitolina) conica D’Archiac,

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Cuneolina cf. pavonia, C. cf. conica, C. cf. cretacea, Trocholina elongata, Actinoporella

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podolica, Conicospirillina basiliensis, Dicyclina sp., Cornuspira cf. cretacea), algae,

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oncoids, microproblematics and corals. Non-skeletal grains are ooids and black

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intraclasts. The unit is dated on the basis of the fossil content to the Upper Cretaceous,

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mostly Cenomanian (Tab. 1). Depositional environment is referred to protected lagoon

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areas with isolated patch reefs rimmed by sand bars and rudistid reefs (Di Stefano and

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Ruberti, 2000).

4.2. Sedimentology and petrography of the Costa Mazzone clays

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Microscopic observation allowed to recognize homogenous mineral content in all samples,

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mainly formed by silicates and calcite. SEM-EDS analysis has permitted to distinguish, in order

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of abundance:

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- frequently eroded and rounded particles, displaying parallel sheet phyllosilicate structure 8

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(Figs. 5a). They occur as aggregates of clay minerals and some angular to sub-rounded

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grains are nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding paste. EDS analyses reveal a

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chemical composition of Si and Al, with minor amounts of K, Mg and Fe (Fig. 6a); - subrounded grains of calcite (Figs. 5b, d, e). Among these we distinguished: i) broken

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subangular calcium rounded sherds, which can derive from shoreline erosion and from

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hinterland areas (e.g., Jones and Browser, 1978); ii) unbroken inorganically-precipitated

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rhombohedral calcite crystals, which can derive from a hypersaturated water, in high

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salinity conditions; iii) diagenetic carbonates, which have been possibly produced by post-

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depositional alteration of other carbonate minerals; iv) few undeterminable bioclasts.

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- white to grey, fine- to medium-grained angular to subangular sherds of quartz, detrital zircon and silicates (Figs. 5b, 6c);

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- isolated cubic crystals of halite, frequently accompanied by gypsum crusts mostly occur in

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the uppermost horizons of the clays. They are scattered in the clay matrix (Figs. 5c, 6b), as

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infilling cavities or growing above iron-oxide encrustations (Fig. 5e) and as fibrous crusts

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(Fig. 5f);

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metal oxides (Figs. 5b, d, e, 6d), diffusely occur;

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- rounded to spherical whitish bright clasts, representing detrital grains and precipitates of

- phosphates, as single grains (carbonate fluoroapatite) or as laminated encrustation (i.e. phosphatized calcite), and sulphides are also present.

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4.3. Mineralogy

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4.3.1. Bulk rock composition

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The results of whole rock XRD analyses are reported in Table 2. The studied samples are

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mainly composed of calcite and phyllosilicates. The phyllosilicates range from 23% (MG1) to

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66% (MG2B) and are generally illite, I-S mixed layers, kaolinite and chlorite. Calcite content

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ranges from 15% (MG2B) to 70% (MG1). The studied samples are further composed of quartz 9

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ranging from 6% (MG3) to 19% (MG2B). All the studied samples contain traces of evaporitic

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minerals (e.g., halite and gypsum). Feldspars are absent in the studied samples; only the sample

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LUG53 contains traces of plagioclases (Tab. 2).

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The <2 µm grain size fraction (Tab. 3) is mainly composed of illite and I-S mixed layers. Illite

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content ranges from 29% (LUG53) to 58% (MG1), whereas I-S mixed layers range from 16%

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(MG1) to 39% (MG3). Kaolinite and chlorite are present in similar percentages. In particular,

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kaolinite content ranges from 14% (MG1) to 17% (LUG53) and chlorite ranges from 12% (MG3)

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to 16% (LUG53). Kaolinite and chlorite are characterized by similar diffraction peaks at c. 12 °2θ

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and 25 °2θ. The studied samples were further heated at 550°C to evaluate the presence of

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kaolinite (Fig. 7). Heating chlorite to 550°C for 1 hr produced changes in the diffraction pattern

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due to the dihydroxylation of the hydroxide sheet (Moore and Reynolds, 1997). In particular, the

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intensity of the 002 and 004 reflections of the chlorite are much weakened, whereas the kaolinite

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becomes amorphous to X-rays at this temperature (550 °C) and its diffraction pattern disappears

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(Moore and Reynolds, 1997), as shown in Figure 7.

