Toward an Astrochronology-Based Age-Model for a Messinian Pre-Evaporitic Succession: The Example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript entitled “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)” by Maniscalco et al. represents a significant contribution to the astronomically calibrated time framework of the pre-evaporitic Messinian of the Mediterranean. I found the topic of the manuscript very interesting and possibly of great interest for the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering readers.

Overall, all data are sufficient, and the treatment of the data are appropriated. The figures are appropriated as both quantity and quality. The length of this paper is appropriated for this journal, with all interpretations and conclusions to be in general very well justified. The text in some sections is very detailed, and in general is very well organized, and this makes the manuscript easily readable and understandable.

The major obstacle is that although the authors try to discuss about the pre-evaporitic lithologic, chronological and environmental changes throughout the Mediterranean basin, presenting thus bioevents from different sections along the Mediterranean, they do not refer adequately to eastern Mediterranean basin but mostly to central or western one. I searched in scopus database and found a huge bibliography on all those issues regarding the Messinian from the eastern Mediterranean that should be included into the text to improve it and support in a better way the observations of that work. Therefore, the bibliography is not accurate and should be enriched (I propose some of them right below, particularly into the introduction section) in order the proposed model to be used for the entire Mediterranean Sea. The English is in relatively good shape, but some places need some improvements. However, there are some points that need to be clarified and/or better discussed before acceptance. Therefore, I propose some points to be addressed before it can be considered for publication (major revision). Both the minor comments and suggestions are listed right below.

L37-40: Add some representative references here. For instance for the environmental and oceanographic changes add the work of Vasiliev et al., 2019, while for diagenetic processes add the work of Antonarakou et al., 2019.

L40-41: Add the recent work of Zachariasse et al., 2021

L42-44: Again use references from the entire Mediterranean basin; thus will further support what is written. The progressive deterioration is even more severe into the eastern sector of the Mediterranean but references from this basin are missing. Please add the citations of Kontakiotis et al., 2019, 2022 and Butiseaca et al., 2022.

L57: The recent work of Zachariasse et al., 2021 about the Messinian diatomites in Crete should be added here since you are referring to the eastern Mediterranean

L62-65: Add the works of Kontakiotis et al., 2019; Moissette et al., 2018; Karakitsios et al., 2017

Table 1: I would prefer this table to be used as supplementary material

L210-212: I cannot understand why Orbulina or Turborotalita species was grouped together as Neogloboquadrinids. This makes no sense to me

Table 2:

-In FCO of T. multilobe the citations of Karakitsios et al., 2017, Drinia et al., 2007 should be also added in terms of eastern Mediterranean sections from Kalamaki (Ionian Sea) and Metochia (Gavdos Island).

 -Therefore, the Kalamaki section which is missing from the list of sections should be added in order the list to be completed

-The Drinia et al., 2007 should be added into the N. acostaensis d/s coiling change too.

-There are more planktonic bioevents in between, such as G. scitula influx at 6.295 Ma and N. acostaensis (sin) influxes at 6.140-6.108 and 6.082 Ma that could be added into the list and to the discussion accordingly.

Figure 3: The meaning of the arrow with the letter a is missing from its caption

L341-344: Again the mention in Greek or Cyprus sections is missing. Refer to them with the relevant citations

Figure 5: Again, the A,C explanations are missing from the caption of figure 5

L371-374: Add the work of Zachariasse and Lourens, 2021 here

L405: Add the works of Zarkogiannis et al., 2020 and Pujol and Verganud-Grazzini et al., 1995 for supporting the habitat of Orbulina in warm and oligotrophic surface waters particularly for the Mediterranean Sea

L406-408: Add the work of Vasiliev et al., 2019

L538-539: Add Drinia et al., 2007

Proposed citations

Antonarakou, A., Kontakiotis, G., Vasilatos, C., Besiou, E., Zarkogiannis, S., Drinia, H., Mortyn, P.G., Tsaparas, N., Makri, P., Karakitsios, V., 2019. Evaluating the effect of marine diagenesis on Late Miocene pre-evaporitic sedimentary successions of eastern Mediterranean Sea. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences, 221, 012051. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/221/1/012051.

