Papers by Antonio Guerra Merchán
Revista de estudios regionales, 1997
Yacimientos Paleontológicos Excepcionales en la Península Ibérica: XXXIV Jornadas de Paleontología y IV Congreso Ibérico de Paleontología, 2018, ISBN 978-84-9138-066-5, págs. 65-72, 2018
Geotemas ( Madrid ), 2003
Journal of iberian geology: an international publication of earth sciences, 1997
lo tite Pliocene materials locailizated to tite South of Sierra Bermeja (Estepona, Malaga), three... more lo tite Pliocene materials locailizated to tite South of Sierra Bermeja (Estepona, Malaga), three lititologie units are differentiated in cartography. Tite lower unit is formed by red conglomerates and sands, and it represents tite alluvial fan deposits. Tite middler unit is originated in marine environments. It is made up by a beacit facies-unit, comprinsing gravels and sands, a shelf facies-unit consisting of sitales witit bentitonie and planktonic fauna and a lan delta facies-unit, comprinsing conglomerates and sands. The upper unit is dominated by borrowed fine sands and sitales deposited in the transition zone. Two retrograding sedimentary cycles are recognized. Tite first is constituted by alluvial, beacl-i and shelf deposits. Tite second is composed of tite fan delta and transition zone deposits. Both cycles were developed in a transgressive context during tite Pliocene, while tite tectonic activity controlled tite subsidence and tite sediment supply. `l'he biostratigraph...
Mediterr Ser Estud Geol, 1988
Spanish journal of palaeontology, Aug 9, 2022
A biostratigraphic study of planktonic foraminifers from the Atalaya basin (Murcia, Spain) reveal... more A biostratigraphic study of planktonic foraminifers from the Atalaya basin (Murcia, Spain) reveals a very thick Tortonian sequence, which is relatively complete. The biostratigraphic intervals recognised are !hose of Neogloboquadrina acos1ae11sis and Neogloboquadrina humerosa, which correspond to the Lower and Upper Tortonian, respectively. The assemblages of planktonic foraminifers are studied quantitatively by means of principal componen! analysis and clustering methods. R-mode analyses show assemblages with poor correlation. Q-mode analyses suggest a temporal ordering of samples into seven groups, which are internally highly correlated. The changes in the diversity and equitability of samples are also studied. The obtained resulls seem to reílecl a slow and progressive water cooling during lhe Torlonian. The abrupt change from dextrally dominated populations of Neogloboquadrina lo predominantly sinislral ones is interpreted as a consequence of the income of temperate Atlantic waters into the Western Mediterranean. Finally, the variations in the ratios of planktonic/total foraminifers and agglutinated/total bentonics are compared and it is concluded that both seem to be more related to the tectosedimentary evolution of the basin and lhe events that occurred in the eastern sector of the Betic Cordillera, than with importan! eustatic changes.
QUATERNARY RESEARCH, 1997
Nerja Cave is a karstic cavity used by humans from Late Paleo- curred essentially during the Midd... more Nerja Cave is a karstic cavity used by humans from Late Paleo- curred essentially during the Middle and Late Pleistocene.
lithic to post-Chalcolithic times. Remains of molluscan foods in Early Pliocene marine sediments are present near the cave
the uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene sediments were studied (Guerra-Mercha´n and Serrano, 1993), but not inside it. These
with cluster analysis and principal components analysis, in both features suggest that the cave began to form in the Late
Q and R modes. The results from cluster analysis distinguished Pliocene or Early Pleistocene.
interval groups mainly in accordance with chronology and distin-
Sedimentation inside Nerja Cave comprises a continuous guished assemblages of species mainly according to habitat. Significant
changes in the shellfish diet through time were revealed. record going back to the latest Pleistocene that contains
In the Late Magdalenian, most molluscs consumed consisted of abundant remains of human activity. The chronology (Table
pulmonate gastropods and species from sandy sea bottoms. The 1) was established on the basis of 14C dating of 22 samples
Epipaleolithic diet was more varied and included species from of plant remains from the sediments (Pellicer and Acosta,
rocky shorelines. From the Neolithic onward most molluscs con- 1986; Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b). The lithostratigraphic charactersumed
were from rocky shorelines. From the principal components istics of the Quaternary in-filling (Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b; Pelanalysis
in Q mode, the first factor reflected mainly changes in licer and Acosta, 1986, 1995) are summarized in Figure 2
the predominant capture environment, probably because of major from the most comprehensive sequences. In the ‘‘Sala de la
paleogeographic changes. The second factor may reflect selective Mina’’ (Mine Hall), section NM-80A exposes Quaternary
capture along rocky coastlines during certain times. The third sediments 2.6 m thick, but does not reach the base of the
factor correlated well with the sea-surface temperature curve in
sequence. On the basis of lithological and cultural features, the western Mediterranean (Alboran Sea) during the late Quater-
nary.
