Basin Research (2007) 19, 507–527, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2007.00334.x
The Miocene Saint-Florent Basin in northern Corsica:
stratigraphy, sedimentology, and tectonic implications
William Cavazza, n Peter G. DeCelles,w Maria Giuditta Fellin, nz1 and Luigi Paganelli n
Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
wDepartment of Geosciences, University of Arizona,Tucson, Arizona, USA
zDepartment of Geology, Palaeontology and Geophysics, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
n
ABSTRACT
Late early^ early middle Miocene (Burdigalian^Langhian) time on the island of Corsica (western
Mediterranean) was characterized by a combination of (i) postcollisional structural inversion of the
main boundary thrust system between the Alpine orogenic wedge and the foreland, (ii) eustatic
sealevel rise and (iii) subsidence related to the development of the Ligurian-Provenc! al basin.These
processes created the accommodation for a distinctive continental to shallow-marine sedimentary
succession along narrow and elongated basins. Much of these deposits have been eroded and
presently only a few scattered outcrop areas remain, most notably at Saint-Florent and Francardo.The
Burdigalian^Langhian sedimentary succession at Saint-Florent is composed of three distinguishing
detrital components: (i) siliciclastic detritus derived from erosion of the nearby Alpine orogenic
wedge, (ii) carbonate intrabasinal detritus (bioclasts of shallow-marine and pelagic organisms), and
(iii) siliciclastic detritus derived from Hercynian-age foreland terraines.The basal deposits (Fium
Albino Formation) are £uvial and composed of Alpine-derived detritus, with subordinate forelandderived volcanic detritus. All three detrital components are present in the middle portion of the
succession (Torra and Monte Sant’Angelo Formations), which is characterized by thin transitional
deposits evolving vertically into fully marine deposits, although the carbonate intrabasinal
component is predominant.The Monte Sant’Angelo Formation is characteristically dominated by the
deposits of large gravel and sandwaves, possibly the result of current ampli¢cation in narrow seaways
that developed between the foreland and the tectonically collapsing Alpine orogenic wedge.The
laterally equivalent Saint-Florent conglomerate is composed of clasts derived from the late Permian
Cinto volcanic district within the foreland.The uppermost unit (Farinole Formation) is dominated by
bioclasts of pelagic organisms.The Saint-Florent succession was deposited during the last phase of
the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica^Sardinia^Calabria continental block and the resulting
development of the Provenc! al oceanic basin.The succession sits at the paleogeographic boundary
between the Alpine orogenic wedge (to the east), its foreland (to the west), and the Ligurian-Provenc! al
basin (to the northwest). Abrupt compositional changes in the succession resulted from the complex,
varying interplay of post- collisional extensional tectonism, eustacy and competing drainage systems.
INTRODUCTION
The islands of Corsica and Sardinia and the surrounding
continental shelves are a fragment of European^Iberian
lithosphere, which, together with Calabria, rifted o¡ the
southern continental margin of Europe during Oligo cene^Miocene time and drifted southeastward by counterclockwise rotation (Alvarez, 1972, 1976; Alvarez et al.,
1974) of about 451. Malinverno & Ryan (1986) ¢rst proposed
Correspondence: William Cavazza, Department of Earth and
Geoenvironmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Piazza di
Porta S. Donato 1, 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: william.cavazza
@unibo.it
1
Present address: Geologisches Institut, ETH Zˇrich, Switzerland.
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
that rifting of Corsica^Sardinia^Calabria from Europe
was the result of upper plate extension related to slab
roll-back along the Ionian subduction zone. Although
the exact timing is still far from precisely known (see
Speranza, 1999, for a discussion), rifting started as early
as the early Oligocene (Vially & Tre¤ molie' res, 1996)
whereas drifting occurred between ca. 22 and 15 Ma
(Ferrandini etal., 2003). Rifting reactivated Pyrenean compressional structures of the Late Cretaceous^Early Eocene
Provenc! al foldbelt (Vially & Tre¤ molie' res, 1996). Subsequent rifting of Calabria from Corsica^Sardinia during
the late Miocene isolated Corsica^Sardinia between the
Ligurian-Provenc! al basin to the northwest and theTyrrhenian Sea to the east (see Cavazza et al., 2004a, b, for a review) (Fig. 1).
507
Al
ps
W. Cavazza et al.
Ty
r
rh
Hercynian
Corsica
e
Alpine
Corsica
Aleria
Plain
an
ia
nc
Iberia
h
ug
o
Tr
ça
es
ni
40¼N
ne
Pro
ve
n
re
es
in
Py
Francardo
Ap
en
n
l B
as
in
45¼N
a
Se
le
Va
0
100 200 Km
10¼E
0¼
5 km
20¼E
Marine de Farinole
Neogene
sediments
Bonifacio
Cima di Gratera
1026
Gulf
of
St. Florent
Bastia
Monte Genova
421
Col de Teghime
St-Florent
536
Casta
Nebbio
Balagne
Tenda Massif
T
e
n
d
a
Monte Asto
1535
M
a
s
s
i
f
Autochtonous
foreland sediments
Eocene
Hercynian granitoid
rock and pre-Hercynian
crystalline country rock
Balagne Nebbio Nappes
Mesozoic-Paleogene
sediments
Jurassic Ophiolitebearing unit
S
c
h
i
s
t
e
s
L
u
s
t
r
é
s
Metamonzogranite
of Monte Asto Unit
Metagranodiorite Metatonalite of
Casta Unit
MonzograniteMetamonzogranite
of Monte Genova Unit
Late Carboniferous Permian Volcanic
Succession
Continental and
coastal deposits
Quaternary
St. Florent Fm
L. Langhian
Mt. S.Angelo- and
Torra Fms
BurdigalianL. Langhian
Fiume Albino Fm
Burdigalian
Lower Schistes
Lustrés
Neogene fault
Upper Schistes
Lustrés
Farinole, Oletta and
Serra di Pigno
orthogneiss
thrust
thrust reactivated as
an extensional fault
thrust reactivated as
a strike slip fault
Fig. 1. Schematic geologic map of northern Corsica within the framework of the Mediterranean region. Modi¢ed after Cavazza et al.
(2001) and Fellin et al. (2005).
As the Corsica^Sardinia^Calabria block rifted away
from Europe, the progressively widening Ligurian-Pro venc! al basin was £ooded by marine water. Situated between the extending Provenc! al margin of Europe and a
fragment of the collapsing western Alpine orogenic wedge
(Fig. 2), the basin was ¢lled with a diverse assemblage of
lithofacies that include both carbonate and siliciclastic
508
components. Remnants of the older portions of this basin
¢ll are preserved in Corsica and are referred to as the
Saint-Florent Basin (Fig. 1). Most striking are stacked deposits of very large- scale gravelly and sandy bedforms and
intercalated sediment-gravity £ows. The tectonic setting
of the Saint-Florent Basin between the extending orogenic
wedge and the foreland produced a narrow paleostrait
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
Balagne
WSW
Tenda massif
St. Florent
ENE
s.l.
5 km
St. Florent succession
Hercynian basement
Schistes Lustrés s.l.
Tectonised Hercynian basement
Farinole-Oletta orthogneiss
Nebbio and Balagne Nappes
Eocene foreland sediments
Fig. 2. Schematic cross- section across northern Corsica (see Fig. 1 for location of trace of section). Solid arrows indicate Alpine-age
contractional faulting; open arrows indicate (i) late Oligocene normal faults that reactivated Alpine thrust faults, and (ii) Neogene highangle normal faults. Modi¢ed after Cavazza et al. (2001).
where oceanic (probably tidal) currents were strongly ampli¢ed. The purpose of this paper is to document the
Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll and to assess its potential signi¢ cance for understanding the history of rifting and orogenic
collapse in northern Corsica, as well as its implications for
the Oligocene^Neogene tectonic evolution of the western
Mediterranean. Our results should be useful for evaluating
other Neogene basins in the Mediterranean region, where
upper plate (or back-arc) rifting events in response to subduction zone retreat (Royden, 1993) are widespread (e.g.
