PHYSICS

OFTHE EARTH
AND PLAN ETA RY
INTERIORS
ELSEVIER Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180 _____________________

Magnetostratigraphic characterization of a thick Lower

Pleistocene lacustrine sequence from the Baza Basin
(Betic Chain, Southern Spain)
0. Oms a,b,* M. Garcés a J.M. Pares a J• AgustI b P. Anadón a R. Julia a
a Institute of Earth Sciences J. Almera (CSIC), c / MartI i Franquès s / n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
b Institute of Paleontology M. Crusafont, c / Escola Industrial 23, 08201 Sabadell, Spain

Received 6 September 1993; revision accepted 5 January 1994

Abstract

The magnetic polarity stratigraphy from a lacustrine sequence of the Baza Basin (Betic Chain, Southern Spain)
has been interpreted as having a Lower Pleistocene age. Fifty-nine paleomagnetic sites have been obtained and a set
of 179 specimens has been demagnetized with both thermal and alternating field procedures. Several magnetic
parameters, that depend on the lithology, have been obtained. The characteristic remanent magnetization polarity
has been unambiguously recovered over the whole sequence.
The materials studied span chron lr.2, located in the upper Matuyama epoch. This allows the placement of the
faunas studied, ranging from the Late Villanyian to the Late Biharian, in the magnetic polarity time scale (MPTS).
This work also proves that magnetostratigraphy can be established in lacustrine sediments even with extremely low
magnetic intensities.

1. Introduction more complicated to study than marine se-

In Western Europe, biostratigraphy of terres-
trial Neogene and Quaternary faunas is widely
known but it lacks absolute dating. This leads to
major ambiguities and makes any correlation be-
tween marine stages and events within continen-
tal stages difficult. Magnetostratigraphic studies
of continental sediments are scarce when corn-
pared with marine ones. There are several rea-
sons why non-marine sediments are generally
_______
* Corresponding author,
quences: non-continuous sedimentation, succes-
sive weathering during deposition, etc. In the
Iberian Peninsula, only a few studies of Neogene
and Quaternary non-marine magnetostratigraphy
exist (Dijksman, 1977; Opdyke et al., 1989;
Garcés, 1993).
Magnetic polarity of non-marine Tertiary and
Pleistocene sequences has been established by
several authors around the world, as summarized
by Opdyke (1990).
The study reported here attempts to place
some biostratigraphic data into the magnetic po-
larity time scale (MPTS), thus forwarding an ap-
proach to determining absolute age durations for
the biozones recognized.

0031-9201/94/$07.00 © 1994 Elsevier Science By. All rights reserved

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174 0. Oms et al. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 1 73—180

The Baza Basin is a useful site for establishing
the magnetostratigraphy of Neogene continental
stages owing to the occurrence of continuous
outcrops that furnish abundant paleontological
sites.
2. Geological setting
The Betic Chain is an Alpine fold and thrust
belt which extends along the southern Iberian
Peninsula. On a large scale, it can be considered
as the westernmost edge of the Alpine European
fold belts.
In detail, the Betic Chain has a complicated
structure of folds and large thrusts which is be-
lieved to have originated by the westward em-
placement of the Alboran microplate on to the
South Iberian passive margin during the Neogene
(Andrieux et al., 1971; Balanyá and Garcia-
Dueñas, 1987). This complex geodynamic history
has led to a division of the Betic Chain into the
Internal and the External zones. The External
Zone is made up of cover materials which mainly
consist of Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks. The
Internal Zone is broadly formed by Paleozoic and
Triassic thrust sheet basement units.
The Guadix—Baza Depression (Fig. 1) is lo-
cated in the contact between the External and
Internal zones and its origin is related to a set of
faults oriented northwest—southeast and north-
northeast—south-southwest that fonned a depres-
sion where Neogene sediments accumulated (Sanz
de Galdeano and Vera, 1992). This depression
embraces several basins such as the Baza Basin.
The Baza Basin fill sequence provides continuous
outcrop with plenty of paleontological sites that
provide continental micromammal faunas. Agusti
(1986) proposes a local micromammal biozona-
tion that spans from the Late Miocene to the
Middle Pleistocene for the Baza Basin.
Several environments have been distinguished
in the Baza Basin that allow the separation of
two main domains in the basin (Vera 1970). A
marginal domain, mainly alluvial, represented by
the Guadix Formation and a distal domain, de-

