The geological evolution and conditions that shaped theNeogene paleoenvironmental history of the Mediterranean Sea, have been investigated so far by numerous studies. The Upper Miocene particularly (late Tortonian and early Messinian) was generally characterized by the rapid building of extensive carbonate platforms and basins which included hemipelagic formations (marls/mudstones, sapropels), as well as shallowmarine deposits (evaporitic formations, coral reefs, bioclastic and red algae limestones). The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) was a critical event that affected the general environment of the Mediterranean. A stepwise restriction of the whole basin had already begun prior to the MSC (Kontakiotis et al., 2022) and resulted in the development of marginal basins. In this context, Messinian upwelling resulting in diatomitic strata accumulation was reported from only three locations (two in Crete; Keupp and Bellas, 2000 and one in Gavdos Islands; Frydas, 2006) and six in total from the eastern Mediterranean (four in Greece, one in Cyprus and Turkey respectively; Pellegrino et al., 2018).
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“New evidence of a Diatomitic occurrence in western Crete, Greece; A preliminary stratigraphic approach and its implications”. EPAS 2022, June 2022.