Jolivet & Faccenna, 2000; Cavazza et al., 2004a).
GEOLOGIC SETTING
Corsica is divided into two distinct geologic terranes
(Fig. 1). The western part of the island is characterized by
Carboniferous^Permian granitoid rocks and acid volcanic
rocks related to the Hercynian orogeny, with Precambrian^
middle Palaeozoic metamorphic host rocks and scattered
outcrops of Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks. The northeastern portion of the island (‘Alpine Corsica’) is a nappe stack
dominated by Jurassic oceanic crust and its sedimentary
cover (Durand-Delga, 1978, 1984).These rocks were metamorphosed at high pressures and low temperatures during
the Alpine orogeny (see Gibbons et al., 1986, and Caron,
1994, for reviews). Although data pointing to a metamorphic event older than Late Eocene are scarce and
questionable (see Brunet et al., 2000, for a discussion), the
compressional development of the Alpine orogenic wedge
traditionally has been considered to span Late Cretaceous
to Eocene time. Major thrusting in Corsica occurred during the Eocene, producing much of the documented
nappe stacking and metamorphism (Caron, 1994). Local
remnants of an Eocene foreland basin (e.g. the autochtho nous clastic units of the Balagne region of Fig. 1) are present between the Hercynian crystalline basement
complex and Alpine Corsica (Nardi et al., 1978; Jourdan,
1988).
From north to south, Miocene rocks are present in
Corsica only in four relatively small areas: Saint-
Florent, Francardo, the Aleria plain and Bonifacio (Fig. 1)
(e.g. Orszag-Sperber & Pilot, 1976; Alesandri et al., 1977;
Groupe Francais d’Etude du Neogene, 1989; Cubells et al.,
1994; Ferrandini et al., 1998, 2002, 2003; Loy«e-Pilot et al.,
2004; Fellin et al., 2005).The successions at Saint-Florent,
Francardo and Bonifacio are thin and cover almost precisely the same time span (Burdigalian-Langhian).The sedimentary succession of the Aleria Plain spans Burdigalian
to Pliocene time and represents the onland portion of the
48 km-thick o¡shore Corsica basin to the east (Mau¡ret
et al., 1999), which developed during rifting of Calabria
from the Corsica^Sardinia block. This paper describes
and interprets the Miocene succession at Saint-Florent
within the framework of the post- collisional evolution of
Corsica and the western Mediterranean.
STRUCTURE OF THE BALAGNE ^
BASTIA TRAVERSE
The Saint-Florent Basin lies along the Balagne^Bastia traverse (Fig. 2), which arguably constitutes the best- studied
part of Corsica. From the west to the east along the traverse, the major tectonostratigraphic domains include the
following: (i) The autochthonous, relatively undeformed
basement complex of the European^Iberian plate (‘Hercynian Corsica’), made of Carboniferous to early Permian
granitoid rocks, their pre-Hercynian metamorphic host
rocks and Permian volcanic rocks (Mt. Cinto volcanic district); (ii) remnants of the Balagne foreland basin and
thrust belt with middle Eocene turbidites, overthrust by
W-verging nappes of Jurassic ophiolites and their Cretaceous^Eocene, unmetamorphosed sedimentary cover; (iii)
the highly deformed parts of the European continental
margin, including the dome- shaped Tenda massif of Hercynian granitoid and Palaeozoic volcanic rocks, and slices
of crystalline basement of the Oletta-Serra di Pigno -Farinole crystalline unit interspersed in the ‘Schistes Lustre¤ s’
nappe; (iv) the Nebbio nappe, composed of rock units similar to those of the Balagne nappe and similarly unmetamorphosed (Dallan & Puccinelli, 1986, 1995). The Nebbio
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
509
W. Cavazza et al.
Mt. S. Angelo Fm
N
Foresets
Axes of
trough x-beds
interval 15¼
max 12%
n = 11
n = 89
PS
CM
Foresets and
trough x-beds
St. Florent conglomerate
Gulf
of
St. Florent
SR
Imbrications
interval 15¼
max 14%
n = 85
Farinole Fm
U. Langhian-Mid. Serravallian
St. Florent Fm
L. Langhian
Mt. S.Angelo- and Torra Fms
Burdigalian-L. Langhian
Fiume Albino Fm
Burdigalian
transgression
Alpine contact
Farinole-Oletta
orthogneiss
Alpine contact
Tenda orthogneiss
Neogene fault
thrust
Upper Nebbio Unit
East Tenda
shear zone
Lower Nebbio Unit
bed attitude
Alpine contact
Schistes Lustrés s.l.
location of
stratigraphic
section
1 km
SR Strutta Rau
PS Punta Saeta
CM Campu Maggiore
Fig. 3. Geological map of Saint-Florent and its surroundings (after Fellin et al., 2005). Shown are the traces of the stratigraphic sections
of Fig. 5. Paleocurrent data (upper left corner) include measurements of (i) foresets plotted as dip directions, (ii) limbs of trough crossbeds plotted as dip directions and (iii) poles of a^b planes of imbricated clasts. All measurements were rotated to horizontal and plotted
on the lower hemisphere of a Wul¡ stereonet. Upper rose diagram obtained summing foresets measurements and the trough axes
derived using the methods of DeCelles et al. (1984).
nappe overlies the previously deformed and metamorphosed ‘Schistes Lustre¤ s’ nappe and is unconformably
overlain by the Miocene Saint-Florent succession. The
Nebbio, Balagne and Macinaggio (NE Corsica; not shown
in Figs 1 and 2) nappes are the uppermost, unmetamorphosed tectonic units of the Alpine orogenic wedge (‘nappe
superieure’). The basal thrust faults of these nappes, emplaced during the Eocene (e.g. Durand-Delga, 1984), were
tectonically inverted as low-angle detachment faults during the late Oligocene (Daniel et al., 1996); (v) the ‘Schistes
Lustre¤ s’ nappe is composed of ophiolitic sequences covered by metamorphosed marine sedimentary rocks.
It contains eclogitic associations (Caron etal.,1981; Lahonde' re, 1988; Fournier et al., 1991) of Late Cretaceous age
(Lahonde' re and Guerrot, 1997) that were retrogressed to
blueschist facies (Gibbons et al., 1986; Lahonde' re, 1988;
510
Waters, 1989) during Eocene time (Brunet et al., 2000).
Westward emplacement of the ‘Schistes Lustre¤ s’ nappe
onto the Hercynian basement and its Eocene sedimentary
cover ended in late Eocene time (Durand-Delga, 1978).
STRUCTURAL SETTING OF THE
SAINT-FLORENT BASIN
From the structural viewpoint, the Saint-Florent region is
dominated by the East Tenda shear zone (Figs1^3), a major
Alpine top -to -the-west thrust fault that was reactivated as
a detachment fault since the Oligocene (Waters, 1990;
Fournier et. al., 1991; Brunet et al., 2000) and then cut by
high-angle normal faults during late- early to early-middle
Miocene time (Fellin et al., 2005). The dome- shaped
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
STRATIGRAPHY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY
OF THE SAINT-FLORENT SUCCESSION
The region of Saint-Florent is characterized by a thick
succession of Neogene sedimentary rocks unconformably
overlying the Nebbio tectonic unit (Fig. 3) (Dallan & Puccinelli, 1986, 1995; Dallan et al., 1988; Rossi et al., 1994).The
Saint-Florent sedimentary succession delineates a large,
open, north-plunging syncline. The lower contact of the
Saint-Florent succession is exposed locally along the
northern boundaries of the outcrop area (Fig. 3). Ferrandini et al. (1998, Fig. 2) and Fellin et al. (2005, Fig. 6) reported
total thicknesses of 550 and ca. 600 m, respectively. Our
measured stratigraphic sections, integrated from observations throughout the Saint-Florent Basin, point to a maximum total thickness of about 400 m for the preserved
basin ¢ll, in agreement with Durand-Delga (1978), Rossi
et al. (1994) and Dallan & Puccinelli (1995).