MAIN BETICS INTRAMONTANE BASINS,~~

HI
~ MEDITERRANEAN SEA

ST DYAREAS~°T~~

~ ZA~L~”’~ F~~]Pleistocene Baza Fm

~“~‘~‘ [~] Other Neogene deposits

GUADI Tnassic evapontes
— Mesozoic carbonates

— 0 20 km Metamorphic rocks

Fig. 1. Geological map of the Guadix—Baza Depression and its location in the main Neogene basins of the Betics (modified from
Anadón et al., 1986).
 0. Oms et a!. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180 175

posited in the center of the basin and repre-
sented by several formations, of which the Baza
Formation is the most widespread.
In the northeastern part of the Baza Basin
(Orce area), Vera et al. (1985) defined two mem-
bers: a mainly alluvial ‘red detrital member’,
overlain by a mainly lacustrine ‘upper silty-
calcareous member’. Anadón et al. (1986) inter-
preted this upper member as the deposits of a
slightly saline lake. The same authors stated that
the deposits in the Orce region show lateral fa-
cies transitions to evaporitic gypsiferous se-
quences towards the center of the basin. Similar
changes occur in the Cortes de Baza area.
3. The section studied: biostratigraphy and abso-
lute dating
The section studied, located in the surround-
ings of the village of Cortes de Baza, corresponds
to the western area of the Baza Formation out-

SUSCEPTIBILITY NRM INTENSITY VGP LATITUDE

(x1O~S.l.) (5106 Nm)

__ H

______ CB 88

_ H

J*CB1
0ni’.’—’~~’’ :1:1
-2.5 0 2.5 5 7.5 10 1 1O~ 10 -90° .450 00
LEGEND

~ dark mudstones and silty mudstones silts and silty sandstones

massive limestones and limestones with gypsum * fossiliferous level

Fig. 2. Lithological log of the Cortes de Baza section with susceptibility, NRM intensity and VGP latitudes obtained from the
paleomagnetic sites. All sites display clear reversed polarities although VGP values are not well aligned.
176 0. Oms et al. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180
CORTES DE BAZA BIOZONES
SECTION ~ ~ & netic gypsum that cross the marls only contained
top older 17 . 0.1 ppm of 238U and showed isotopic equilibrium
(U,Thf}-CB88~ ~ (234U/238U = 1.07 ±0.04 and 230Th/234U = 0.98
Alloph. pliocaenicus Mm Q
2 ~
M. ~. LCB 1~7M. ostramosensis Mm 0, ~/~
tomens,s pliocaenicus
Mimomys poloflicus MN1617b
MN
Mimomys haJnackensis MN 16 a
_~
Fig. 3. Biostratigraphic setting of the Cortes de Baza section
according to the Plio—Pleistocene micromammals biozona-
crops. The 135 m thick Cortes de Baza sequence
(see Fig. 2) is made up of mudstones, silty mud-
stones and limestones alternating with sandy lay-
ers and carbonaceous dark mudstones. Lenticular
gypsum beds also occur. Pefla et al. (1977) re-
ported a micromammal site near Cortes de Baza.
They attributed the micromammal fauna to the
Lower Pleistocene. This micromammal site is cor-
related with the lower part of the section studied
in the present paper.
The lower part of the Cortes de Baza section is
characterized by the presence of Mimomys cf.
tornensis (CB-1 level, Fig. 2). This level can be
tentatively placed in the Mimomys ostramosensis
zone of AgustI (1986) or MmQ-1 (M ostramosen-
sis zone) of Agust~et al. (1986), although its
attribution to an older age (M pliocaenicus zone)
cannot be excluded (Agusti, unpublished work).
Therefore, the base of the Cortes de Baza section
may be biostratigraphically ascribed to the Upper
Villanian (Upper Pliocene) or Lowermost Pleis-
tocene (Fig. 3).
An evolved Microtus (with Microtus enamel
differentiation) appears at the highest micro-
mammal site (level CB-88, Figs. 2 and 3). This
level may be ascribed to the MmQ-3 zone (M
savini zone; AgustI et al., 1986), although a
younger age cannot be discounted.
Uranium series analyses of the uppermost la-
custrine deposits were carried out in order to
obtain a calibrated age. Three different materials
were analyzed: marls, large crystals of diagenetic
gypsum, and ostracod valves, by standard alpha
spectrometry methods. The marl samples, reach-
ing 3.3 ppm of 238U, yielded U/Th dates be-
tween 126 and 161 kyear. The crystals of diage-
±0.03). Therefore, an age over 300 kyear is ob-
tamed for the diagenetic gypsum. The isotopic234U/
8 composition
238U ratio of of0.90
ostracod valves showed
that suggests a
the possible mi-
~ .
gration of uranium. The isotopic results prove
that these lacustrine deposits were open to the
migration of younger radioisotopes and incongru-
ous dates have been obtained.
Considering that the diagenetic gypsum (the
latest mineral phase) shows isotopic composition
in equilibrium, the age of the uppermost lacus-
trine deposits outcropping in the Cortes de Baza
area must be older than 300 kyear.
4. Methods
4.1. Sampling
Paleomagnetic sites were spaced as close as
possible, with a mean of 1 site every 2.4 m
throughout a section which is 135 m thick (see
Fig. 2). Fifty-nine levels were sampled but only 43
provided stable demagnetization plots.
Most of the samples were taken from fine-
grained lithologies, thus avoiding the sampling of
sandstones and coarser materials because such
sediments were unconsolidated and heavily
weathered. When sampling mudstones, an impor-
tant volume of weathered sediment was removed
in order to obtain fresh outcrops. More than
three cores per site were collected and were
carefully oriented. Cores were obtained with an
electrically powered drilling machine but some-
times a manual sampling device (Lerbekmo, 1990)
was needed.
4.2. Laboratory
Magnetic cleaning was carried out by both
thermal (TH) and alternating field (AF) proce-
dures. Concerning the TH cleaning, a thermal
specimen demagnetizer, model TSD-1, was used,
and AF demagnetization was carried out with a
 0. Oms et al. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180 177

