Parisi, R.; Cronin, T.; Aiello, G.; Barra, D.; Danielopol, D.; Horne, D.; Mazzini, I. (2024). A new species of benthic ostracod Tuberoloxoconcha: A proxy for glacioeustatic sea-level changes in the Gulf of Corinth. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 655: 112483.
In 2017, sediment cores were retrieved from sites M0080, M0079, and M0078 in the Corinth basin during IODP
Expedition 381. This study focuses on the Holocene and middle Pleistocene ostracod assemblages retrieved from
sites M0080, in the Gulf of Alkyonides, and M0078 in the Corinth Gulf. It explores the paleoenvironmental
constraints that affected the Tuberoloxoconcha species’ distribution in these two sites and investigates the
stratigraphic appearance of the new species Tuberoloxoconcha aielloi in the Corinth basin during deglacial and
glacial periods over the last 400,000 years. In the Gulf of Corinth, fossil assemblages dominated by T. aielloi n. sp.
have identified brackish shallow water environments corresponding to deglacial and glacial phases, when the
basin was likely semi-isolated from Mediterranean waters, with high fluvial input lowering the salinity of the
waterbody. The study highlights the discontinuous occurrence of T. aielloi and its morphotypes, identifying cold
phases during MIS 10 and MIS 7d, and warmer phases during MISs 2–3-4-5a. The variability in ornamentation
potentially reflects different water chemistry in the two sites. The post-400 ky appearance of T. aielloi, coinciding
with the development of the marine connection through the Rion Strait, implies a Mediterranean/Atlantic origin
for the genus. This study provides insights into the environmental conditions and evolutionary history of T. aielloi
species in the Corinth basin, contributing to a broader understanding of benthic species’ responses to past and
future sea level changes