Geomorphology
The Nerja area (S Spain), on the northern edge of the Alboran basin, underwent palaeogeographic, ... more The Nerja area (S Spain), on the northern edge of the Alboran basin, underwent palaeogeographic, sedimentary and geomorphic changes during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, that were controlled by tectonics and by eustatic-climatic variations. The existence of NW-SE fault lines and the particular lithology of the area played a fundamental role in differentiating two sectors of divergent geomorphic evolution: the NE sector, which forms part of the Sierra Almijara, and the SW sector, in the area of Nerja. The NE sector contains outcrops of Alpujarride marbles and is characterised as a continental domain that has been permanently emerged and subjected to uplifting at intervals, under which the relief becomes progressively steeper. Today, the SW sector is constituted of Alpujarride schists and Plio-Quaternary sediments. This sector was partially affected by the marine transgression of the early Pliocene, during which time alluvial fans developed; distally, these are connected to littoral and shallow marine environments. During the early Zanclian, a tectonic event separated the Pliocene sediments into two lithostratigraphic units that rest unconformably but without any significant sedimentary interruption. As a consequence of this event, some fluvial courses changed direction. Towards the end of the early Zanclian, falling sea levels led to the emergence of the Nerja region. During the late Pliocene, marine sediments were restricted to the innermost areas of the Alboran Sea, but continental deposits did not develop, probably due to the warm, humid climate that did not favour clastic sediment supply. Another tectonic event in the Pliocene tilted the sediments of the Zanclean II unit in the western sector. During the cold period in the final Pliocene and in the basal Pleistocene, a pediment developed over the Pliocene units and the Alpujarride basement. Three phases of sedimentation of alluvial fans took place during the Pleistocene, becoming progressively more limited towards the SW. The deposition phases are separated by stages of erosion and trenching of the fluvial network, mainly occurring during periods of low sea levels. Another tectonic pulse has been identified, in the mid-Pleistocene, between the first and the second generation of fans, which caused further changes in the direction of some fluvial courses.
Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 2006
continental domain was located N of Africa from which it detached since the Cretaceous, resulting... more continental domain was located N of Africa from which it detached since the Cretaceous, resulting then in a northward-deriving microplate between Africa and Eurasia (e.g., synthesis by Andeweg, 2002). During the Oligocene, the domain was fragmented by the rifting of the Algero-Provencal basin (western Mediterranean), so that its WSW-migrating part (the Alboran block, Andrieux et al. 1971) become wedged between the
Geobios
We present here an overview of the Oligocene-early Miocene transgressive cover of the Betic-Rifia... more We present here an overview of the Oligocene-early Miocene transgressive cover of the Betic-Rifian Internal Zone (BRIZ). Biostratigraphic data, depositional environment and stratigraphical correlations are here inferred based upon the planktonic foraminifera. The studied transgressive cover developed in two successive groups, which were generally deposited in the same depocenters. The older group (Ciudad Granada group, late Oligocene-Aquitanian pro-parte) unconformably rests over the Malaguide-Ghomaride Complex, while the younger one (Viñuela group, early Burdigalian) can either lie over Ciudad Granada group (central depositional areas) or rest on the Malaguide-Ghomaride and/or Alpujarride-Sebtide complexes (marginal areas). It is noteworthy that no major sedimentary gap nor unconformity were evidenced between these two groups in the central depositional areas, so no major nappe structuring may be suggested during this depositional time span. The stacking pattern of these sedimentary groups, the facies change evidenced between the bordering and the central successions, as well as some synsedimentary tectonic features recorded at their base levels, suggest that they corresponded to transgressive pulses induced by transtensive tectonics, which were related to both the opening of the Algero-Provençal and Alboran basins, and the westward migration of the BRIZ.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
