Integrated stratigraphy and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar chronology of early Middle Miocene sediments from DSDP Leg 42A, Site 372 (Western Mediterranean) H. Abdul Aziz a, ⁎ , A. Di Stefano b , L.M. Foresi c , F.J. Hilgen d , S.M. Iaccarino e , K.F. Kuiper d,f , F. Lirer g , G. Salvatorini c , E. Turco e a Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Geophysics LMU Munich, Theresienstrasse 41, 80333 Munich, Germany b Dipt. di Scienze della Terra, University of Catania, Corso Italia 55, 55129 Catania, Italy c Dipt. di Scienze della Terra, University of Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Sienna, Italy d Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands e Dipt. di Scienze della Terra, University of Parma, Viale G.P. Usberti 157/A, 43100 Parma, Italy f Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands g Istituto Ambiente Marino Costiero (IACM)-CNR-sede di Napoli, Calata Porta di Massa, Interno porto di Napoli, 80133 Napoli, Italy Received 22 March 2007; received in revised form 2 September 2007; accepted 13 September 2007 Abstract An integrated magneto-biostratigraphic framework is presented for Middle Miocene sediments of DSDP Site 372 located in the Western Mediterranean. Detailed biostratigraphic analysis shows a nearly complete sequence of early Middle Miocene calcareous plankton bioevents in the Mediterranean, including the LCO (Last Common Occurrence) of the nannofossil Sphenolithus heteromorphus which has been astronomically dated in the Ras il Pellegrin (RIP) section on Malta Island [Abels, H.A., Hilgen, F.J., Krijgsman, W., Kruk, R.W., Raffi, I., Turco, E., Zachariasse, W.J., 2005. Long-period orbital control on middle Miocene global cooling: integrated stratigraphy and astronomical tuning of the Blue Clay Formation on Malta, Paleoceanography, 20, PA4012. doi: 10.1029/2004PA001129. 11 pp]. Thermal demagnetization of discrete samples revealed a characteristic low-temperature component with dual polarities despite a weak paleomagnetic signal. The resultant magnetostratigraphic record, combined with the calcareous plankton biostratigraphy, is straightforwardly correlated to the geomagnetic polarity time scale (CK95) of Cande and Kent [Cande, S.C., Kent, D.V., 1995. Revised calibration of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 6093–6095] and the Astronomical Tuned Neogene Time Scale (ATNTS04) of Lourens et al. [Lourens, L.J., Hilgen, F.J., Laskar, J., Shackleton, N.J., Wilson, D., 2004. The Neogene Period. In: Gradstein F.M., Ogg J.G., Smith A.G. (Eds.), A Geologic Time Scale, Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 409–440]. The subchrons recorded in Site 372 succession range from C5Br up to C5AAr. To confirm the magnetostratigraphic calibration, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating was performed on feldspar of two volcanic ash layers. The radio-isotopic dating indicates a younger age for these two ash layers compared to the magnetostratigraphic calibrated ages according to the CK95 and ATNTS04 age models. However, if the astronomically calibrated age of 28.21±0.04 Ma is used for the Fish Canyon standard (FCs), the age for the older ash layer exactly matches its ATNTS04 age. Ages for bioevents were calculated assuming constant sedimentation rates between magnetostratigraphic age-tie points. The S. heteromorphus LCO has an age of 13.54 Ma and 13.63 Ma according to CK95 and ATNTS04, respectively, which is consistent with the astronomical tuned age of 13.65 Ma determined at RIP section [Abels, H.A., Hilgen, F.J., Krijgsman, W., Kruk, R.W., Raffi, I., Turco, E., Zachariasse, W.J., 2005. Long-period orbital control on middle Miocene global cooling: integrated stratigraphy Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 257 (2008) 123 – 138 www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: haziz@geophysik.uni-muenchen.de (H. Abdul Aziz). 0031-0182/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.09.013