From the bottom to the top, the succession begins with
a thin (maximum 60 m), discontinuous unit named the
Fium Albino Formation by Ferrandini et al. (1998) (Fig. 4).
This unit crops out locally in erosional depressions cut
into the underlying Nebbio nappe (Fellin et al., 2005) and
is composed of pebble conglomerate and very coarse- to
coarse-grained sandstone that were interpreted by Ferrandini et al. (1998) as the deposits of an alluvial/£uvial environment. Conglomerate clasts were mostly derived from
the Alpine orogenic wedge, whereas sandstone lithic fragments have a more varied provenance (see following section). No direct age determination exists for this unit.
Poor outcrops hinder unambiguous interpretation of
the contact between the Fium Albino Formation and the
overlying Torra Formation (Fig. 4); Ferrandini et al. (1998)
inferred it to be an angular unconformity, whereas Fellin
et al. (2005) interpreted the contact as conformable. Most
likely, local minor unconformities are the result of syndepositional deformation, the e¡ects of which are also visible
in the overlying calcarenites of the Monte Sant’Angelo
Formation. In most places the Torra Formation directly
14.8
Farinole
Fm
St. Florent
conglomerate
Lang.
Serravallian
Ma Age
11.2
Burdigalian
16.4
Mt. S. Angelo
Fm
biomicrite
20.5
23.8
calcarenite
Aquitanian
Tenda massif (Fig. 2) is the footwall of the detachment
fault and is mostly composed of Hercynian granitoid rocks
and Palaeozoic volcanics. These rocks were recrystallized
in blueschist conditions during west-vergent Alpine
thrusting at peak pressures/temperatures of 0.8 GPa/
300 1C to 1.1 GPa/500 1C (minimum burial depth of 27 km)
and later overprinted by ductile extension in greenschist
facies along its eastern border during Oligocene time
(Waters, 1990; Fournier et al., 1991; Brunet et al., 2000; Tribuzio & Giacomini, 2002).
In its presently outcropping extent, the Saint-Florent
Basin is bounded on the east by an N- striking,W-dipping
normal fault system (Fig. 3) active during Burdigalian^
Langhian time (i.e. during deposition of the Saint-Florent
succession), based on the integrated results of structural
analysis and apatite^zircon ¢ssion-track analyses (Fellin
et al., 2005). The western boundary of the basin is a
N-to -NW- striking fault partially obscured by Quaternary
alluvium of the Aliso River. According to Fellin etal. (2005),
this high-angle normal fault displaces the East Tenda
shear zone and juxtaposes terraines exhumed at di¡erent
ages, thus substantiating the notion that high-angle normal faulting postdated and was unrelated to detachment
faulting along the East Tenda shear. Syndepositional tectonism along minor associated normal faults is documented also by widespread soft- sediment deformation and
growth faults a¡ecting the basin ¢ll, both particularly
common along the northern end of the basin.
Jolivet et al. (1990) and Fournier et al. (1991) interpreted
the Saint-Florent Basin as the result of extension along the
East Tenda shear zone, in spite of the rather large time gap
between the youngest ages in the exhumed metamorphic
rocks (33^32 Ma), and the age of the base of the basin ¢ll
at about 19^18 Ma. Brunet et al. (2000) reported Ar/Ar ages
from the Tenda massif as young as 25 Ma, thus reducing
the time gap to 6^7 Ma.
Structural and ¢ssion-track analyses indicate that during the early late Miocene (Tortonian) the Saint-Florent
Basin was uplifted, acquiring its open synclinal shape. Kinematic indicators suggest that uplift occurred through
right-lateral transpressional reactivation of the boundary
faults under a NNE- oriented maximum compressional
axis (Fellin et al., 2005). Partial annealing of apatites from
the basement beneath the basin indicates that signi¢cant
erosion occurred and that the basin ¢ll was originally
much thicker.
Torra Fm
Fium
Albino Fm
siliciclastic
conglomerat
basement
Fig. 4. Generalized stratigraphic section for the Saint-Florent
area.The entire succession is here considered as conformable,
with only minor unconfomities locally present between the
£uvial deposits of the Fium Albino Formation and the
transitional ones of theTorra Formation Data sources: OrszagSperber & Pilot, 1976, Loy«e-Pilot & Magne¤ , 1987, Ferrandini et al.
(1998), Fellin et al. (2005), and unpublished data.Time scale after
Berggren et al. (1995).
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
511
W. Cavazza et al.
(a)
(b)
CAMPU MAGGIORE
70
50
LEGEND
60
Covered interval
Fluid escape structures
Wispy horizontal lamination
Pecten
Reverse ripples
Unidirectional current ripples
Echinoids
Thalassanoides
Macaronichnus
Plane-parallel lamination
Unstratified
Diffuse bioturbation
Ophiolitic rock fragments
Quartzo-feldspathic lithic
conglomerate
50
Bryozoa
Trough cross-stratification
Large-scale planar crossstratification
Hummocky cross-stratification
40
Skolithos
Molluskan debris
Oncolites with ophiolitic cores
Oncolites with carbonate cores
ss
cg
Medium
Sandstone
Conglomerate
30
PUNTA DI SAETA
30
100
20
10
0
s/c
ss
cg
Monte Sant’ Angelo Fm
s/c
Siltstone/
claystone
40
Mt. Sant’ Angelo Fm.
Monte Sant’ Angelo Fm
GRAIN SIZE KEY
20
90
10
80
70
0
s/c
ss
cg
s /c
ss
cg
Fig. 5. Measured stratigraphic sections. See Fig. 3 for location.
overlies the rock units of the Nebbio nappe.TheTorra Formation is about 50^60 m thick (Fig. 5c) and it is made of
massive medium- to coarse-grained sandstone and pebble
conglomerate with abundant oyster and pectinid shells,
echinoids, bryozoans and Skolithos burrows. The upper
portion of the unit comprises thick carbonate-dominated
beds rich in corallinaceous algae and is transitional to the
overlying Monte Sant’Angelo Formation.
Reaching ca. 250 m in thickness, the Monte Sant’Angelo
Formation represents the bulk of the Saint-Florent sedimentary succession (Figs 4 and 5). This unit conformably
overlies the Torra Formation and is overlain with a sharp
contact by the Farinole Formation.The Saint-Florent con-
512
glomerate is a local coarse-grained facies that cuts ero sively into and is partly a lateral equivalent of the Monte
Sant’Angelo Formation.The age of the Monte Sant’Angelo
Formation is late Burdigalian^ early Langhian, based on
foraminifera and nannoplankton biostratigraphy (Ferrandini et al., 1998; Fellin et al., 2005) and on magnetostratigraphy (Vigliotti & Kent, 1990; Ferrandini et al., 2003).
The Monte Sant’Angelo Formation is dominated by
bioclastic detritus (corallinacean red algae, bivalves,
bryozoans and foraminifera) although varying amounts of
siliciclastic detritus are present throughout (on average
15% of sand- sized grains consist of noncarbonate extrabasinal detritus).The extrabasinal clasts are dominated by
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
(c)
70
140
210
280
60
130
200
270
50
120
190
260
30
Sh
110
Shw
Sp
100
90
20
Monte Sant’Angelo Formation
40
Monte Sant’ Angelo Formation
Monte Sant’ Angelo Formation
Torra Formation
Shw
180
170
250
240
230
160
STRUTTA RAU
Sm
80
10
Sm
150
Sm
Gmm
Sm
St/Sp
Sm
minor
fault
220
290
Sm
Sm
0
s/c
ss
cg
70
s/c
ss
cg
140
s/c
ss
cg
210
s/c
ss
280
cg
s/c
ss
cg
Fig. 5. Continued.
material derived from the Alpine orogenic wedge. Rhodo liths (i.e. nodules of red corallinacean algae concentrically
encrusted) are very common (Orszag-Sperber et al., 1977),
often concentrated in 1.0^2.5-m-thick beds intercalated
with large- scale cross-bedded calcarenites virtually devoid of rhodoliths (Figs 6, 7 and 8a). Amalgamated beds
are common in both the rhodolitic and calcarenitic facies.