Butiseacă G.A., van der Meer M.T.J., Kontakiotis G., Agiadi K., Thivaiou D., Besiou E., Antonarakou A., Mulch A., Vasiliev I., 2022. Multiple crises preceded the Mediterranean Salinity Crisis: Aridification and vegetation changes revealed by biomarkers and stable isotopes, Global and Planetary Change, 217, 103951, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103951.

Drinia, H., Antonarakou, A., Tsaparas, N., Kontakiotis, G., 2007. Palaeoenvironmental conditions preceding the Messinian Salinity Crisis: A case study from Gavdos Island. Geobios, 40, 251–265.

Kontakiotis, G., Besiou, E., Antonarakou, A., Zarkogiannis, S.D., Kostis, A., Mortyn, P.G., Moissette, P., Corn´ee, J.-J., Schulbert, C., Drinia, H., Anastasakis, G., Karakitsios, V., 2019. Decoding Sea surface and paleoclimate conditions in the eastern Mediterranean over the Tortonian-Messinian transition. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 534, 109312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109312

Kontakiotis, G., Butiseaca, ˘ G.-A., Karakitsios, V., Antonarakou, A., Zarkogiannis, S., Agiadi, K., Krsnik, E., Besiou, E., Zachariasse, J.-W., Lourens, L., Thivaiou, D., Koskeridou, E., Moissette, P., Mulch, A., Vasiliev, I., 2022. Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 592 (2), 110903 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110903.

Moissette, P., Cornee, J.-J., Antonarakou, A., Kontakiotis, G., Drinia, H., Koskeridou, E., Tsourou, T., Agiadi, K., Karakitsios, V., 2018. Palaeoenvironmental changes at the Tortonian/Messinian boundary: A deep-sea sedimentary record of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 505, 217–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.046

Pujol, C.; Grazzini, C. Distribution patterns of live planktic foraminifers as related to regional hydrology and productive systems of the Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Micropaleontol. 1995, 25, 187–217.

Zachariasse, W.J., Kontakiotis, G., Lourens, L.J., Antonarakou, A., 2021. The Messinian of Agios Myron (Crete, Greece): A key to better understanding diatomite formation south of Crete, on Gavdos Island. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 581, 110633 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110633.

Zachariasse, W.J., Lourens, L.J., 2021. The Messinian on Gavdos (Greece) and the status of currently used ages for the onset of the MSC and gypsum precipitation. Newsl. Stratigr. https://doi.org/10.1127/nos/2021/0677

Zarkogiannis, S.; Kontakiotis, G.; Antonarakou, A. Recent planktonic foraminifera population and size response to Eastern Mediterranean hydrography. Revue de Micropaléontologie 2020, 69, 100450, doi:10.1016/j.revmic.2020.100450.

The English is in a relatively good quality.

Author Response

The manuscript entitled “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre- evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)” by Maniscalco et al. represents a significant contribution to the astronomically calibrated time framework of the pre-evaporitic Messinian of the Mediterranean. I found the topic of the manuscript very interesting and possibly of great interest for the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering readers.

Overall, all data are sufficient, and the treatment of the data are appropriated. The figures are appropriated as both quantity and quality. The length of this paper is appropriated for this journal, with all interpretations and conclusions to be in general very well justified. The text in some sections is very detailed, and in general is very well organized, and this makes the manuscript easily readable and understandable.

The major obstacle is that although the authors try to discuss about the pre-evaporitic lithologic, chronological and environmental changes throughout the Mediterranean basin, presenting thus bioevents from different sections along the Mediterranean, they do not refer adequately to eastern Mediterranean basin but mostly to central or western one. I searched in scopus database and found a huge bibliography on all those issues regarding the Messinian from the eastern Mediterranean that should be included into the text to improve it and support in a better way the observations of that work. Therefore, the bibliography is not accurate and should be enriched (I propose some of them right below, particularly into the introduction section) in order the proposed model to be used for the entire Mediterranean Sea. The English is in relatively good shape, but some places need some improvements. However, there are some points that need to be clarified and/or better discussed before acceptance. Therefore, I propose some points to be addressed before it can be considered for publication (major revision). Both the minor comments and suggestions are listed right below.

Thanks, We included all suggested references regarding eastern Mediterranean.

