Cyclic coastal sedimentation in Sorbas (Messinian, SE Spain)

Laburpena

Shifts of the shoreline in the Late Messinian Sorbas Member can be correlated with oscillations of the precession index and eccentricity curves. Close inspection reveals three orders of sea level oscillations with variable amplitudes. The first order, with amplitudes of tens of meters, correlates well with oscillations in the Precession Index curve. The second order of fluctuations, with metric amplitudes, fits well in a millennial/submillennial periodicity. The smaller-scaled third order fluctuations,with amplitudes around 0.5 m, are assigned to decadal periodicity. Comparison with examples in SE Spain indicates that the two pervasive smaller scale periodicities persisted since the Late Miocene in Western Mediterranean, independent of the dominant orbital forcing (precession vs. orbital eccentricity).