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6. Discussion

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6.1. Depositional setting and tectono-sedimentary evolution

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Sedimentological and mineralogical analysis reveals that the Costa Mazzone clays were

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continental deposits filling a pond environment, where intermittent streams carried detritus from

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source areas (Fig. 8). The abundant alkaline and chloride content permits to refer these clays to

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alkaline, saline-lake deposits (Eugster, 1980; Jones and Weir, 1983; Deocampo and Jones, 2014

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and references therein). The presence of Ca-Mg-Na-Cl as the most diffused ions in the clay

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samples (excluding those forming silicates) suggests that the Costa Mazzone pond was, in its

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final stage of sedimentation, hydrologically partially closed with evaporation exceeding inflow

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lacustrine deposits and their couplets regular pattern is frequently referred to seasonal varves of

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lakes (e.g., Tucker and Wright, 1990). The laminated sediments found in the upper portion of the

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Costa Mazzone clayey sequence (Figs. 2, 4d) not are here considered varves with seasonal

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rhythm, but simply due to variations in the influx of the components, reflecting cyclically

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periods of increased run-off into the lake and periods of evaporation (Begin et al., 2004).

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Chemical sedimentation, mostly NaCl, largely occurring in the uppermost clay horizons (f and g

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in Fig. 2), immediately underlying the Rudistid limestones (Figs. 4b, f), is interpreted as resulting

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from a break in the input of fresh-water and alkaline deposits, when a period of restricted

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conditions has favoured evaporation and salt precipitations inside the previously formed clayey

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deposits from pore-water infilling (Eugster, 1980). Furthermore, the calcite pedogenetic crusts

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(i.e. caliche) observed in the horizon f (Fig. 4e) confirm a break in the input of surface water and

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point out drier climate conditions (Flügel, 2004; Sulli and Interbartolo, 2016).

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The occurrence of continental clays intercalated in the shallow-water carbonate deposits

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suggests that a long-term emersion phase has occurred at the end of the Lower Cretaceous. In

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this view, considering that no sea-level fall are reported (see Haq, 2014), the subaerial exposition

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of the carbonate platform may be explained with tectonic uplift. Tectono-sedimentary features,

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including the lateral discontinuity of the clays level, the occurrence of fractures and neptunian

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dykes, and the subaerial erosional surface cutting the uppermost beds of the Barremian-Lower

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Aptian shallow-water carbonates, suggest that the Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform was a

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rotating fault-block with emersion and subaerial erosion of the footwall platform carbonates

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(Fig. 8, Gawthorpe and Leeder, 2000; Cross and Bosence, 2008). Following the continental clay

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deposition both local tectonic subsidence and global sea-level rise are the main causes favouring

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the rebirth of the carbonate platform. The geometric pattern of the Upper Cretaceous carbonate

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platform (i.e., prograding geometry and downlap stratal relationships, Fig. 3) suggests that it

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developed on the drowned hangingwall of the faulted block (Fig. 8). When the unconformity

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boundary is marked by the presence of the continental clays (Figs. 4a, f), it suggests that these

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carbonates developed onto the footwall eroded area since the later phases of continental

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sedimentation (e.g., Bosence et al., 1998). This syn-sedimentary extensional tectonic event affecting the Gallo carbonate platform is well

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recorded in other areas of the Lower Cretaceous Panormide carbonates (Basilone, 2009a;

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Basilone and Sulli, 2016; Basilone et al., 2016b), as well as in other Sicilian succession

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(Basilone, 2009b, Basilone et al., 2010). Similar geometries were observed both in the Val

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D’Agri oilfield, where Cretaceous tectonic activity produced footwall highs and hangingwall

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lows in the buried Apulian Platform (Casero et al., 1991; Shiner et al., 2004), and in the southern

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Apennine, where heteropic facies and stratigraphic stacking pattern indicate extensional faulting

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(Bernoulli et al., 1994; Carannante et al., 2009; Ruberti et al., 2013). Similarly, the Aptian-

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Albian extensional regime is recorded in the northern Africa from Algeria and Tunisia, and in

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Libya from the Sirte Basin where a set of NW-SE elongated horst and graben structures point out

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a polyphase extensional deformation history (e.g. Abadi et al., 2008; Frizon De Lamotte et al.,

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2011).

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These comparisons demonstrate a regional scale significance for the extensional event that

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could represent a prominent turning point in the evolution of the Southern Tethyan margin. It is

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believed to be related to the reassessment of the lithospheric plates at the onset of the Alpine

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orogen, causing tectonic dislocation along the Adria and Southern Tethyan margins (e.g.,

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Mindszenty et al., 1995; Graziano, 2000; Zouaghi et al., 2005; Guiraud et al., 2005).