Rhodoliths reach a maximum diameter of 12 cm (average
4^5 cm) and have either bioclastic or siliciclastic nuclei
(Fig. 8b).The rhodolitic beds are tabular, laterally continuous and their bases are £at and not obviously erosional
(Fig. 8c). Although some of these beds contain weakly developed horizontal strati¢cation, most are not internally
strati¢ed (Fig. 8c, d). These beds exhibit distinctive grainsize and grain- compositional variations. In beds with
abundant rhodoliths, the denser siliciclastic clasts, either
free or as cores within rhodoliths, are concentrated in the
lower part of the bed, whereas densely packed rhodoliths
are concentrated in the upper part (Fig. 8e). Other beds
are composed primarily of siliciclastic clasts. In either
case, the siliciclastic clasts are usually normally graded
(Fig. 8f); in a few cases we observed inverse grading (Fig.
8e) and inverse to normal grading (Fig. 8g) among the
siliciclastic clasts. Out- sized clasts are present in many
of these beds, £oating in an unsorted and unstrati¢ed
matrix.
Large- scale sets of cross-bedded calcarenite are up to
5 m thick (Figs 5, 6 and 8a, c) and are made of well- sorted,
very coarse- to coarse-grained intrabasinal bioclastic
sandstone (biosparite and biomicrosparite) with a subordinate siliciclastic extrabasinal detrital component. Rhodo liths are scarce in cross-bedded calcarenites and are always
concentrated at the base of the foresets. At the outcrop
scale the bounding surfaces of the cross- sets are mostly
planar; only in a few cases were curved bounding surfaces
visible (Fig. 8a). Reactivation surfaces are common. Foreset
dips are commonly greater than 201. The internal geometry of the large- scale sets of cross-bedded calcarenite is
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
513
W. Cavazza et al.
Fig. 6. Massive, inversely graded rhodolith bed (rh) erosively
overlying large- scale cross-beds (sandwave deposits) (sw) in the
Monte Sant’Angelo Formation near the Campu Maggiore section
(see Fig. 3 for location). Jacob’s sta¡ is 1.5 m long.
Fig. 7. Interbedded large- scale cross-beds (sandwave deposits
with subordinate smaller scale cross-beds produced by
migrating megaripples) and massive rhodolith beds (Monte
Sant’Angelo Formation; middle portion of the Strutta Rau
stratigraphic section ^ approximately 170^205 m above base of
section; Fig. 5c).These deposits indicate the alternation of
traction and sediment-gravity-driven currents in a currentswept marine environment.
fairly straightforward, with simple, tabular (or slightly tangential) avalanche sets and minor occurrences of megaripple cross-lamination limited to the bottom portion of the
514
foresets. Foresets are commonly burrowed, particularly
near the bottom, with Thalassinoides, Ophiomorpha and Macaronichnus as the most common ichnogenera (Fig. 8h).
Spreiten structures are also present. Cosets commonly are
bounded by laterally extensive, sheet-like erosional surfaces. No mud drapes were detected.
Well-rounded, well- organized pebble-to - cobble conglomerate made of rhyolitic ignimbrite clasts is interbedded with the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation along the
coast north of the town of Saint-Florent (Fig. 3) and also
crops out just east of the town in the core of the syncline.
These conglomerates have been referred to as poudingues de
Fortino (Hollande,1917), poudingues de Saint-Florent (Maury,
1909), Formation de Saint-Florent (Ferrandini et al., 1998)
and St Florent conglomerate (Fellin et al., 2005). The rhyolite
(ash- £ow tu¡) clasts are distinctive in colour, texture and
composition, and were derived from the Permian volcanic
complex of Monte Cinto, located about 30 km to the
southwest of the study area.This rock type is so distinctive
that derivation of the conglomerate clasts from the Monte
Cinto complex was ¢rst proposed by Reynaud in1833. Possibly because of its siliciclastic nature ^ markedly di¡erent
from the carbonate-dominated majority of the Saint-Florent succession ^ this conglomerate has long been considered to postdate the deposition of the carbonate
succession, in spite of several outcrops along the coast
north of Saint-Florent where the conglomerate is interbedded with the carbonates. In addition, in the coastal
outcrops just east of the town of Saint-Florent, these conglomerates have the same structural orientation as the
Monte Sant’Angelo Formation (Durand-Delga, 1978,
p. 158; Dallan et al., 1988; Dallan & Puccinelli, 1995, p. 51),
suggesting that the two units are laterally equivalent to
each other. Therefore, based on our observations and
those of Fellin et al. (2005), we propose to discontinue
the use of the terms poudingues de Fortino, poudingues de
Saint-Florent, and Formation de Saint-Florent for these
characteristically well-rounded conglomerates. Because
they are intimately associated with and laterally equivalent
to the thick carbonate layers of the uppermost Monte Sant’Angelo Formation, we consider this distinctive unit as an
informal member of the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation
with the name ‘Saint-Florent conglomerate’. In spite of
the lack of direct age control, we agree with Fellin et al.
(2005) that the inter¢ngering with the upper Monte
Sant’Angelo Formation points to an early Langhian age
for this conglomerate.
The Saint-Florent succession is capped by foraminifera-rich marls and calcarenites of the Farinole Formation
(Fig. 4).This unit is about 80 m thick and crops out only in
the northeastern part of the study area (Fig. 3). Its age is
late Langhian-middle Serravallian, based on nannoplankton and foraminifera biostratigraphy (Loy«e-Pilot &
Magne¤, 1987; Ferrandini et al., 1998; Fellin et al., 2005) and
magnetostratigraphy (Ferrandini et al., 2003). Compared
with the underlying Monte Sant’Angelo Formation, the
Farinole Formation was deposited in a deeper marine
environment, as indicated by the presence of a pelagic
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
on
sw
on
on
sw
(e)
(g)
(f)
(h)
Fig. 8. Field photographs of sedimentary facies within the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation of the Saint-Florent sedimentary succession.
(a) Large- scale cross-bedding in sandwave deposits (base of Campu Maggiore stratigraphic section). (b) Detail of a massive rhodolith
bed with ophiolitic clasts at the core of several rhodoliths (Strutta Rau stratigraphic section). (c) Alternating massive rhodolith beds (on)
and cross-bedded sandwave deposits (sw); cross-beds dip away from observer. Note the nonerosive contacts between depositional units
(Strutta Rau stratigraphic section). (d) Structureless, 3-m-thick bed of rhodoliths. (Campu Maggiore stratigraphic section). (e) Bed
containing both siliciclastic and rhodolitic grains, with siliciclastic grains concentrated in lower part and showing subtle inverse
grading (Punta di Saeta). Scale bar is 10 cm long. (f) Bed of mixed rhodoliths and siliciclastic grains, with inverse to normal grading
(Campu Maggiore). Scale bar is 10 cm long. (g) Bed containing a mixture of rhodoliths and siliciclastic clasts. Note the absence of
strati¢cation, and the upward ¢ning size of the siliciclastic components (Strutta Rau). (h) Ichnofacies (Spreiten structures, Thalassinoides
and Macaronichnus) of the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation (Campu Maggiore).
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
515
W. Cavazza et al.
Fig. 9. Synsedimentary extensional features within the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation along coast between Campu Maggiore and Punta
di Saeta.
micro£ora and microfauna. A few channelized conglomerate bodies composed of rhyolite clasts are present.
One hundred eighty-six paleocurrent indicators were
measured throughout the stratigraphic thickness of the
Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll over its entire outcropping area. In
order of decreasing abundance, measured paleocurrent indicators include (i) sandwave foresets, (ii) imbricated clasts
and (iii) axes of trough cross-beds. Outcrops of the Fium
Albino Formation are too poor for measuring unequivocal
paleocurrent indicators. Despite some scatter, paleocurrent
indicators of the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation yield an
average paleo£ow direction towards the NNE (Fig. 3). Foresets dipping in opposite directions at any one location are
rare. The Saint-Florent conglomerate also shows wellde¢ned paleocurrent directions toward the NNE. Paleocurrent indicators are absent in the Farinole Formation.
PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL
INTERPRETATION OF THE
SAINT-FLORENT SUCCESSION
Overall, the sedimentological and palaeontological characteristics of the Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll point to a pro gressive deepening, from the £uvial^alluvial deposits of
the Fium Albino Formation, through the transitional
deposits of theTorra Formation, to the shallow marine deposits of the Monte Sant’Angelo Formation and the pelagic sediments of the Farinole Formation.
The macropalaeontological association of the Monte
Sant’Angelo Formation, which constitutes the bulk of the
Saint-Florent sedimentary succession, comprises corallinacean red algae, bivalves, bryozoans, foraminifera and
echinoderms, and suggests a shallow-water warm-temperate
association (Flˇgel, 2004), in agreement with the approximate palaeolatitude of Corsica of 37^381N during Burdigalian^Langhian time (e.g. Dercourt et al., 1993). The
micropaleontological association (£ora and fauna) points
to an outer shelf depth range; yet the coarser-grained bio clastic detritus was derived from a littoral environment
(Ferrandini et al., 1998). Along with the broken and
abraded nature of the larger bioclasts, this indicates that
516
reworking and redeposition of shallow marine biogenic
detritus into a deeper environment were common in the
Saint-Florent Basin.
The Monte Sant’Angelo Formation has been interpreted as beach deposits (e.g. Durand-Delga, 1978; Orszag-Sperber, 1980), with the large- scale cross-bedded
deposits representing beach ridges. However, more recent
sedimentological analyses led to the interpretation of the
cross-bedded facies as the deposits of large sandwaves
(Cavazza & DeCelles, 1995, 1996; Ferrandini et al., 1998).
The common interbedding of sandwave deposits and rho dolith beds is interpreted here as the result of sedimentgravity £ows reworking the rhodoliths and other bioclastic
detritus from a shallow nearshore environment into a deeper marine realm swept by intense, mostly unidirectional
currents. Periodic deposition of thick rhodolith beds can
be viewed within the framework of the intense syndepositional tectonism documented by growth faults and softsediment deformation (Fig. 9).
A key component of our environmental reconstruction
is the sediment-gravity £ow interpretation of the rhodo lith and mixed rhodolith^ siliciclastic beds. We interpret
these beds as the deposits of concentrated and hyperconcentrated density £ows (sensu Mulder & Alexander, 2001).
Several aspects of these beds require this interpretation:
(1) The general absence of internal traction- current strati¢cation (Fig. 8d) indicates deposition from turbulent
high-density/high- concentration £ows in which typical
traction- current bedforms were suppressed, probably because of a high rate of suspended-load fall- out (Lowe,
1982, 1988; Arnott & Hand, 1989; DeCelles & Cavazza,
1992) and extreme unsteadiness of the £ows (Allen, 1991).
(2) The common presence of normal grading, particularly
among the denser siliciclastic clasts (Fig. 8g), is consistent
with rapid suspension fall- out. Similarly, the density strati¢cation within these beds (Fig 8e), with the siliciclastic
clasts concentrated in the lower parts of beds (dense-grain
tail normal grading, Mulder & Alexander, 2001), indicates
that rapid suspension fall- out, rather than traction £ow,
was the dominant depositional process. (3) Inverse and inverse-to-normal grading (Fig. 8e, f) are common attributes
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
14.5
4.8
12.5
12.3
5.3
10.0
16.8
^
2.8
1.8
^
1.0
0.3
12.0
5.8
0.3
^
99.7
0.3
^
18.0
21.1
60.9
Quartz
K-feldspar
Plagioclase
Felsitic Lv 1 Aplite
Basic Lv
Ab-Ep semischist
Phyllite
Chlorite schist
Serpentinite schist
Serpentinite
Mudstone
Siltstone
Chert
Mica 1 chlorite
Others
CE
CI
%NCE
%CE
%CI
%Q
%F
%L
44.4
20.5
35.1
35.6
^
64.4
15.2
2.8
4.2
4.8
0.2
0.6
6.0
0.2
0.2
^
^
^
^
0.8
0.6
^
64.4
CO98-1
55.3
19.3
25.5
35.0
^
65.0
17.8
1.8
4.4
3.4
0.4
1.0
3.2
0.2
^
^
^
^
^
1.0
1.8
^
65.0
CO98-2
43.9
28.1
28.1
30.0
^
70.0
12.0
2.8
5.0
0.6
0.2
2.4
4.0
0.6
^
^
^
^
0.2
0.8
1.4
^
70.0
CO98-3
50.4
18.4
31.1
48.4
^
51.6
23.0
3.2
5.2
3.0
^
3.0
7.0
0.2
1.0
^
^
^
^
1.2
1.6
^
51.6
CO98-4
Torra and Monte Sant’Angelo formations
36.1
13.5
50.4
29.6
^
70.4
9.6
1.0
2.6
0.8
0.6
3.2
3.0
1.2
3.2
0.6
0.8
^
^
1.2
1.8
^
70.4
CO98-5
37.9
13.8
48.3
6.2
^
93.8
2.0
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.4
^
1.2
0.2
^
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
^
0.4
^
93.8
CO98-8
35.1
21.6
43.2
9.0
^
91.0
3.1
0.2
1.7
1.4
0.9
0.2
0.9
^
^
^
^
0.2
^
^
0.2
^
91.0
CO98-9
46.9
23.9
29.2
29.1
^
70.9
13.1
1.7
4.9
4.0
1.0
1.0
1.7
^
^
^
^
0.5
^
^
1.2
^
70.9
CO98-11
58.9
20.0
21.1
22.9
^
77.1
13.5
1.7
2.9
2.7
^
^
1.7
^
^
^
0.2
0.2
^
^
^
^
77.1
CO94 -10
51.1
14.9
34.0
24.7
^
75.3
12.6
2.1
1.6
3.1
3.1
^
0.8
^
^
^
0.8
0.5
^
^
^
^
75.3
CO98-12
40.9
29.5
29.5
22.3
^
77.7
8.6
2.9
3.3
3.1
0.5
0.2
2.4
^
^
^
^
^
^
1.2
0.2
^
77.7
CO98-15
28.7
20.7
50.6
100.0
^
^
25.0
9.0
9.0
30.5
4.0
^
5.8
^
^
^
^
3.8
^
11.3
1.8
^
^
St. Florent Fm
CO98-26
63.3
20.0
16.7
9.0
^
91.0
5.5
0.6
1.2
0.9
^
^
0.6
^
^
^
^
^
^
0.3
^
^
91.0
SP14
68.8
15.6
15.6
7.7
^
92.3
5.3
0.5
0.7
0.5
^
^
0.7
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
92.3
SP15
Farinole Fm
Notes: Lv, volcanic lithic fragments; Ab, albite; Ep, epidote; CE, extrabasinal carbonate clasts; CI, intrabas. carb. clasts; NCE, noncarb. extrabasinal clasts; Q , total quartz grains; F, feldspars; L, aphanitic lithic grains.
Fium Albino Fm
TE59/1
Formations
Samples
Table 1. Framework composition of sandstone samples
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
517
W. Cavazza et al.
of hyperconcentrated density £ows, and result from inertial
grain-to-grain collisions (Lowe, 1982; Mulder & Alexander,
2001). Analogous high-concentration turbidites are widely
documented in the literature (Surlyk, 1978, 1984; Postma,
1986; Ghibaudo, 1992; Cavazza & DeCelles, 1993; Mulder &
Alexander, 2001; Naruse & Masuda, 2006; Eyles & Januszczak, 2007; Payros et al., 2007). Although the water depth in
which these deposits accumulated is not known, we can con¢dently state that they must have been below storm wave
base because of the general absence of typical storm-related
coarse-grained lithofacies such as hummocky and swaley
cross-strati¢cation, storm- and poststorm lags and strongly
erosional basal surfaces (e.g. Clifton, 1981; DeCelles, 1987;
Duke, 1987; Dumas & Arnott, 2006).
