Pteropods as climatic indicators in quaternary sequences: A Lower-Middle Pleistocene sequence outcropping in Cava Puleo (Ficarazzi,Palermo, Italy)

Pteropod assemblages from a section outcropping at Cava Puleo (Ficarazzi, Palermo, type locality of the Sicilian stage) were studied for a paleoclimatic interpretation. The studied section directly overlies the subsurface Lower Pleistocene sequence.A curve of the absolute abundance of the subarctic species Limacina retroversa in the pteropod assemblage and a climatic curve based on the total amount of cumulative percentages of cold and warm pteropod indicators are proposed; the former shows a climatic trend in which a strong cold peak can be easily inferred at the top of the proposed Sicilian stratotype section. This drastic cold event is the first one recognizable in the local Lower Pleistocene sequence and may be correlated with the cold event recognized by Shackleton and Opdyke (1976) at the top of stage 22. The cold climatic fluctuation was abruptly followed by an internal with warm-temperate climate characterized by a tropical—subtropical assemblage.