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6.2. Provenance of clays and paleoclimate

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Generally, the types of clay minerals that compose sedimentary rocks are related to several

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factors such as climate, rainfall, original rock type (Perri et al., 2017; Perri, 2017 and references

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therein). Bates (1962) found that clay minerals composed of the most soluble elements (e.g.,

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smectite) formed in environments where the ions can accumulate and, thus, in a dry climate, 12

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whereas kaolinite is formed in intermediate zones, characterized by wet and warm-humid

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conditions, where silica, as well as aluminium, can be retained (Eberl, 1984). Illite formation is

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related to the transition from dry to wet climate. The studied samples are characterized by abundant kaolinite and illite, whereas smectite is

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absent; smectite is only present in the I/S mixed layers. Thus, the mineralogical composition of

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the studied samples suggests a paleoclimate mainly characterized by warm–humid conditions.

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Generally, the smectite-to-illite conversion is a progressive trend mainly controlled by

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temperature (e.g., Merriman and Peacor, 1999; Merriman, 2005 and reference therein). In

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particular, ordering of illite-smectite mixed layers from random I-S (R0) to ordered I-S (R1)

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likely takes place at about 100 °C (Perry and Hower, 1970; Jaboyedoff and Thelin, 1996). As

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regard the illite percentage in I-S and the stacking order R, X-ray diffraction patterns of the

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glycolated oriented slides show the occurrence of random I-S (R0) with 50-60% of illite content

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and ordered I-S (R1) mixed layers with 60-70% of illite content (Tab. 3). These values are typical

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of the initial stage of the Late Diagenetic Zone, testifying a paleo-temperature of about 100°C

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with a burial (in term of depth) of about 3.5-4 km (e.g., Merriman and Frey, 1999).

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X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analyses for major (Si, Al, Ca, K) and minor

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elements suggest relatively homogeneous composition of the different horizons distinguished in

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the field. The studied sediments are mainly composed by abundance of calcite and

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phyllosilicates. Calcite was mainly eroded from the Lower Cretaceous shallow-water deposits

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during their emersion. The presence of phyllosilicates and the few percentage of quartz (6-19%)

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suggest a secondary contribute, but not negligible, from landmass areas weathered under warm-

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humid conditions (Grantham and Velbel, 1988; Nesbitt and Young, 1989). The absence of

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feldspars, which only occur in one sample as plagioclase in traces, suggests either that the source

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areas were poor in feldspars, implying a poor contribute from felsic rocks, or that a vigorous

321

weathering had totally eroded feldspars. Feldspars depletion become progressively more

322

pronounced as chemical weathering proceeds, and the resulting samples become progressively

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT less representative of the source rock mineralogy, and shifted toward a quartzose composition

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with enrichment in clay minerals (horizons d and e in Fig. 9 and Tabs. 2, 3, Fedo et al., 1995;

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Critelli et al., 2008; Perri et al., 2013). Quartz is much more resistant to chemical weathering and

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increases in more humid conditions because of the release of quartz grains from the weathering

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of the rock fragments (Nesbitt et al., 1997). Fe-, Mn- and titanium-oxides, that are more

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abundant in the basal horizons of the study section, suggest that precipitates are mainly produced

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in the initial stage of weathering from crystalline parent rocks (e.g., Borrelli et al., 2012, 2014;

330

Perri et al., 2012, 2016).

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The occurrence of some minerals (i.e., illite-smectite mixed layers, chlorite, micas) also

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suggests their provenance from the alteration of wind-borne volcanic pyroclastics and ashes.

333

Pyroclastic material, typically produced by explosive eruptions, is an important component in

334

marine sediments. Although alkaline intraplate and basaltic volcanics occur in the Cretaceous of

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peninsular Italy and Sicily (e.g., Longaretti and Rocchi, 1990), indications of explosive

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volcanism are scarce in the Cretaceous of the Alps and central Mediterranean area. The recently

337

described Cretaceous emerged volcanic edifice from NW Sicily (Basilone et al., 2010; 2014),

338

could be able to offer the source materials from which derived some of the clay minerals.

339

Subaerial and submarine volcanic eruptions have been argued from similar compositional and

340

sedimentological features of coeval deposits intercalated in the deep- and shallow-water

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carbonates of Central and Southern Apennines (Bernoulli et al., 2004; Graziano et al., 2016).

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342

The mineralogical content of the Costa Mazzone clays reflects warm-humid climatic

343

conditions, which favoured weathering of crystalline rocks. Climatic changes towards

344

greenhouse conditions are worldwide recorded during the Late Aptian and are believed to cause

345

the demise of many peri-Tethyan “Urgonian-type carbonate platform” (Simo et al., 1993; Masse

346

et al., 1993; Graziano, 2000; Föllmi and Gainon, 2008; Castro et al., 2008; Rigane et al., 2010;

347

Huck et al., 2013). Eutrophication of many Tethyan and N Atlantic carbonate platforms and

348

drastic reduction of their growth potential were related to flooding of carbonate platforms by 14

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT nutrient-rich waters formed during a period of enhanced burial of organic matter and

350

‘acidification’ of the oceanic waters (Föllmi et al., 1994; Weissert et al., 1998; Wissler et al.,