L37-40: Add some representative references here. For instance for the environmental and oceanographic changes add the work of Vasiliev et al., 2019, while for diagenetic processes add the work of Antonarakou et al., 2019.

We added the suggested references

L40-41: Add the recent work of Zachariasse et al., 2021

Done

L42-44: Again use references from the entire Mediterranean basin; thus will further support what is written. The progressive deterioration is even more severe into the eastern sector of the Mediterranean but references from this basin are missing. Please add the citations of Kontakiotis et al., 2019, 2022 and Butiseaca et al., 2022.

We added the references

L57: The recent work of Zachariasse et al., 2021 about the Messinian diatomites in Crete should be added here since you are referring to the eastern Mediterranean

Done

L62-65: Add the works of Kontakiotis et al., 2019; Moissette et al., 2018; Karakitsios et al., 2017

Done

Table 1: I would prefer this table to be used as supplementary material

OK, we will move Table 1 to supplementary materials. Table 1 will therefore become Table S1.

L210-212: I cannot understand why Orbulina or Turborotalita species was grouped together as Neogloboquadrinids. This makes no sense to me

Thanks. We now put numbers to distinguish groups. Before, it was misleading.

Table 2:

-In FCO of T. multilobe the citations of Karakitsios et al., 2017, Drinia et al., 2007 should be also added in terms of eastern Mediterranean sections from Kalamaki (Ionian Sea) and Metochia (Gavdos Island).

Added the references for Metochia and Kalamaki Sections

-Therefore, the Kalamaki section which is missing from the list of sections should be added in order the list to be completed

We added Kalamaki Section on Table 2

-The Drinia et al., 2007 should be added into the N. acostaensis d/s coiling change too.

Only selected bioevents, useful for the Age Model, have been reported on Table 2

-There are more planktonic bioevents in between, such as G. scitula influx at 6.295 Ma and N. acostaensis (sin) influxes at 6.140-6.108 and 6.082 Ma that could be added into the list and to the discussion accordingly.

Only selected bioevents, useful for the Age Model, have been reported on Table 2.

1. scitula is very rare at TVCZ section. Consequently, its influx is not reported on Table 2 and discussed along the text.

We reported the sinistral influx of N. acostaensis on Table 4, and added references from Metochia and Kalamaki (Drinia et al., 2007 and Karakitsios et al., 2017) at L 551.

Figure 3: The meaning of the arrow with the letter a is missing from its caption.

We added: a) abundance peak of Sphenolithus spp. within the dashed rectangle in Figure 3

L341-344: Again the mention in Greek or Cyprus sections is missing. Refer to them with the relevant citations

We added relevant citations at L 347-349

Figure 5: Again, the A,C explanations are missing from the caption of figure 5

We added: A) First Abundance Influx (FAI) of T. multiloba; C) sx/dx coiling change of N. acostaensis.

L371-374: Add the work of Zachariasse and Lourens, 2021 here

Done

L405: Add the works of Zarkogiannis et al., 2020 and Pujol and Verganud-Grazzini et al., 1995 for supporting the habitat of Orbulina in warm and oligotrophic surface waters particularly for the Mediterranean Sea

Done

L406-408: Add the work of Vasiliev et al., 2019 L538-539: Add Drinia et al., 2007
Done

We added all the proposed citations cited along the text

Antonarakou, A., Kontakiotis, G., Vasilatos, C., Besiou, E., Zarkogiannis, S., Drinia, H., Mortyn, P.G., Tsaparas, N., Makri, P., Karakitsios, V., 2019. Evaluating the effect of marine diagenesis on Late Miocene pre-evaporitic sedimentary successions of eastern Mediterranean Sea. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences, 221, 012051. doi:10.1088/1755- 1315/221/1/012051.

Butiseacă G.A., van der Meer M.T.J., Kontakiotis G., Agiadi K., Thivaiou D., Besiou E., Antonarakou A., Mulch A., Vasiliev I., 2022. Multiple crises preceded the Mediterranean Salinity Crisis: Aridification and vegetation changes revealed by biomarkers and stable isotopes, Global and Planetary Change, 217, 103951, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103951.

