Late Miocene alluvial sediments from the Teruel area: Magnetostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility, and facies organization

Abstract

We present the paleomagnetic dating of the upper Miocene red alluvial to palustrine sequences of the area north of Teruel. The magnetostratigraphy of the Masada del Valle and Masada Ruea sections indicates a minimum age of about 11 Ma to the lowermost sediments post-dating the unconformity over the Mesozoic basement. The overall Miocene sequence represents a retrogradation of the alluvial system, grading upwards into palustrinellacustrine sedimentation. The onset of palustrine deposition is dated in Masada Ruea at about 9.7 Ma. The late Vallesian faunas of Masía del Barbo, of which leve1 2B is the reference locality of biochronozone MNlO, are dated to 9.3 Ma. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) in the tenigenous sediments suggests that the orientation of the magnetic ellipsoids represents the paleocurrent direction. Paleocurrent interpretations based on AMS data can be used for a better comprehension of the facies arrangement in the Neogene sediments of the Teniel basin.