Using the terminology proposed by Ashley (1990) the
Saint-Florent sandwaves can be classi¢ed as large subaqueous dunes, mostly two -dimensional (i.e. straight- crested).
Altogether, the sedimentological features described above
indicate that the sandwave deposits of the Saint-Florent
succession formed in response to e¡ectively unidirectional
currents, perhaps because the reversing tidal £ow
remained below the critical threshold for sediment transport, resulting in bedforms with unidirectional, angleof-repose foresets.The simple internal structure indicates
that temporal and spatial variability of processes producing the bedforms was low.
The predominance of corallinaceous red algal detritus
at Saint-Florent ¢ts well with global chronolithostratigraphic patterns. In fact, late- early to early-late Miocene
neritic carbonate settings are characterized by a worldwide
bloom of coralline red-algal (rhodalgal; Carannante et al.,
1988) facies. Coralline red algae are commonly known as
encrusters in shallow coral reefs and on rocky substrates
or, in the absence of hard substrates, can also occur as
rhodolith nodules inhabiting sandy substrates. Rhodalgal
facies are known to develop extensively in areas of nutrient-rich upwelling and under reduced-light conditions.
Halfar & Mutti (2005) attributed the global shift from
coral- to rhodolith-dominated carbonate communities
during the Burdigalian to early Tortonian to Miocene
global changes. According to these authors, a combination
of a global enhancement of trophic resources and declining temperatures led to oceanographic conditions that favoured the expansion of rhodalgal communities.
DETRITAL COMPOSITION
In order to determine sandstone detrital modes and provenance of the Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll 25 samples were collected, thin- sectioned and examined petrographically. Of
these, ¢fteen samples were point- counted following the
Gazzi^Dickinson method (Gazzi, 1966; Dickinson, 1970),
a procedure that minimizes the variation of composition
with grain size. Three hundred points per thin section
were counted and assigned to one of seventeen categories.
Sandstone point- count data were then recalculated to
produce the grain parameters indicated in Table 1. Prove-
518
nance was also qualitatively assessed on 14 conglomerate
outcrops covering the entire Saint-Florent sedimentary
succession. The following is a synthesis of all quantitative
and qualitative observations.
The detrital modes of the Fium Albino Formation are
characterized by abundant siliciclastic lithic fragments:
phyllite, felsitic volcanics, albite^epidote semischist, basic
volcanics, serpentinite and serpentine schists (Table 1). A
few aplite grains are also present. The relative proportions
of these lithic grains vary locally, suggesting control by the
local drainage network of the small £uvial systems represented by this lithostratigraphic unit. These rock types
match those presently exposed in the Alpine orogenic
wedge nearby to the east, except for the felsitic volcanics,
which do not have a counterpart within the orogenic wedge
and were derived from the Permian Mt. Cinto volcanic district within the foreland. Sandstones of theTorra and Monte
Sant’Angelo Formations have a predominant carbonatoclastic intrabasinal component (Table 1, Figs 11 and 12).
Most common bioclasts are calcareous algae, bryozoans,
benthic foraminifera and mollusks. Siliciclastic rock fragments are identical to those in the Fium Albino Formation.
Averaging 2.5%, felsitic volcanic grains are less abundant in
these units than in the underlying Fium Albino Formation.
The Saint-Florent conglomerate is composed almost exclusively (498%) of felsitic volcanic clasts (ash- £ow tu¡s).
Such volcanic clasts are identical to those present in the underlying lithostratigraphic units. The ¢ne-grained sandstones of the Farinole Formation are dominated by
carbonate intraclasts (planktic foraminifera) with subordinate quartz and feldspars grains (Fig. 10); minor amounts
of phyllite and felsitic volcanic clasts also are present.
On a carbonate lithic grains plot (Fig. 12), all sandstone
samples of the Saint-Florent succession lack extrabasinal
carbonate grains. The litharenites of the Fium Albino and
Saint-Florent Formations are devoid of intrabasinal carbonate detritus; the detrital modes of all other samples
are dominated (52^94% of the total framework grains) by
intrabasinal carbonate grains.
On a standard QFL plot (Fig. 12), most sandstone samples of the Saint-Florent succession fall within the ‘recycled orogen’ ¢eld of Dickinson et al. (1983), i.e.
compositions resulting from the orogenic uplift and ero sion of fold belts and thrust sheets. The only exceptions
are the litharenites of the basal Fium Albino Formation
(Alpine metamorphic rock fragments) and Saint-Florent
conglomerate (late Hercynian volcanic rock fragments).
The abundance of serpentinitic silicliclastic grains ^ typical of sandstones derived from collisional orogenic terranes (Suczek & Ingersoll, 1985) ^ indicates that ophiolitic
units of the Alpine orogenic wedge were available as sediment source rocks.
Based on the qualitative observation of conglomerate
composition, Fellin et al. (2005) concluded that the extrabasinal provenance of the Saint-Florent succession is
dominated by the Alpine units, which still form the eastern margin of the basin, with a subordinate detrital input
from the Tenda gneissic dome to the west. In their inter-
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
Fig. 10. Photomicrographs (uncrossed nicols) of Monte
Sant’Angelo (sample CO98-12, top) and Farinole (SP-14, bottom)
Formations Monte Sant’Angelo Formation samples are typically
coarser grained, hybrid (mixed siliciclastic- carbonatoclastic)
arenites with abundant bioclasts of calcareous algae, benthic
foraminifera and bryozoans. Farinole Formation samples are
¢ner grained biomicrites-biomicrosparite with abundant
planktic foraminifera and a limited siliciclastic component.
pretation, the distinctive Permian rhyolitic volcanics of
central Corsica (Monte Cinto) would have reached the basin with the deposition of the Saint-Florent conglomerate
(early Langhian). This was interpreted to be the result of
the integration of a Golo paleoriver (Fellin et al., 2005,
Fig. 6b). Sandstone petrographic results of this study challenge this notion, however, as silicic volcanics are present
as lithic fragments throughout the succession, thus indicating that the Monte Cinto district was already tapped
by the drainage system of the Saint-Florent Basin during
the Burdigalian.
DISCUSSION
Paleoenvironmental significance of the
Saint-Florent Basin
The peculiar assemblage of lithofacies in the SaintFlorent Basin, characterized by intercalation of sandwave
deposits and high-density turbidity current deposits
composed of reworked shallow-marine carbonate
biodetritus, raises the prospect that this assemblage
may have paleotectonic/paleoenvironmental signi¢cance.
In particular, we propose that this blend of lithofacies
should be characteristic of relatively deep marine environments that are swept by both powerful bottom currents
and sporadic turbidity currents.
O¡shore marine gravel and sandwave deposits
have been documented in a number of turbidite fan
systems (e.g. McHugh & Ryan, 2000), but these deposits typically exhibit very low-angle cross- strati¢cation.
High-angle gravel and sandwave deposits are known from
a range of water depths (100^1000 m) in the Messina
Strait and its approaches (e.g. Ryan & Heezen, 1965;
Santoro et al., 2002, 2004), and in shallower (30^106 m)
shelf environments near the Golden Gate of San
Francisco, USA (Barnard etal., 2005, 2006). Both these settings are characterized by powerful bottom currents
(1.2 m/s at ^300 m in the Messina Strait) produced
mostly by bathymetric focussing of tidal currents. However, only deeper environments such as the Messina Strait
are also sites of deposition by means of gravity £ows. At
this location, at depths in excess of 400 m, Selli et al.