Drinia, H., Antonarakou, A., Tsaparas, N., Kontakiotis, G., 2007. Palaeoenvironmental conditions preceding the Messinian Salinity Crisis: A case study from Gavdos Island. Geobios, 40, 251–265.

Karakitsios V., Roveri M., Lugli S., Manzi V., Gennari R., Antonarakou A., Triantaphyllou M., Agiadi K., Kontakiotis G., Kafousia N., De Rafelis M., 2017. A Record of the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Eastern Ionian Tectonically Active Domain (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean). Basin Research, 29,203-233. DOI: 10.1111/bre.12173.

Kontakiotis, G., Besiou, E., Antonarakou, A., Zarkogiannis, S.D., Kostis, A., Mortyn, P.G., Moissette, P., Corn ́ee, J.-J., Schulbert, C., Drinia, H., Anastasakis, G., Karakitsios, V., 2019. Decoding Sea surface and paleoclimate conditions in the eastern Mediterranean over the Tortonian-Messinian transition. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 534, 109312 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109312

Kontakiotis, G., Butiseaca, ̆ G.-A., Karakitsios, V., Antonarakou, A., Zarkogiannis, S., Agiadi, K., Krsnik, E., Besiou, E., Zachariasse, J.-W., Lourens, L., Thivaiou, D., Koskeridou, E., Moissette, P., Mulch, A., Vasiliev, I., 2022. Hypersalinity accompanies tectonic restriction in the eastern Mediterranean prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 592 (2), 110903 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110903.

Moissette, P., Cornee, J.-J., Antonarakou, A., Kontakiotis, G., Drinia, H., Koskeridou, E., Tsourou, T., Agiadi, K., Karakitsios, V., 2018. Palaeoenvironmental changes at the Tortonian/Messinian boundary: A deep-sea sedimentary record of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 505, 217–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.05.046

Pujol, C.; Grazzini, C. Distribution patterns of live planktic foraminifers as related to regional hydrology and productive systems of the Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Micropaleontol. 1995, 25, 187–217.

Zachariasse, W.J., Kontakiotis, G., Lourens, L.J., Antonarakou, A., 2021. The Messinian of Agios Myron (Crete, Greece): A key to better understanding diatomite formation south of Crete, on Gavdos Island. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 581, 110633 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110633.

Zachariasse, W.J., Lourens, L.J., 2022. The Messinian on Gavdos (Greece) and the status of currently used ages for the onset of the MSC and gypsum precipitation. Newsl. Stratigr. https://doi.org/10.1127/nos/2021/0677

Zarkogiannis, S.; Kontakiotis, G.; Antonarakou, A. Recent planktonic foraminifera population and size response to Eastern Mediterranean hydrography. Revue de Micropaléontologie 2020, 69, 100450, doi:10.1016/j.revmic.2020.100450.

The English is in a relatively good quality.

We thank Reviewer 1 for careful suggestion throughout the text.

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is very interesting, however the abstract and mostly the introduction part need to be rewritten and carefully checked for the english, as some parts are not easy to follow 

The legend of Figure 8 does not include the description of "c" (age model)

The morphologic groups of ceratoliths, helicoliths etc. must not be capitalized nor in italics (e.g., lines 246, 250 etc.)

Correct Helicosphera to Helicosphaera (e.g., line 386, 576 etc)

the abstract and mostly the introduction part needs to be carefully checked for the english, as some parts are not easy to follow 

Author Response

The paper is very interesting, however the abstract and mostly the introduction part need to be rewritten and carefully checked for the english, as some parts are not easy to follow.

Abstract and Introduction have been modified as suggested to make them clearer.

The legend of Figure 8 does not include the description of "c" (age model)

Done

The morphologic groups of ceratoliths, helicoliths etc. must not be capitalized nor in italics (e.g., lines 246, 250 etc.)

Done

Correct Helicosphera to Helicosphaera (e.g., line 386, 576 etc)

Done

Reviewer 3 Report

General comments:

The manuscript entitled “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)” (No.: jmse-2348869) by R. Maniscalco established an astronomically calibrated pre-MSC (Messinian Salinity Crisis) age model for Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily, Italy. The scientific questions are clearly addressed. The manuscript is generally well structured with fluent language and nicely illustrated figures. I only have few concerns listed below. I would thus recommend the acceptance of the manuscript with minor revisions. 

