Villafranchian Stratigraphy in Southern and Southwestern Europe

Abstract

The deposits containing the classic Villafranchian fauna in Italy (Po Valley, upper and lower Arno Valley, and elsewhere in the peninsula), the Saône Valley of eastern France, and the Puy-en-Velay Basin (Haute-Loire) of central France not only consistently overlie sediments laid down during Upper Pliocene times but also are, in turn, immediately overlain by deposits that clearly belong to the first interglacial (Cromer Forest-Bed-Saint Prestian) stage. With the exception of peninsular Italy, where a marine regime still prevailed, the beds in question, of continental facies and belonging to a Villafranchian stage, represent a comparatively sudden break in the long sedimentary cycle that had prevailed in southern and southwestern Europe throughout Middle and Upper Pliocene (Plaisancian-Astian) times. During the Villafranchian stage, a marked lowering of the temperature occurred, supporting the view that the deposits laid down at this time were accumulated under conditions of glaciation in northern Europe, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. Furthermore, immediately prior to this phase of climatic change, a series of orogenic movements, apparently connected with a time of marine regression, profoundly modified the entire Apennine region. On the basis of these facts, the Villafranchian stage should not be retained in the Pliocene but should be considered basal Pleistocene.