(1975) documented the presence of turbidite layers (average recurrence time ca. 60 years) interbedded with sandwave deposits and derived from the rugged and
tectonically unstable basin margins. The MonteTorre paleostrait of southern Italy ^ which linked the Tyrrhenian
and Ionian seas during Plio -Pleistocene time (Colella &
D’Alessandro, 1988) ^ provides a well-documented fossil
analogue of the Messina Strait. Sedimentation along the
axis of the paleostrait was characterized by gravel or very
coarse sandwave deposits composed mostly of carbonate
biodetritus. Such large carbonate sandwaves required
strong currents and high biological productivity, which
were induced by current ampli¢cation along the paleostrait and the corresponding upwelling of nutrients, respectively. The Monte Torre sandwave deposits are
interbedded with thick turbidites ^ the result of intermittent high-density turbidity currents mobilizing mixed
bioclastic^ siliciclastic detritus from the tectonically active
basin margins. Based on ichnofacies, stratigraphic relationships and sedimentary facies analyses, Colella &
D’Alessandro (1988) concluded that deposition in the
MonteTorre paleostrait occurred at water depths in excess
of 350 m.
Combined with the structural-tectonic setting, the
Saint-Florent Basin lithofacies assemblage may be
interpreted as a type of tectofacies, characteristic of narrow,
relatively deep-water (upper bathyal?) basins subject
to bathymetric focussing of (tidal) currents and derivation
of coarse-grained turbidites from nearby rugged
topographic highlands, a physiographic situation characteristic of the early stages of microplate fragmentation
and drifting. In support of this hypothesis, similar
biocalcarenitic sandwave deposits of Tortonian age
occur along the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
519
W. Cavazza et al.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
Fig. 11. Photomicrographs of lithic fragments within the arenites of the Saint-Florent succession. (a) Diabase with arborescent texture
(uncrossed nicols; sampleTE59-1, Fium Albino Formation). (b) Acid volcanic rock with porphyritic texture and rounded quartz
phenocryst (crossed nicols; sample CO98-8, Monte Sant’Angelo Formation). (c) Albite^ epidote schist (crossed nicols; sample CO98-5,
Monte Sant’Angelo Formation). (d) Basic volcanic rock with microlitic texture (crossed nicols; sampleTE59/1, Fium Albino Formation).
(e) Serpentine schist (crossed nicols; sampleTE59/1, Fium Albino Formation). (f) Albite^ epidote semischist (crossed nicols; sample
CO98-5, Monte Sant’Angelo Formation). (g) Folded slate/phyllite (crossed nicols; sampleTE59/1, Fium Albino Formation). (h) Phyllite
(crossed nicols; sample CO98-1, Torra Formation).
(Longhitano & Nemec, 2005) and mark the early
stages of rifting of the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin
(Bonardi et al., 2001), when the Calabria^Peloritani terrane
drifted o¡ the Corsica^Sardinia microplate (see following
section).
520
Tectonic significance of the
Saint-Florent Basin
The Saint-Florent sedimentary succession was deposited
in a tectonic context of regional extension that character-
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
NCE
CO98-26
TE59/1
CO98-4
Q
CO98-1
CO98-2
CO98-12
CE
SP15
SP14
CO98-3
CO98-5
CO98-11
CO94-10
CO98-15
CO98-9
SP14
SP15
CO98-8
CI
CO94-10
CO98-2
CO98-12
CO98-4
CO98-11
CO98-1
CO98-3
CO98-15
CO98-8
CO98-5
CO98-9
CO98-26
Farinole Fm
St Florent Fm
Mt. S. Angelo e Torra Fms
Fium Albino Fm
F
TE59/1
L
Fig. 12. NCE-CE-CI (Zu¡a, 1980) and QFL ternary plots of
composition of sandstone samples of the Saint-Florent
sedimentary succession. NCE, CE and CI indicate noncarbonate
extrabasinal grains, carbonate extrabasinal grains and carbonate
intrabasinal grains, respectively. Q , Fand L indicate total quartz,
total feldspars and total aphanitic lithic fragments, respectively.
SeeTable 1 for modal analyses of samples.
ized the late Oligocene^Neogene postcollisional evolution
of the western Mediterranean region, from the Alboran
Sea to Calabria (see Cavazza et al., 2004a, b, for a review).
A number of microplates (Kabylides, Balearic block, Corsica^Sardinia block, Calabria^Peloritani terrane) were
sundered from the southern margin of the European^
Iberian plate leaving in their wake areas of thinned continental lithosphere (e.g.Valencia trough) and small oceanic
basins (Algerian, Provenc! al, central Tyrrhenian basins)
(Fig.13) (Carminati et al., 2004; Roca et al., 2004).This tectonic regime has been ascribed to the prolonged Adriatic
indentation and collisional coupling, and the ensuing passive sinking (roll-back) of the subducting Adria-African
plate, which, in turn, induced crustal extension in the
upper plate (e.g. Malinverno & Ryan, 1986). Before rifting,
Corsica sat in a very complex structural setting between
the intracontinental, strike- slip-dominated Pyrenean^
Languedoc orogen to the west and the Alpine orogenic
wedge to the east. Corsica su¡ered deformation related
to both orogens, and thus its subsequent geological evolution was strongly governed by preexisting structural
discontinuities.
Rifting in the Ligurian-Provenc! al basin area occurred
at least from the Oligocene (34 Ma) to the middle Aquitanian (21 Ma), according to the age of the sediments drilled
in the Gulf of Lions beneath the break-up unconformity
(Gorini etal.,1993). A number of grabens have been seismically imaged and drilled in Provence, both on land and o¡shore, in order to test their hydrocarbon potential (Vially &
Tre¤ molie'res, 1996).The development of the Provenc! al rifts
traditionally has been interpreted as the result of the collapse of the Languedoc^Provence thrust belt, an eastward
extension of the Pyrenees. From a wider perspective, the
Provenc! al rifts are part of a regional extensional area crosscutting the Pyrenees^Languedoc^Provenc! al orogen and
ultimately driven by incipient roll-back of the Ionian
subduction zone.
Drifting and the creation of the central, oceanic portion
of the Provenc! al basin took place during the Burdigalian,
as indicated by paleomagnetic data (Vigliotti & Langenheim, 1995) and by the transition from syn-rift to postrift
subsidence of its margins (Vially & Tre¤ molie' res, 1996;
Roca, 2001). Although still somewhat controversial,
paleomagnetic studies (Alvarez et al., 1974; Vigliotti & Langenheim, 1995; Speranza et al., 2002) indicate counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica^Sardinia block between
ca. 19 and 16 Ma (Burdigalian), synchronous with the formation of oceanic crust in the Provenc! al basin (Fig. 13).
The rifted margins of Provence and western Corsica display the same Oligocene^Aquitanian synrift sequences,
being the conjugate margins of the same Neogene Provenc! al oceanic domain. Postrift thermal subsidence commenced during the middle Miocene in the adjacent
Provenc! al and Algerian basins (Roca, 2001; Carminati
et al., 2004; Roca et al., 2004).
Despite its small size, the Saint-Florent Basin has
played a signi¢cant role in tectonic interpretations of the
western Mediterranean region. Traditionally, the accretionary prisms of northern Corsica and the northern
Apennines have been considered as separate entities. The
west-vergent orogenic wedge of Corsica is considered the
continuation of the western Alps (see Dal Piaz et al., 2003,
and Lacombe & Jolivet, 2005, for reviews). Similarly, the
crystalline rocks of Calabria in southernmost peninsular
Italy have been long considered a fragment of the Alpine
orogen separated from the Corsica^Sardinia block by the
development of the Tyrrhenian basin since the Tortonian
(see Bonardi et al., 2001, for a review). The correlation between Corsica and the western Alps is based on a wealth
of structural and stratigraphic similarities, both in the
orogenic wedges and in the foreland basins. Such similarities point to the existence of an east-dipping subduction
zone (present-day coordinates) beneath the Corsican Alpine orogenic wedge. The northeast-vergent northern
Apennines are considered to have been produced by limited, possibly passive, subduction of the Adriatic sub-plate
towards the west (see Vai & Martini, 2001, and Elter et al.,
2003, for reviews) in a di¡erent tectonic regime that mostly
postdated Alpine compression and thus was not related to
the genesis of the Corsican orogenic wedge.