1) The authors actually made 2 age models, one based on biostratigraphic tie points (Fig. 6) and the other by orbital tuning based on the fluctuations of Orbulina spp. abundances (Fig. 8). However, the 2^nd one was derived from the interpolated dataset of the original Orbulina spp. data, which might bring artificial noises to the astronomically based age model calculation. For instance, Sample TVCZ-26 was originally nearly zero of Orbulina spp. abundance (Fig. 8a) and got much higher values after interpolation (Fig. 8b). I would suggest the authors to present a short explanation or discussion on this issue. 

2) What does ‘-’ stand for in Table 1? No data or not tested? Should be clarified. 

3) The abbreviations, FAI/FCO/peak I etc., are not denoted in Table 2. Some of them, FAI, for instance, was explained a few pages below, which is not easy to find. Better to present note within the table. 

4) Line 490, FO was not denoted before.

Author Response

General comments:

The manuscript entitled “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)” (No.: jmse-2348869) by R. Maniscalco established an astronomically calibrated pre-MSC (Messinian Salinity Crisis) age model for Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily, Italy. The scientific questions are clearly addressed. The manuscript is generally well structured with fluent language and nicely illustrated figures. I only have few concerns listed below. I would thus recommend the acceptance of the manuscript with minor revisions.

1) The authors actually made 2 age models, one based on biostratigraphic tie points (Fig. 6) and the other by orbital tuning based on the fluctuations of Orbulina spp. abundances (Fig. 8). However, the 2nd one was derived from the interpolated dataset of the original Orbulina spp. data, which might bring artificial noises to the astronomically based age model calculation. For instance, Sample TVCZ-26 was originally nearly zero of Orbulina spp. abundance (Fig. 8a) and got much higher values after interpolation (Fig. 8b). I would suggest the authors to present a short explanation or discussion on this issue.

It is possible that artificial noise can be introduced, but it is implicit in the method. When values are averaged or interpolated, the original values of individual points do not exist anymore. It is not correct to go looking for them. Only a few samples were selected to build the age model, and they were treated as t-points. This step was explained in the text.

2) What does ‘-’ stand for in Table 1? No data or not tested? Should be clarified.

We added “missing sample” on Table 1, which becomes Table S1 in Supplementary material.

3) The abbreviations, FAI/FCO/peak I etc., are not denoted in Table 2. Some of them, FAI, for instance, was explained a few pages below, which is not easy to find. Better to present note within the table.

Done

4) Line 490, FO was not denoted before.

Added First Occurrence (FO)

Reviewer 4 Report

I revised the manuscript of Maniscalco et al. “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)”, submitted to Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.

The paper is very interesting and, in some ways, also original: the authors explore the use of abundance variation of calcareous plankton (nannofossils and planktonic foraminifera) to build an astrochronology-based age model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession. For this purpose, they utilised the quantitative analysis of nannoplankton and planktonic foraminifera and compared Orbulina spp. abundance with Eccentricity of Earth, to define a chronostratigraphic pattern of bioevents preceding the Messinian Salinity Crisis, in absence of other time-constrains. This approach is very interesting, above all because it concerns a geological event (MSC) that has been much investigated but not fully explored.

The manuscript is original, well organised, and well written. The methodology is (almost) correctly explained and applied; results are described in detail and are reproducible, the data are interpreted appropriately; discussion and conclusions are supported by data and consistent with them.

The illustrations are of good quality and as well as the tables are appropriate and easy to interpret and understand. The bibliography is wide and updated. The data availability statements are adequate.

Specific remarks are as follow:

- throughout the manuscript, a mixing of foraminifera-foraminifers and foraminiferal-foraminifer is present. Please, make a choice.

- in the paragraph “4. Materials and Methods”, it would be better to add something about the comparison between Orbulina abundance and Eccentricity, and the interpolation through the software Past.

- lines 210- 212: the Authors wrote “Planktonic species were grouped in the following categories: i) neogloboquadrinids: Neogloboquadrina acostaensis (Blow), N. humerosa (Takaianagi and Saito), Orbulina spp., Turborotalita multiloba (Romeo), Turborotalita quinqueloba (Natland);” really Orbulina spp., Turborotalita multiloba and T. quinqueloba have been included among the “neogloboquadrinids” or is this a mistake?

