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Quaternary Science Reviews 25 (2006) 507–525
Evaluation of the Olduvai subchron in the Orce ravine (SE Spain).Implications for Plio-Pleistocene mammal biostratigraphy and theage of Orce archeological sites
L. Gibert
a,
Ã
, G. Scott
b
, C. Ferra `ndez-Can ˜adell
c
a
Department Enginyeria Minera i Recursos Naturals, Universitat Polite`cnica de Catalunya, Farinera 2, 08211 Castellar del Valle`s, Barcelona, Spain
b
Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
c
Departament d’Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geocie`ncies Marines, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Martı´ Franque`s s/n,E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
Received 9 June 2003; accepted 4 March 2005
Abstract
The Barranco de Orce (BO) section in the Baza basin (SE Spain) exposes several fossiliferous layers (O-1 to O-7) withPlio–Pleistocene micro- and macromammals. Biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data from this and other sections in thebasin have been extensively used to calibrate the Plio–Pleistocene chronology based on mammal biozonations. Because of itsstratigraphic and geographic proximity, the BO section has also been used to date the paleontological and archeological sites of Barranco Leo ´n, Fuentenueva-3 and Venta Micena. This study shows that the BO section crosses a mega-landslide that producespartial repetitions of the sedimentary sequence. The seven fossiliferous layers are actually the repetition of only two (O-6 and O-7)which are found in situ in the upper part of the ravine. New paleomagnetic results demonstrate the presence of Reversemagnetization throughout this section, contradicting the Normal event previously reported and assigned to the ‘Olduvai’ subchron(C2n). Published and new magnetostratigraphic data show that all archeological and paleontological sites in the Orce area arewithin a Reverse magnetochron, presumably C1r.2r (late Matuyama). The use of BO in the magnetobiostratigraphical calibration of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary for western Europe is not advised.
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2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The Guadix-Baza basin, in the Betic ranges (SESpain), exposes a thick sequence of Plio–Pleistocenecontinental deposits, rich in fossil mammal sites. Arecent paper byAlba et al. (2001)has shown, usingPliocene and Pleistocene data from this and otherbasins, that the Neogene mammalian fossil record of the Iberian Peninsula is very complete, more than 75%at the specific level, and 90% at the generic one. Becauseof its continuous sedimentary record from the earlyPliocene to the Middle Pleistocene, together with theabundance of rich fossil sites, the Guadix-Baza basinhas been proposed as a parastratotype area for thePliocene–Pleistocene boundary in continental sediments(Aguirre, 1997b).After a few preliminary studies in the 1960s and1970s, the associations of both micro- and macrofaunafrom the Baza basin were studied in the last twodecades. These studies have produced an extensiveliterature on micromammal systematics, biostratigra-phy, and Neogene faunal replacements (e.g.Agustı ´,1984, 1986a,b, 1990, 1991, 1998;Agustı ´et al., 1986,1987a–c, 1989, 1993, 2001;Alberdi et al., 1989;Agustı  ´and Moya `-Sola `, 1991, 1992, 1998;Marchetti and Sala,2001). Micromammal associations have also been usedto calibrate magnetostratigraphic studies developed inthis region (Oms et al., 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000a,b;Agustı  ´
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0277-3791/$-see front matter
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2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.03.006
Ã
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses:
luisgibert@wanadoo.es (L. Gibert), gscott@bge.org (G. Scott), cferran@geo.ub.es (C. Ferra `ndez-Can ˜adell).
 
et al., 1997;Garce ´s et al., 1997;Oms, 1998). A significant effort was made to establish micromammalbiostratigraphic criteria to recognize the Plio–Pleisto-cene boundary (e.g. documenting the first occurrence of the Pleistocene marker
Allophaiomys pliocaenicus
), andto integrate the biostratigraphical data into the strati-graphic and magnetostratigrahic framework (Agustı ´,1984, 1986a,b, 1991, 2001;Agustı ´et al., 1986, 1987a,b,c,2001;Agustı ´and Moya `-Sola `, 1991, 1992). Part of the data used in these magnetobiostratigraphical paperscomes from the Barranco de Orce (BO) section.Three of the calibrated boundary sections forNeogene mammals of western Europe proposed byAgustı ´et al. (2001)are in the Guadix-Baza basin. TheBO section was specifically designated by these authorsas the continental boundary section for the Tertiary/Quaternary mammalian faunas for western Europe(Table 1 inAgustı ´et al., 2001). Additionally, biostrati-graphic and magnetostratigraphic data from the BOsection have also been used to discuss paleoclimaticevents in paleoenvironmental studies of the lacustrinesequence (e.g.Agustı ´and Julia `, 1990;Anado ´n et al.,1994). However, these efforts to extend the biostrati-graphic and magnetostratigraphic data from the Bar-ranco the Orce sites (O-1 to O-7) into neighboringsections, and to use the data in the calibration of the micromammal chronobiostratigraphy for the Plio– Pleistocene boundary have been frustrated by numerouschanges in taxonomic assignments, biostratigraphicalzonations and magnetostratigraphical interpretations.In this paper, we present a significant revision of thestratigraphy of the BO section, as corrected bystructural analysis of a large landslide present in thisarea. We include new paleomagnetic data that changethe previous magnetostratigraphic interpretation of theBO section and its correlation different sites in this partof the Baza basin. Also, we present a summary of theextensive micromammal literature from the BO sectionand argue that the low number of specimens togetherwith the unrecognized repetition of the BO fossiliferouslayers has led to misinterpretations of faunal associa-tions and, therefore, biozones.
