A review of the European Neogene Mammal zones from integration of litho-, bio- and magnetostratigraphy in the Teruel Basin

Abstract

The northern sector of the Teruel Basin (Spain) houses a dense and continuous record of late Neogene mammal fossil sites, as well as numerous biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic information making it a reference basin to define and refine the European mammal biostratigraphy from the Vallesian to the Villafranchian. The Neogene mammal chronology is in ongoing revision, and distinct correlations between basins and Europe provinces have been proposed based on their relative ages. New calibration methods based on numerical modelling have allowed the absolute ages of the paleontological sites to be refined. Nevertheless, some discrepancies arise, evidencing that anchoring between absolute ages and mammal fossil record would benefit from a stronger stratigraphical framework. This work provides such a robust 3D stratigraphic framework of the whole basin that, together with magnetostratigraphy, allows establishing an accurate chronostratigraphic model and hence a precise chronology of sedimentary units and mammal sites. The absolute age of MN zones, or mammal stages, in the Teruel Basin has been revised on the basis of a detailed and confident stratigraphic correlation, and updated to the most recent Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale. In particular, new accurate ages have been proposed for the boundaries MN 9/10 to MN 16/17 from data exclusively located in the Teruel Basin, with a precision generally of 0.1–0.2 Ma.