The possibilities of adapting the Modern Analogs Technique (MAT) based on planktonic foraminifers... more The possibilities of adapting the Modern Analogs Technique (MAT) based on planktonic foraminifers for estimating sea-surface temperatures (SST) in the Mediterranean during the Pliocene are discussed in this article. The calibration database used comprises 684 core-top samples distributed in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. MAT estimates show an imperceptible bias (−0.03°C; σ = 0.59) and a low mean error of estimates (0.42°C; σ = 0.42) when applied over the samples of the calibration dataset. The procedure used for assimilating the Pliocene taxonomic categories to those of the modern assemblages results in an increase from 17 to 40 in the number of samples showing an error N 2°C when applied over the calibration database. However, the precision of MAT does not diminish when these samples are removed from the dataset. This methodology was used for obtaining SST estimates of late-middle Pliocene-earliest Pleistocene samples from ODP-site 975 (Menorca area), which have close modern analogs within the calibration database. In order to compare this technique with an additional proxy, we measured also δ 18 O values of G. bulloides tests from these samples. The results obtained show a good agreement on the whole, which corroborates the validity of the technical approach proposed.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
A new stratigraphic unit (named LM unit) located at the base of the Pliocene marine succession in... more A new stratigraphic unit (named LM unit) located at the base of the Pliocene marine succession in the eastern sector of the Malaga Basin has been distinguished. This unit is composed of two fining-upward sequences bounded by a discontinuity related to synsedimentary tectonic activity. Both sequences are made up of basal alluvial deposits overlain by subaquatic deposits. The lower sequence contains rich mollusc faunas characterized by bivalves Lymnocardiinae and Dreissenidae of Paratethyan origin, and non-marine gastropods, typical of oligo-low mesohaline shallow waters, and low diversified ostracod faunas of Paratethyan origin (Loxocorniculina djafarovi, Tyrrhenocythere pontica, Euxinocythere (Maeotocythere) praebaquana and Amnicythere propinqua) typical of low mesohaline waters. Alternances of monospecific ostracod assemblages made of Cyprideis agrigentina or oligotypic assemblages made of C. agrigentina and Loxoconcha spp. and richer assemblages made of L. djafarovi accompanied by several Amnicythere spp. and Camptocypria sp.1 characterize the upper sequence, pointing to more unstable environment affected by salinity and depth changes. Some samples collected from this upper sequence yielded rare, planktonic and benthic foraminifera, which could suggest the sporadic establishment of quasi-normal marine conditions in the westernmost Mediterranean during the deposition of this sequence. The palaeontological data and the palaeomagnetic results obtained in both the LM unit and the overlying Pliocene marine sediments restrict the age of the former to the postevaporitic late Messinian. The age and the environmental conditions correlate these deposits with the Lago-Mare event occurring throughout the Mediterranean before the quick and widespread marine flooding of the Mediterranean at the beginning of the Pliocene.
Geobios
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright
Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2015
The stratigraphic and temporal framework of the sedimentary filling of the MessinianeZanclean tra... more The stratigraphic and temporal framework of the sedimentary filling of the MessinianeZanclean transition in Malaga basin is discussed. From this framework, the main features of an alternative model for the Lago-Mare event in the Mediterranean are outlined.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
The late Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Guadix-Baza Depression, S... more The late Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain), dated to ~1.4 Ma, provides evidence on the subsistence strategies of the first hominin population that dispersed in Western Europe. The site preserves Oldowan tool assemblages associated with abundant remains of large mammals. A small proportion of these remains show cut marks and percussion marks resulting from defleshing and bone fracturing, and a small proportion of bones also show tooth marks. Previous taphonomic studies of FN3 suggested that the hominins had secondary access to the prey leftovers abandoned by sabretooth cats and other primary predators. However, a recent analysis by Yravedra et al. (2021) of the frequency of anthropogenic marks and tooth marks has concluded that the hominins had primary access to the carcasses of a wide variety of ungulate prey, even though the frequency of evisceration marks is strikingly low. In this rebuttal, we analyse the patterns of ...
