Long Plio-Pleistocene terrestrial record of climate change and mammal turnover in southern Spain

Cyclostratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene Zujar section (Guadix-Baza Basi n, southeastern Spain) has enabled the recognition of a number of climatica lly forced cycles reflecting alternating dry and wet periods. Peaks of arid ity are recorded at ca. 3.95, 3.55, 3.2, 2.8, and 1.8 myr B.P. The first dr y period at about 4.0 myr B.P. corresponds to the early Ruscinian Mammal ag e, while the second and interval at about 3.6 myr B.P. corresponds to the e stablishment of the Mediterranean double seasonality. The significant mamma l turnover between the late Ruscinian and early Villanyian stages is placed between chron 2An.2n and the very base of chron 2An.1n, coincident with th e dry phase recognized at about 3.2 myr B.P. The fourth aridity maximum at 2.8 myr B.P. roughly coincides with the Equus event in western Europe and i s probably related to the beginning of the glacial-interglacial dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere. Finally, the last dry peak at about 1.8 myr B.P. is probably related to the set of mammalian events characterizing the trans ition from the late Pliocene faunas to those of the early Pleistocene. (C) 2001 University of Washington.