Historical review together with stratigraphical and taphonomical considerations on the upper Pleistocene deposit of Arenal de son Servera (Mallorca, Balearic Islands)

Abstract

The upper Pleistocene deposit of Arenal de son Servera is reviewed using data from earlier works and new considerations based on its stratigraphy and taphonomical aspects of the fossils. In the present study, five different kinds of facies are identified: [1] palaeosols with pebbles from the Miocene basement, [2] aeolianites, [3] foreshore deposits with thermophilous molluscan fossil fauna, [4] palaeosols resulting from the pedogenesis of the beach units, and [5] bioclastic channelled deposits eroding the underlaying units. The detailed taphonomical analysis revealed that the fossils enclosed in these rocks remained on the sea bottom for a significant amount of time, but they were not bioeroded, perhaps because a submerged sand bar repeatedly buried and exhumed them. In addition, the fact that Persististrombus latus shells are in their position of maximum stability allows to infer that they were washed up on the shore during moderately energetic events, possibly comparable to present-day ordinary storms. These two last points could be of interest to the field of coastal management, as they provide insight on the scope of physical changes these systems could undergo in the present warming of the Mediterranean.