GSD-5 tumbling-specimen demagnetizer (both of
the Schonstedt Instrument Company). The sam-
ples were measured with a GM-400 three-axes
cryogenic magnetometer (Cryogenic Consultants
Ltd). During TH cleaning, susceptibility was
checked with a KLY-2 bridge (Geofyzika AS) in
order to monitor mineralogical alteration of the
samples during heating.
At least three specimens per site were demag-
netized with both AF and TH methods. Pilot
suites, containing specimens of every site, were
demagnetized in very short steps. Thermal clean-
ing was carried out in very close steps especially
where unblocking temperatures become critical,
which depends on the lithological type. Usually
this procedure involved up to 17 steps of demag-
netization. Later on, the bulk of the samples were
treated with a typical demagnetization program
consisting of wider spaced steps, depending on
the lithologies.
With AF cleaning, the steps were of 2.5 mT
from NRM to 15 mT. The rest was carried out
with steps of 5 mT until the intensity was very low
or until 100 mT.
5. Results
Initial intensity and susceptibility appeared to
be related to different kinds of lithologies. Five
groups of lithologies have been established and
are shown in Table 1.
Demagnetization artifacts resulting from the
overlap of the coercivity spectra of two compo-
nents have been observed. This made thermal
demagnetization the only fully reliable method to
elucidate the structure of the magnetic compo-
nents as sometimes with AF only a secondary
magnetization was demagnetized. Regardless,
some sites provided a stable demagnetization be-

up, w
2500C

~ THERMAL DEMAGNETIZATION

• horizontal
o vertical

NRM:8.O1O~Nm

Fig. 4. Standard Zijderveld plot of a limestone thermally demagnetized. Note how it displays a very simple demagnetization
behavior with no more than two components, and how a secondary antiparallel remagnetization is successfully demagnetized. The
ChRM can be easily established.
178 0. Oms et al. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180