351

2003). These paleoenvironmental changes correspond with the global perturbation of CO2 at the

352

onset of the “Selli level” (OAE1a, Schlanger and Jenkyns, 1976; Arthur and Schlanger, 1979;

353

Menegatti et al., 1998). The presence of coeval continental deposits, as those described from

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Southern Apennine and from the Northern Tethyan carbonate platforms record, confirms that the

355

effects of a possible eutrophication were fuelled by enhanced continental weathering (clastic

356

influx from continental areas) during periods of intensified greenhouse, predominantly humid,

357

climate conditions (Masse and Fenerci-Masse, 2013; Föllmi and Godet, 2013; Graziano et al.,

358

2016). Some of the carbonate platforms of central and southern Tethyan, have escaped from

359

these effects and the platform growth continued after the massive disturbance of the global

360

carbon cycle (e.g., Immenhauser et al., 2005; Vlahovic et al., 2005; Luciani et al., 2006; Simone

361

et al., 2012; Graziano, 2013; Ruberti et al., 2013). On the contrary, in spite of their original

362

proximity, the continental sedimentation and the demise of the Lower Cretaceous Monte Gallo

363

chlorozoan-type carbonate platform (e.g., Carannante et al., 1995; Immenahuser et al., 2005),

364

which developed in the arid paleo-latitude belt of the Tethyan realm (Fig. 1c, Chumakov et al.,

365

1995; Ziegler et al., 2003), can be addressed to the interplay of paleoceanographic/paleoclimatic

366

changes and tectonism.

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Conclusions

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Continental-derived clays, which interrupt the shallow-water carbonate sedimentation, are the

370

most important feature found in the Cretaceous succession of Monte Gallo (Palermo Mts, NW

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Sicily). The Costa Mazzone clays are grey and brownish-to-yellowish fine-grained pelites mainly

372

formed by kaolinite, illite-smectite mixed layers, calcite and salt minerals, with minor percentage

373

of quartz, feldspar, detrital zircon and metal oxides. Mineralogical and sedimentological features

374

reveal a continental origin of these clays, as the product of the erosion of weathered crystalline 15

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT rocks. The clays were deposited above an erosional subaerial surface cutting the Requienid

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limestones, in pond-filling depositional environment, recording stressed conditions (evaporation)

377

especially in its final living phase. These alkaline, saline-lake deposits were deposited during an

378

uplift event occurred at the end of the Early Cretaceous when the carbonate platform was

379

dismembered in faulted blocks. The half graben/tilted-block tectonics produced the footwall

380

uplift, accompanied by subaerial exposure and erosion of the Barremian-Lower Aptian shallow-

381

water carbonates. Following clay sedimentation in the eroded footwall areas, tectonic subsidence

382

and sea-level rise favoured the rebirth of the Upper Albian-Cenomanian carbonate platform that

383

prograde and downlap in the hangingwall sector of the faulted block.

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Mineralogy of the neo-formed clay minerals suggests that their formation was influenced by

385

chemical weathering and mechanical erosion in warm–humid conditions. Provenance analysis

386

suggests both weathered crystalline and volcanic source rocks (i.e., wind-borne volcanic

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pyroclastics and ashes). Paleoclimatic evaluation suggests climate changes towards humid

388

conditions (i.e., greenhouse) respect those that favoured the development of the chlorozoan-type

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shallow-water carbonates, believed to be formed in the arid paleo-latitude belt of Tethys.

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Acknowledgments

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The research was supported by grants CARG (F_594-585 Partinico-Mondello fondi della Legge 305/89) and SIRIPRO (MIUR - P.O.N. “Ricerca e competitività 2007/2013” – Regioni Convergenza) Projects (resp. Prof. A. Sulli). Many thanks to Prof. E. Di Stefano (Univ. of Palermo) and dr. U. Biffi (Eni) for the biostratigraphic analysis of the clayey deposits, and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.