- line 323: “Brizalina dilatata” is “Bolivina dilatata”.

- line 538: “Brizalina” is “Bolivina”: see WORMS site (https://www.marinespecies.org).

- Appendix A: in the supplementary materials I found only the Table A3: It is ok, but the sample TVCZ 29 (barren of planktonic foraminifera) is missing. The tables A1 and A2 are not present, or they are not in the file that I could see.

Other observations and details are listed in the attached pdf.

In conclusion, I think that the paper is suitable for the journal, after minor revisions.

Best Regards

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

I revised the manuscript of Maniscalco et al. “Toward an astrochronology-based age-model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession: the example of Torrente Vaccarizzo Section in Sicily (Italy)”, submitted to Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.

The paper is very interesting and, in some ways, also original: the authors explore the use of abundance variation of calcareous plankton (nannofossils and planktonic foraminifera) to build an astrochronology-based age model for a Messinian pre-evaporitic succession. For this purpose, they utilised the quantitative analysis of nannoplankton and planktonic foraminifera and compared Orbulina spp. abundance with Eccentricity of Earth, to define a chronostratigraphic pattern of bioevents preceding the Messinian Salinity Crisis, in absence of other time-constrains. This approach is very interesting, above all because it concerns a geological event (MSC) that has been much investigated but not fully explored.

The manuscript is original, well organised, and well written. The methodology is (almost) correctly explained and applied; results are described in detail and are reproducible, the data are interpreted appropriately; discussion and conclusions are supported by data and consistent with them.

The illustrations are of good quality and as well as the tables are appropriate and easy to interpret and understand. The bibliography is wide and updated. The data availability statements are adequate.

Specific remarks are as follow:

- throughout the manuscript, a mixing of foraminifera-foraminifers and foraminiferal-foraminifer is present. Please, make a choice.

Done: changed foraminifera and foraminiferal to foraminifers

- in the paragraph “4. Materials and Methods”, it would be better to add something about the comparison between Orbulina abundance and Eccentricity, and the interpolation through the software Past.

We think it is more appropriate to leave this part in paragraph 6. Age models, where it is extensively described.

- lines 210- 212: the Authors wrote “Planktonic species were grouped in the following categories: i) neogloboquadrinids: Neogloboquadrina acostaensis (Blow), N. humerosa (Takaianagi and Saito), Orbulina spp., Turborotalita multiloba (Romeo), Turborotalita quinqueloba (Natland);” really Orbulina spp., Turborotalita multiloba and T. quinqueloba have been included among the “neogloboquadrinids” or is this a mistake?

It was a mistake: done. We inserted numbers to separate groups.

- line 323: “Brizalina dilatata” is “Bolivina dilatata”.

Done

- line 538: “Brizalina” is “Bolivina”: see WORMS site (https://www.marinespecies.org).

Done

- Appendix A: in the supplementary materials I found only the Table A3: It is ok, but the sample TVCZ 29 (barren of planktonic foraminifera) is missing.

Sample TVCZ 29 has been collected for other analysis (geochemistry)

The tables A1 and A2 are not present, or they are not in the file that I could see.

Moved to Supplementary Materials: Tables A1 and A2 become Table S2 and S3

Other observations and details are listed in the attached pdf.

In conclusion, I think that the paper is suitable for the journal, after minor revisions. Best Regards

Pdf

Lines 84-86 and Figure 1

Corvillo, Nicosia, and Resuttano  are not shown on Fig.1. Delete form text or add to figure

We deleted villages not present on the map and added S. Caterina Villarmosa.

Lines 89-98 and 111-113 Auctorum

Deleted Auctorum

Figure 2 Insert labels A and B

Done

Line 194 (TVCZ 24, 29 and 37).

We modified in TVCZ 24, 36, 42 and 46

Line 211 and the remaining 6?

Six samples were available only for nannofossils

Figure 8 Insert label C

Table 3 – the sample TVCZ 29?

Sample TVCZ 29 has been collected for other analysis (geochemistry)

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

All comments have been addressed and the manuscript seems much more improved now. Well done. I recommend its acceptance for publication in JMSE in its present form.