Geobios, 2001
GUERRA-MERCH~3q A., RAMALLO D. & RUIZ BUSTOS A. 2001. New data on the Upper Miocene micromammals ... more GUERRA-MERCH~3q A., RAMALLO D. & RUIZ BUSTOS A. 2001. New data on the Upper Miocene micromammals of the Betic Cordillera and their interest for marine-continental correlations. [Nouvelles donn6es sur les micromammif'eres du Mioc6ne sup6rieur de la Cordilli6re B6tique; int6r~t pour les corr61ations marin-continental].
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Papers by Antonio Guerra Merchán
lithic to post-Chalcolithic times. Remains of molluscan foods in Early Pliocene marine sediments are present near the cave
the uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene sediments were studied (Guerra-Mercha´n and Serrano, 1993), but not inside it. These
with cluster analysis and principal components analysis, in both features suggest that the cave began to form in the Late
Q and R modes. The results from cluster analysis distinguished Pliocene or Early Pleistocene.
interval groups mainly in accordance with chronology and distin-
Sedimentation inside Nerja Cave comprises a continuous guished assemblages of species mainly according to habitat. Significant
changes in the shellfish diet through time were revealed. record going back to the latest Pleistocene that contains
In the Late Magdalenian, most molluscs consumed consisted of abundant remains of human activity. The chronology (Table
pulmonate gastropods and species from sandy sea bottoms. The 1) was established on the basis of 14C dating of 22 samples
Epipaleolithic diet was more varied and included species from of plant remains from the sediments (Pellicer and Acosta,
rocky shorelines. From the Neolithic onward most molluscs con- 1986; Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b). The lithostratigraphic charactersumed
were from rocky shorelines. From the principal components istics of the Quaternary in-filling (Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b; Pelanalysis
in Q mode, the first factor reflected mainly changes in licer and Acosta, 1986, 1995) are summarized in Figure 2
the predominant capture environment, probably because of major from the most comprehensive sequences. In the ‘‘Sala de la
paleogeographic changes. The second factor may reflect selective Mina’’ (Mine Hall), section NM-80A exposes Quaternary
capture along rocky coastlines during certain times. The third sediments 2.6 m thick, but does not reach the base of the
factor correlated well with the sea-surface temperature curve in
sequence. On the basis of lithological and cultural features, the western Mediterranean (Alboran Sea) during the late Quater-
nary.
lithic to post-Chalcolithic times. Remains of molluscan foods in Early Pliocene marine sediments are present near the cave
the uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene sediments were studied (Guerra-Mercha´n and Serrano, 1993), but not inside it. These
with cluster analysis and principal components analysis, in both features suggest that the cave began to form in the Late
Q and R modes. The results from cluster analysis distinguished Pliocene or Early Pleistocene.
interval groups mainly in accordance with chronology and distin-
Sedimentation inside Nerja Cave comprises a continuous guished assemblages of species mainly according to habitat. Significant
changes in the shellfish diet through time were revealed. record going back to the latest Pleistocene that contains
In the Late Magdalenian, most molluscs consumed consisted of abundant remains of human activity. The chronology (Table
pulmonate gastropods and species from sandy sea bottoms. The 1) was established on the basis of 14C dating of 22 samples
Epipaleolithic diet was more varied and included species from of plant remains from the sediments (Pellicer and Acosta,
rocky shorelines. From the Neolithic onward most molluscs con- 1986; Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b). The lithostratigraphic charactersumed
were from rocky shorelines. From the principal components istics of the Quaternary in-filling (Jorda´ Pardo, 1986b; Pelanalysis
in Q mode, the first factor reflected mainly changes in licer and Acosta, 1986, 1995) are summarized in Figure 2
the predominant capture environment, probably because of major from the most comprehensive sequences. In the ‘‘Sala de la
paleogeographic changes. The second factor may reflect selective Mina’’ (Mine Hall), section NM-80A exposes Quaternary
capture along rocky coastlines during certain times. The third sediments 2.6 m thick, but does not reach the base of the
factor correlated well with the sea-surface temperature curve in
sequence. On the basis of lithological and cultural features, the western Mediterranean (Alboran Sea) during the late Quater-
nary.