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Global and Planetary Change 113, 44–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.12.007. Hardie L.A., Smoot, J.P., Eugster H.P., 1978. Saline lakes and their deposits: A sedimentological approach. Special Publication International Sedimentologist Association. 2, 7–41. Huck, S., Heimhofer, U., Immenhauser, A., Weissert, H., 2013. Carbon-isotope stratigraphy of Early Cretaceous (Urgonian) shoal-water deposits: Diachronous changes in carbonate-platform production in the north-western Tethys. Sedim. Geol. 290, 157–174. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.03.016 Immenhauser, A., Hillgartner, H., Van Bentum, E., 2005. Microbial-foraminiferal episodes in the Early Aptian of the southern Tethyan margin: ecological significance and possible relation to oceanic anoxic event 1a. Sedimentology 52, 77–99. Jaboyedoff, M., Thelin, P., 1996. New data on low-grade metamorphism in the Brianconnais domain of the prealps, Western Switzerland. European Journal of Mineralogy. 8, 577–592. Jones, B.F. Browser, C.J., 1978. The Mineralogy and Related Chemistry of Lake Sediments. In: Lakes, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics (Ed. by A. Lerman), pp. 179–235, Springer Verlag, New York. Jones, B.F. Weir, A.H., 1983. Clay minerals of lake Abert, an alkaline, saline lake. Clays and clay minerals. 31, 161–172. Krumm, S. 1996. WINFIT 1.2: version of November 1996 (The Erlangen geological and mineralogical software collection) of “WINFIT 1.0: a public domain program for interactive profile-analysis under WINDOWS”. XIII Conference on Clay Mineralogy and Petrology, Praha, 1994. Acta Universitatis Carolinae Geologica 38, 253– 261. Longaretti, G., Rocchi, S., 1990. Il magmatismo dell'avampaese Ibleo (Sicilia orientale) tra il Trias e il Quaternario: dati stratigrafici e petrologici di sottosuolo. Memorie della Societa Geologica Italiana, 45, 911–925 Luciani, V., Cobianchi, M., Lupi, C., 2006. Regional record of a global oceanic anoxic event: OAE1a on the Apulia Platform margin, Gargano Promontory, southern Italy. Cretaceous Research 27, 754-772. Malinverno, A., Ryan, W.B.F., 1986. Extension in the Tyrrhenian Sea and shortening in the Apennine as a result of a migration driven by sinking of the lithosphere. Tectonics. 5, 227–245, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/TC005i002p00227. Masse, J.P., Bellion, Y., Benkhelil, J., Boulin, J., Cornee, J.J., Dercourt, J., Guiraud, R., Mascle, G., Poisson, A., Ricou, L.E., Sandulescu, M., 1993. Lower Aptian palaeoenvironments 114–112 Ma. In: Dercourt, J., et al. (Eds.), Atlas Tethys Palaeoenvironmental Maps, Maps Beceip-Franlab, Rueil-Malmaison. Masse JP, Fenerci-Masse M. 2013. Drowning events, development and demise of carbonate platforms and controlling factors: The Late Barremian–Early Aptian record of Southeast France. Sedimentary Geology, 298, 28–52. DOI: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.09.004 Mclennan, S.M., Hemming, D.K., Hanson G.N., 1993. Geochemical approaches to sedimentation, provenance and tectonics. Special Paper Geological Society of America. 284, 21–40. Menegatti, A.P., Weissert, H., Brown, R.S., Tyson, R.V., Farrimond, P., Strasser, A., Caron, M., 1998. Highresolution ∂13C stratigraphy through the early Aptian “Livello Selli” of the Alpine Tethys. Paleoceanography 13, 530-545. Merriman, R.J., 2005. Clay minerals and sedimentary basin history. European Journal of Mineralogy, 17, 7–20. Merriman R.J. Frey M., 1999. Patterns of very low-grade metamorphism in metapelitic rocks. In: Frey M. Robinson D. Eds., Low-Grade Metamorphism, 61–107. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Merriman, R.J., Peacor D.R., 1999. Very low-grade metapelites: mineralogy, microfabrics and measuring reaction progress. In: Frey M. Robinson D. Eds., Low-Grade Metamorphism, 10–60. Blackwell Scienze, Oxford. Mindszenty, A., D’Argenio, B., Aiello, G., 1995. Lithospheric bulges recorded by regional unconformities. The case of Mesozoic-Tertiary Apulia. Tectonophysics 252, 137–161. Montanari, L., 1965. Geologia del Monte Pellegrino (Palermo). Rivista Mineraria Siciliana 15 (68-90), 1–64. Moore, D.M. Reynolds R.C. Jr., 1997. X-ray Diffraction and the identification and analysis of clay minerals. Second edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 378 pp. Nesbitt, H.W., Young, G.M., 1982. Early Proterozoic climates and plate motions inferred from major element chemistry of lutites. Nature, 299, 715–717. Nesbitt, H.W., Young, G.M., 1989. Formation and diagenesis of weathering profiles. Journal of Geology 97, 129–

