Pliocene-Early Pleistocene Chronostratigraphy and the Tyrrhenian Deep-Sea Record from Site 653

Biostratigraphic correlations to magnetostratigraphically controlled Mediterranean sections allow the sequence at Site 653 to be indirectly correlated to the geomagnetic reversal timescale. The correlation of the chronostratigraphy at Site 653 to the Plio-Pleistocene proposed stratotype sections indicates several anomalies in the time coverage of the stratotype sections. There is a gap of about 0.85 m.y. which is not covered by a stratotype section. Maintenance of the Piacenzian as a chronostratigraphic unit is advocated and a threefold subdivision of the Pliocene is proposed. For the early Pleistocene, the previously proposed stratotype sections also do not adequately cover the time interval. It has been suggested that the Calabrian stage be abandoned and that the Santernian, Emilian, and Sicilian be combined into a single stage, referred to as the Selinuntian. -