havior with both thermal and AF demagnetiza- up, N

tion. 2500C
The whole set of samples provided a relatively
stable demagnetization behavior. The resulting O vertical
Zijderveld plots (Zijderveld, 1967) were quite • horizontal
simple, showing no more than two components.
Commonly, in all sites, a secondary magnetization
resulting from the present-day field was demag- THERMAL
netized successfully above 120°C,and the primary DEMAGNETIZATION
characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM)
was then identified easily (see Fig. 4). The ex- 3500C
tremely low intensity of the NRM in some sam-
ples created some noise in the ChRM. This led to
the recovery of slightly different values for a
single site. Regardless, the polarity could be es-
tablished unambiguously (Fig. 5). NR A/m
The thermally demagnetized specimens could
be subdivided into two groups according to the
maximum unblocking temperatures (TBmaz) of the E
characteristic remanent magnetization: one group
with TBmax around 350°C and the other group
with TBmax over 500°C. These groups, however,
are not related to a specific lithology. Above
these maximum unblocking temperatures, suscep-
tibility increased suddenly and the magnetization
became unstable as shown by random end vectors Fig. 5. Example of an orthogonal demagnetization plot of a
on the orthogonal plots. During AF cleaning, silty limestone. This specimen was demagnetized thermally
samples were fully demagnetized when the ap- and had a very low 5 Anatural remanent the
m1. Although magnetization (NRM)is
demagnetization
plied field was 25 or 30 mT. Occasionally, some intensity: 2.4X i0
not very stable, polarity can be unambiguously established.
samples became demagnetized at higher fields.

One fact inducing instability during demagne-

Table 1 tization was the occurrence of gypsum. Such a
Maximum, minimum and mean of the susceptibility and initial mineral, that is in fact diamagnetic in a pure
intensity state, produced some magnetic minerals that in
Lithology Mean Maximum Minimum turn produced instability in the rock and even
NRM intensity (x iO~ A rn’) erased the ChRM.
Dark mudstones 17.3 27.2 11,1 Finally, the virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP)
Silty mudstones 15.5 65.3 1.40 plot of each sample was calculated and plotted,
Poorly consolidated silts 6.24 12.5 2.45
Limestones with gypsum 4.12 9.71 0.55 displaying a completely reversed span for all the
Massive limestones 4.60 14.2 1.83 section as shown in Fig. 2.
Susceptibility (x 10 -~ SI)
Dark mudstones 62.57 86.65 21.85
Silty mudstones 46.69 87.65 —2.40 6. Discussion and conclusions
Poorly consolidated silts 32.57 71.35 14.50
Limestones with gypsum 18.18 31.00 10.50 Reversed characteristic magnetizations are
Massive limestones 15.33 42.95 48.00
________________________________________ found throughout the section although the VGP
 0. Oms et al. /Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 85 (1994) 173—180
data are scattered appreciably. This scatter is
attributed to the low intensity of some samples
that make demagnetization plots of the same site
slightly different although always with the same
polarity. However, the complete set of samples
provides clear polarities. Any consideration of a
completely reversed remagnetization is also al-
most impossible owing to the position of the
section in the magnetic polarity time scale as will
be discussed below.
Regarding the correlation of the magnetic se-
quence with the mammal biostratigraphic scale,
two micromammal zones have been distinguished
in the studied section: the M ostramosensis zone,
which can be correlated with the Late Villanyian,
and the M savini zone, that belongs to the Late
Biharian. Late Villanyian faunas equivalent to
those of the Cortes de Baza sequence, have been
placed within the Late Pliocene (Mein et al.,
1978). Nevertheless, the section studied is fully
reversed and therefore the uppermost Villanyian
has to be placed inside the Lower Pleistocene.
According to Steininger et al. (1990), some
faunas of the MN-17 zone may be correlated with
the Olduvai event. In particular, mammal faunas
attributed to MN-17 are underlain by basalt flows
with reversed magnetization dated at 1.9 Myear
in Chillac, France (Azzaroli et al. (1988) and
Boeuf (1983) in Steininger et al. (1990)). This
datum is congruent with the results obtained in
other sections of the Baza Basin, like the Orce
and Galera sections (AgustI et al., 1986; Garcés
et al., 1992; Garcés, 1993). According to these
data, the M ostramosensis zone, (MmQ-1 of
Agusti et al., 1986) defined above the MN-17,
should probably be correlated with the post-
Olduvai reverse chron ir (Cande and Kent, 1992).
According to these data, the fully reversed Se-
quence studied must be correlated with the lr.2
chron
Therefore, the MmQ-1 (M ostramosensis zone)
has to be placed, at least in its upper part, in the
Lower Pleistocene according to the Pliocene—
Pleistocene boundary established in the Vrica
section by Aguirre and Pasini (1985). In addition,
the MmQ-3 (M savini zone) keeps its position in
the Lower Pleistocene.
179
Acknowledgments
This work has been partially supported by pro-
jects DGICYTtoPB9O-0575 and PB91-0096. We
are indebted Llorenç Planagumà and Juan
Peña for field assistance. We are also indebted to
two anonymous referees for the helpful sugges-
tions and comments in their reviews.
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