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147. Nesbitt, H.W., Fedo, C.M. Young, G.M. (1997) Quartz and feldspar stability, steady and non-steady state weathering, and petrogenesis of siliciclastic sands and muds. Journal of Geology 105, 173–91. Oldow, J.S., Channell, J.E.T., Catalano, R., D'Argenio, B., 1990. Contemporaneous thrusting and large-scale rotations in the Western Sicilian fold and thrust belt. Tectonics 9, 661–681. Perri, F., Borrelli L., Critelli S., Gullà G., 2012. Investigation of weathering rates and processes affecting plutonic and metamorphic rocks in Sila Massif (Calabria, southern Italy). Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana, 21, 557–559. Perri, F., Critelli S., Martin-Algarra A., Martin-Martin M., Perrone V., Mongelli G., Zattin M., 2013. Triassic redbeds in the Malaguide Complex (Betic Cordillera – Spain): petrography, geochemistry and geodynamic implications. Earth Science Reviews 117, 1–28. Perri, F., Ohta T., 2014. Paleoclimatic conditions and paleoweathering processes on Mesozoic continental redbeds from Western-Central Mediterranean Alpine Chains. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 395, 144–157. Perri, F., Scarciglia F., Apollaro C., Marini L., 2015. Characterization of granitoid profiles in the Sila Massif (Calabria, southern Italy) and reconstruction of weathering processes by mineralogy, chemistry, and reaction path modeling. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 15, 1351–1372. Perri, F., Ietto F., Le Pera E., Apollaro C., 2016. Weathering processes affecting granitoid profiles of Capo Vaticano (Calabria, southern Italy) based on petrographic, mineralogic and reaction path modeling approaches. Geological Journal. 51, 368–386. Perri, F., Critelli, S., Martín-Martín, M., Montone, S., Amendola, U., 2017. Unravelling hinterland and offshore palaeogeography from pre-to-syn-orogenic clastic sequences of the Betic Cordillera (Sierra Espuña), Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 468, 52–69. Perri, F., 2017. Reconstructing chemical weathering during the Lower Mesozoic in the Western-Central Mediterranean area: a review of geochemical proxies. Geological Magazine (in press). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756816001205 Perry E. Hower J., 1970. Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast politic sediments. Clays and Clay Minerals. 18, 165–177. Perrone V., Martin-Algarra A., Critelli S., Decandia F. A., D’errico M., Estevez A., Iannace A., Lazzarotto A., Martin-Martin M., Martin-Rojas I., Mazzoli S., Messina A., Mongelli G., Vitale S., Zaghloul N. M., 2006, “Verrucano” and “Pseudoverrucano” in The Central-Western Mediterranean Alpine Chains, in Chalouan A., Moratti G. (Editors), Geology and Active Tectonics of The Western Mediterranean Region and North Africa. Geological Society of London Special Publication 262, 1–43. Rigane A, Feki M, Gourmelen C, Montacer M. 2010. The “Aptian Crisis” of the South-Tethyan margin: New tectonic data in Tunisia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 57: 360–366. DOI: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci. 2009.11.005. Rosenbaum, G., Lister, G., Duboz, C., 2004. The Mesozoic and Cenozoic motion of Adria (central Mediterranean): a review of constraints and limitations. Geodinamica Acta. 17 (2), 125–139.
 Ruberti D, Bravi S, Carannante G, Vigorito M, Simone L. 2013. Decline and recovery of the Aptian carbonate factory in the southern Apennine carbonate shelves (southern Italy): Climatic/oceanographic vs. local tectonic controls. Cretaceous Research, 39, 112–132. DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2012.05.012 Schlanger, S.O., Jenkyns, H.C., 1976. Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events: causes and consequences. Geologie en Mijnbouw 55, 179-184. Shiner, P., Beccacini, A., Mazzoli, S., 2004. Thin-skinned versus thick-skinned structural models for Apulian carbonate reservoirs: constraints from the Val D’Agri Fields. Marine and Petroleum Geology 21, 805–827, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2003.11.020. Simone, L., Bravi, S., Carannante, G., Masucci, I., Pomoni-Papaioannou, F., 2012. Arid versus wet climatic evidence in the “middle Cretaceous” calcareous successions of the Southern Apennines (Italy). Cretaceous Research 36, 6–23. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.01.005 Stampfli, G.M., Borel, G.D., 2002. A plate tectonic model for the Paleozoic and Mesozoic constrained by dynamic plate boundaries and restored synthetic oceanic isochrones. Earth Planetary Science Letters. 196, 17–33. Stamfli, G.M., Kozur, H.W., 2006. Europe from the Variscan to the Alpine cycles. Geological Society of London, Memoirs 32, 57–82. doi:10.1144/GSL.MEM.2006.032.01.04 Sulli, A., Interbartolo, F., 2016. Subaerial exposure and drowning processes in a carbonate platform during the Mesozoic Tethyan rifting: The case of the Jurassic succession of Western Sicily (central Mediterranean). Sedimentary Geology 331, 63–77. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2015.10.013 Tucker, M.E. Wright, V.P. (1990). Carbonate sedimentology. Wiley Vlahović, I., Tišljar, J., Velić, I., Matičec, D., 2005. Evolution of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform: Palaeogeography, main events and depositional dynamics. Palaeo 220, 333–360. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.01.011 Weissert, H., Lini, A., Föllmi, K.B., Kuhn, O., 1998. Correlation of Early Cretaceous carbon isotope stratigraphy and platform drowning events: a possible link? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 137, 189– 203.