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
521
W. Cavazza et al.
P
S
B
C
C
K
K
46-40 Ma (Lutetian)
21 Ma (late Aquitanian)
AP
PB
TB
C
4 Ma (early Pliocene)
16 Ma (late Burdigalian)
Fig. 13. Schematic maps showing the paleotectonic evolution of the W Mediterranean during Oligocene-Neogene time (modi¢ed after
Bonardi et al., 2001; Roca, 2001; Cavazza & Wezel, 2003; Cavazza et al., 2004b). Only active tectonic elements are shown.White, exposed
land; light grey, epicontinental sea; darker grey, oceanic and quasi- oceanic crust. Black arrows indicate the direction of Africa’s motion
with respect to Europe (after Mazzoli & Helman, 1994, for the Neogene, and Dercourt et al., 1993, for the Lutetian).White arrows indicate
the upper-plate direction of extension. Stars indicate subduction-related magmatism. AP, Apennines; B, Balearic block; C, CalabriaPeloritani terrane; K, Kabilies; P, Pyrenean deformation; PB, Provenc! al basin, S, Sardinia; TB, Tyrrhenian basin.
Brunet et al. (2000) proposed an alternative interpretation envisioning a continuous time^ space migration of deformation from Corsica to the Apenninic frontal thrust
from at least 35 Ma to the present in a context of continued
W-dipping subduction. From this viewpoint, ductile
structural inversion of Alpine thrusts in Corsica (Jolivet
et al., 1990; Fournier et al., 1991) and the development of
the Saint-Florent extensional basin (Burdigalian^Langhian) would represent a bridge between the opening of
the Provenc! al basin (early Miocene) and of theTyrrhenian
Sea (latest Miocene^Pliocene), thus supporting the notion
of an extensional wave moving towards the east.
In contrast with this hypothesis, available isotopic ages
from Alpine Corsica point to a substantial time gap be-
522
tween the youngest metamorphic ages and the age of the
oldest sedimentary unit in the Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll. According to Brunet et al. (2000), two generations of white
micas coexist in the basement rocks of the Tenda massif.
A ¢rst generation is the relict of blueschist-facies contractional metamorphism around 45^35 Ma (i.e. the e¡ect of
late Eocene Alpine thrusting), whereas the second formed
around 25 Ma during lower grade metamorphism asso ciated with the structural inversion of Alpine top-to -thewest thrust faults. The mid-Burdigalian (ca. 19^18 Ma) age
of the base of the Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll would seem to
preclude a direct tectonic relationship between the basin
and low-angle normal faulting, although it is not excluded
that signi¢cant increments of displacement along the East
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
Miocene Saint-Florent Basin
1. LATE OLIGOCENE: beginning of orogenic collapse, inversion of Alpine boundary fault
East
West
foreland basin
deposits
Alpine
orogenic wedge
European
basement complex
10 km
brittle-ductile
transition
Schistes
Lustrés
Moho
10 km
2. EARLY MIOCENE (Burdigalian): deposition of St Florent calcarenites (Mt. S. Angelo Fm)
Balagne
Tenda
massif
St Florent
basin
Corsica
basin
new brittle-ductile
transition
Moho
Fig. 14. Schematic cross- section across northern Corsica showing (1) inversion of Alpine boundary thrust and orogenic collapse of the
Alpine tectonic wedge during the late Oligocene, and (2) early Neogene block faulting and deposition of Saint-Florent calcarenites
within supradetachment graben.This reconstruction subscribes to the notion by Fellin et al. (2005) that high-angle normal faulting
providing accommodation for the Saint-Florent Basin postdates and is unrelated to detachment faulting along the east Tenda shear
zone. Modi¢ed after Jolivet et al. (1991).
Tenda shear zone might have occurred later in the brittle
¢eld.
The exact crosscutting relationships between the E
Tenda shear zone and the high-angle normal faults are far
from being completely understood. Fellin et al. (2005) have
interpreted the high-angle normal faults as cutting the detachment, an interpretation we have incorporated in Fig.
14. On the other hand, the supradetachment location of
the basin suggests that the high-angle faults might sole
out into the main detachment, and that isostatic uplift owing to tectonic unroo¢ng of theTenda core complex could
have delayed subsidence and at least temporarily prevented the development of large amounts of sediment
accommodation.
The apatite and/or zircon ¢ssion-track studies of Cavazza et al. (2001), Jakni et al. (2000), Zarki-Jakni et al.
(2004) and Fellin et al. (2005) indicate that Corsica underwent a widespread episode of rapid exhumation in early-
middle Miocene time with a cluster of ages at 22^15 Ma.
The data show that before exhumation most of Corsica
was covered by at least 2 km of Alpine thrust sheets and
foreland deposits. There are no systematic age di¡erences
across the main boundary fault system separating the Alpine orogenic wedge and the foreland, indicating that
large- scale inversion of this structure was no longer active
during the early Miocene.
Following this line of reasoning, the late Oligocene^
early Miocene structural evolution of northern Corsica
can be summarized as shown in Fig. 14. During the late
Oligocene, following maximum thickening of the Alpine
orogenic wedge, the boundary fault system between the
Alpine wedge and its foreland was tensionally reactivated
as a low-angle detachment fault. This ¢rst phase corresponds to the development of the marginal grabens along
the Provenc! al conjugate margin. During early Miocene
time, Corsica was uplifted wholesale although high-angle
r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Basin Research, 19, 507^527
523
W. Cavazza et al.
brittle normal faults locally created accommodation space
for basin development both on land (Saint-Florent) and
o¡shore (Corsica basin). This interpretation is also supported by geomorphological data pointing to the existence
of a piedmont-type planation surface, which formed during a phase of tectonic quiescence in the middle Miocene
following early Miocene uplift (Kuhlemann et al., 2005).
CONCLUSIONS
The Saint-Florent sedimentary succession in northern
Corsica represents the remnant of a basin that developed
in Burdigalian^Langhian time after the postcollisional
orogenic collapse of the Alpine tectonic wedge. In spite of
its supradetachment setting, basin development was controlled by high-angle normal faults structurally unrelated
to the underlying detachment fault system.
Owing to postdepositional erosion, the maximum areal
extent of the Saint-Florent Basin cannot be reconstructed.
Nevertheless, scattered outcrops of time- equivalent continental, transitional and shallow-marine deposits occur
elsewhere along the boundary between the Alpine oro genic wedge and its foreland, at least from Saint-Florent
to Corte in central Corsica. This points to the possible existence in late Burdigalian^Langhian time of roughly
N-S-trending elongate and narrow seaway(s) possibly linking the developing Ligurian-Provenc! al basin and the shallow epicontinental sea to the east and southeast of Corsica
(Fig. 13; 16 Ma).
The bulk of the Saint-Florent Basin ¢ll is composed of
large- scale sandwave deposits made of biogenic carbonate
detritus whose paleocurrents point consistently to the
NNE. Thick, graded beds composed of rhodoliths are lo cally interbedded with the sandwave deposits and represent the result of sediment-gravity £ows from the basin
margins, possibly triggered by seismic shocks.The middle
Miocene palaeogeography of northern Corsica was thus
characterized by long, narrow furrow(s) that were swept by
intense currents, as demonstrated by the large sandwave
deposits. The high biological productivity can be explained as the result of upwelling induced by favourable
oceanographic conditions, i.e. narrow and shallow straits
connecting large, deeper bodies of water.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank P.A. Allen, R. Dorsey, and L. Jolivet for constructive reviews. An earlier draft was reviewed by J. Ferrandini,
M. Ferrandini, and V. Picotti. Aspects of Corsican geology
were discussed with Ph. Rossi and G.G. Zu¡a. This research was funded by MURST (Ministero dell’Universita'
e della Ricerca Scienti¢ca e Tecnologica, Italy). Thin sections were prepared by F. Gamberini. Field assistance was
provided by U. and I. Palmito.
524
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