2. Geological setting
Neotectonic thrusting and uplift created and isolatedthe Guadix-Baza Basin from the sea in the late Miocene(Este ´vez and Sanz de Galdeano, 1983;Sanz de Galdeano and Vera, 1992). This large basin consists of two sub-basins, Guadix in the SW and Baza in the NE,separated by the Jabalco ´n mountain. In the Guadixbasin the deposits are basically alluvial with minorinfluence of Palustrine (Viseras, 1991;Vera et al., 1994). The Baza basin was mainly infilled with evaporiticlacustrine sediments in the central area and palustrinedeposits in the margins, having less influence of alluvialdeposits. The studied area is located in the NE sector of the Baza basin near the town of Orce (Fig. 1). This areaexposes near 100m of late Pliocene and Quaternaryalluvial and palustrine deposits. The sediments of Orcearea (Gibert, L. et al., 1998, 1999b) include thearcheological sites of Venta Micena, Barranco Leo ´n-5and Fuentenueva-3, which have yielded human remainsand lithic artefacts, together with a rich mammalassociation (Campillo, 1989, 2002;Gibert, J. et al., 1994, 1998, 1999a,b, 2001;Borja et al., 1997;Tobias, 1998;Roe, 1995). The studied BO section follows the Orce ravine, with its head located in the Jurassic Sierrade Orce (Subbetic zone of the Betic range) and cutting50m of Neogene sedimentary succession.
3. Structure of the Orce ravine
A preliminary study about the disrupted structure of the Orce ravine and its biostratigraphical interpretationswas provided in 1995 (Gibert, L. et al., 1995, 1999a). In1997, when the first paleomagnetic results of this sectionwere published, the authors wrote: ‘‘Definitive samplingwas carried out throughout the section, but disruptionscaused by a large number of faults led us to consideronly those outcrops free from tectonic displacements.Only the topographically uppermost part of the Orcesection was therefore studied, where the O-6 and O-7localities are located’’ (Agustı ´et al., 1997).The Orce ravine crosses a lobe morphology 1.5kmlong and 0.5km wide, which develops northwards intothe main E–W Ve ´lez valley (Figs. 2 and 3). Except forthe uppermost part, the materials of the entire ravineshow different types of structures that reveal movementof the strata due to a mega-landslide. The main listricfault, which separates the in situ southern deposits fromthe slump lobe, can be followed for more than 1.5kmbetween the adjacent Fuentecica and Leo ´n ravines(Fig. 2B). The whole lobe is crossed by auxiliary faultsseparating different structural blocks. Antithetic faultsare more common in the proximal (southern) areaswhere the movement initially stopped. Many verticalfaults appear to change laterally into subhorizontalfaults (Fig. 4). Antiform structures are producedbetween the auxiliary antithetic and synthetic faults.Different detachment surfaces can be identified in thiscomplex. The most important is associated with themain fault, developed on a basal layer consisting of plastic red siltstone about 10m thick (Fig. 4A). Thesealluvial siltstones are overlain by rigid lacustrine lime-stones with intercalations of dark, uncemented, finedetrital material that now form the slide blocks. The lessrigid layers between the limestones are the zones of numerous secondary, low angle detachment surfacesusually parallel to the stratification (Fig. 4B–D). These
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surfaces are found at the bottom of the slide blocks,which appear undeformed though they can showinternal displacement along other minor plastic layers.The basal layers of the blocks normally correspond to agranular media, where a dark fine matrix includesheterometric fragments of adjacent lacustrine strata thatwere included into the granular media during thedisplacement (Fig. 5A,B). Such granular layers shouldbe considered as fault breccias, and not as conglomer-ates. The fabric and structure in these basal layersindicate a fluidization of the material during the slump(Fig. 5C) (seeAnders et al. (2000)for similar examples). These multiple fluidized basal layers played an impor-tant role in the rapid movement of the landslide.
4. Origin of the landslide
Distribution of landslides is largely controlled bybedrock geology (Kawabata and Mokudai, 2002) andearthquakes are the main factor in triggering landslides(Malamud et al., 2002). One major earthquake cangenerate many contemporaneous landslides, as occurredin Taiwan in 1999 (Liao et al., 2002) and Alaska in 2002.Tectonic activity in the Baza basin continues from theMiocene to the present, producing earthquakes in theneighboring towns, for example: 4.8 on the Richter scalein Orce-Galera in 1964, and another of 3.1 in Baza in2001 (Andalusian Institute of Geophysics, 2002). Thegeological context of the Orce ravine landslide suggeststhat it originated as a single, gravity-driven event,probably induced by a nearby earthquake (Fig. 6).Many other landslides which affect the same Pleistocenedeposits in the Can ˜ada de Vele ´z and Rı ´o Orce valleys could be contemporaneous to the BO landslide.
5. The age of the landslide
In the Late Pleistocene the Baza basin becameexorreic (Vera et al., 1994), and began an episode of large-scale erosion and down cutting that continuestoday. A narrow E–W valley (Ve ´lez valley) wasdeveloped in the region of the modern BO. Thelandscape development of rigid, resistant cappingcarbonatic units, underlain by layers of lutites andclays, combined with the seismic activity in the regionfacilitates the occurrence of landslides. The dimensions
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Fig. 1. Location of the Orce ravine in the Baza basin in south-east Spain.
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