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Wissler, L., Funk, H., Weissert, H., 2003. Response of Early Cretaceous carbonate platforms to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 200, 187-205. Ziegler, A.M., Eshel, G., Mcallister Rees, P., Rothfus, T.A., Rowley, D.B. Sunderlin, D. (2003) Tracing the tropics across land and sea: Permian to present. Lethaia 36, 227–254. Zouaghi, T. Bédir, M., Inoubli, M.H., 2005. 2D Seismic interpretation of strike-slip faulting, salt tectonics, and Cretaceous unconformities, Atlas Mountains, central Tunisia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 43, 464–486.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Captions of the figures

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Fig. 1. a) Tectonic map of the Palermo Mts and location of the study area (after Catalano et al.,

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2013a). Inset tectonic map of Central Mediterranean; b) lithostratigraphy of the Mesozoic-

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Paleogene Panormide carbonate platform succession; c) palaeogeography of the western-

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central Tethys in the Aptian (after Masse et al., 1993, Stampfli and Kozur, 2006), and

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paleoposition of the Gallo section (Panormide carbonate platform, Pa) (yellow star).

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Abbreviations: A) Apennine carbonate platform; Ad) Adriatic-Dinaridic carbonate

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platform; Ap) Apulian; AT) Alpine Tethys; Be) Betic carbonate platform; G) Gavrovo

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carbonate platform; He) Helvetics; Hy) Hyblean; L) Lagonegro basin; M) Menderes

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carbonate platform; NT) Neo-Tethys; Pe) Pelagonian carbonate platform; Po) Pontides;

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Pr) Provençal carbonate platform; Rh) Rhodope; Sa) Saharian carbonate platform; U)

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Umbria-Marche basin; V) Vocontian basin.

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Fig. 2. Detailed columnar section of the Costa Mazzone clays; a to g are the distinguished clay horizons.

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Fig 3. Unconformity boundary, marked by downlap stratal terminations, of the Upper Cretaceous

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Rudistid limestone (LEG) with the below Lower Cretaceous Requienid limestone (AFU).

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Monte Gallo.

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Fig. 4. a) Field image showing the indentation where the Costa Mazzone clays (MAZ) outcrop

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and their stratigraphic relationships with the Upper Cretaceous Rudistid limestones (LEG)

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and the Lower Cretaceous Requienid limestones (AFU); b) sampled and measured section

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where the different distinguished clay horizons (a to f) are observable; c) detail of darkish

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pelites (horizon a); d) detail of mm-thick rhythmic alternations of red-yellowish marls and

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greenish-to-darkish laminated clays (horizon e); e) alternation of whitish marls and calcite

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crust laminae (horizon f); f) yellowish marls (horizon g) interlayered in the basal beds of

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the LEG.

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MG2A, horizon d); b) sub-spherical whitish grain of hematite (Fe) merged in the kaolinite

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(Ka) and calcite (Ca) matrix (sample MG5, horizon a); c) large cubic halite crystal (Ha)

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and small gypsum crystals (Gy), surrounded by kaolinite (Ka) (sample MG2A, horizon d);

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d) white angular grains of copper oxides (Cu), merged in the mostly calcite (Ca) and clay

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matrix where large silicate grains (Si) also occur (sample MG5, horizon a); e) large cubic

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crystal of Halite (Ha) grown on iron-oxides (Fe) encrustation on a mostly kaolinite (Ka)

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and calcite (Ca) matrix (sample MG5, horizon a); f) halite crust (arrows) interlayered in the

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kaolinite (Ka) matrix; some calcite (Ca) grains also occur (sample MG1, horizon f).

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Fig. 6. EDS analyses of Costa Mazzone clays: a) spot analysis representative of the geochemical

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composition of the clayey matrix of the sample MG5 (horizon a), reflecting the peaks of

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kaolinite, illite-smectite, and minor percentage of calcite (Ca), titanium (Ti)- and iron (Fe)-

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oxides, halite (NaCl); b) cubic crystal of halite (NaCl) (sample MG5, horizon a); c) grain

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of detrital zircon (ZrSiO4) (sample MG5, horizon a); d) spot analysis on a sub-spheric

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whitish grain of titanium and iron-oxides filling cavity in the clay and calcite matrix

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(sample MG5, horizon a).

