A Late Maeotian age (6.7-6.3 Ma) for the enigmatic “Pebbly Breccia” unit in DSDP Hole 380A of the Black Sea

Various hypotheses exist on the age and origin of the so-called “Pebbly Breccia” unit in the deep-sea record of DSDP Hole 380A of the Euxinian (Black Sea) Basin. Here, we present a detailed study of diatom and nannofossil assemblages of Hole 380A. Our diatom records show a characteristic sequence of appearance of markers species, which we can correlate to the recently established bio-magnetostratigraphic time frame of the Zheleznyi Rog section on the Black Sea coast of the Taman Peninsula (Russia). It shows that the Pebbly Breccia is sandwiched between Upper Maeotian deposits, and must have been deposited at an age between 6.7 and 6.3 a. The appearance of nannoplankton and the marine diatom association at above the Pebbly breccia (Unit IVc) suggests a short-term incursion of marine conditions. The age of Unit IVc, based on diatom data, is 6.3–6.1 Ma. The nannoplankton record is mainly represented by species that do not have stratigraphic value. The previously reported presence of Ceratolithus acutus in the Black Sea is explained by misinterpretation of destructed elements of ascidian spicules. We conclude that the Pebbly Breccia is not related to a desiccated Black Sea at Messinian Salinity Crisis times, but it corresponds to a late Maeotian episode of gravitational instability in the SW Black Sea region.