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Fig. 7. XRD patterns of the <2 µm fraction heated at 375°C and 550°C (samples MG3) to evaluate the presence of kaolinite and chlorite (e.g., Moore and Reynolds, 1997). Fig. 8. Sketch illustrating the tectono-sedimentary setting of the study section at Lower (a) and

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Upper Cretaceous (b) stages.

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Fig. 9. Minerals concentration (%) in the study samples of the Costa Mazzone clays.

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Tab. 1. Lithostratigraphic characteristics of the Cretaceous stratigraphic units, outcropping at

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Monte Gallo.

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Tab. 2. Whole mineralogical composition of the studied samples. ML, mixed-layer clay

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minerals; Kao, kaolinite; Chl, chlorite; Phyll, phyllosilicates; K-feld, K-feldspar; Pl,

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plagioclases; Cal, calcite; Dol, dolomite. 24

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mixed-layers; Kao, kaolinite; Chl, chlorite.

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Tab. 3. Mineralogical composition of the clay fraction of the studied samples. I-S, illite-smectite

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25

Montanari 1965; Camoin 1983

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AFU

Requienid limestone

Montanari 1965; Camoin 1983

70-100 open shelf/sand bar

Nerinea sp., Offneria sp., Precaprina sp., Clypeina solkani Sokac, Epimastopora cekici Radoičić, Salpingoporella polygonalis Sokac, S. muehlbergii (Lorenz), Triploporella cf. decastroi Barattolo, Palorbitolina lenticularis (Blumenbach), P. praecursor (Montanari), Rectodyctioconus giganteus Schroeder, Debarina cfr. hahounerensis Fourcade, Raoult, & Vila, Vercorsella camposaur i (Sartoni & Crescenti), Praechrysalidina infracretacea Luperto Sinni, Bacinella irregularis , Lithocodium aggregatum

thick bedded wackestone-packstone with requienids, often concentrated in planar layers, large gastropods, corals, algae, benthic forams and microproblematics alternated with dm-thick stromatolitic wackstone-packstone with birdseyes, peloids, algae fragments and dm-thick darkish oolitic packstone-to-grainstone, with abraded and broken ooid

Age

0,5-2,8 lacustrine

azoic

Cenomanian

darkish clays with rare mm-thick yellowish marls; cmthick rhythmic alternations of yellowish clays and marly clays (varves), with mm-thick dark green marls and thin calcareous levels; few cm-thick of red-yellowish marls and reddish vacuolar limestones of karst origin

Main reference s

Late Barremian Early Aptian

150-200 open shelf/reef

Caprina schiosensis Boehm, Caprina carinata Boehm, Neocaprina gigantea Gemmellaro, N. panormitana Sirna, Ichtyosarcolites rotundus Polsak, Polyconites verneuilli Bayle, Sauvagesia sp., Radiolites sauvagesi D’ombres-Firmas, Orbitolina (Conicorbitolina) conica D’Archiac, Cuneolina cf. pavonia D’Orbigny, C . cf. conica D’Orbigny, Trocholina elongata Leupold, Actinoporella podolica Alth, Conicospirillina basiliensis Mohler, Lithocodium aggregatum Elliot, Bacinella

Texture and lithology

RI PT

thick(m) envir.

Rudistid limestone LEG

m-thick massive darkish-grey caprinid and radiolitid boundstone (reef lithofacies) alternated with bioclastic packstone and thick-bedded coralgalal breccias and conglomerates with rounded rudistid fragments (fore-reef lithofacies); cm-thick oolite grainstone and blackish laminated mudstone, locally occur

Fms

labels

Fossil content

Costa Mazzone clays MAZ

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ML

Illite and micas

Kao

Chl

Σ Phyll

Qtz

K-feld

Pl

Cal

Dol

Evaporite minerals

LUG54LUG53MG1 MG2C MG2B MG2A MG3 MG4 MG5

9 15 4 16 14 10 15 8 8

12 17 11 17 29 17 13 14 14

9 9 5 9 12 11 8 6 6

7 7 3 8 11 10 6 5 5

37 48 23 50 66 48 42 33 33

13 11 7 18 19 18 6 7 9

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 tr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

50 42 70 32 15 34 52 59 57

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

tr tr tr tr tr tr tr tr tr

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I-S features

Sample

Kao

Chl

Illite

I-S Reichweite

% Illite

17

16

29

38

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

MG1

14

12

58

16

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

MG2B

15

12

44

30

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

MG2C

15

13

35

37

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

MG3

15

12

34

39

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

MG5

16

13

45

26

R0 and R1

50-60 and 60-70

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LUG53-

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Highlights

Paleoectonic setting has controlled the paleotopography and sedimentary evolution

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The clays originate in a continental environment filling a pond by means of intermittent streams

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Paleoclimate evaluations of the continental-derived clays highlighted that a period of warmhumid conditions, which favoured their formation.

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