Paleogeographic interpretation of paleoflora from the Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments of western Syria

Complex analysis of paleoflora was used to study the Mardido reference section (northwestern coast of Syria). It was found that this section was formed in coastal and sometimes estuarine settings. Palynological data allowed four alternating humid and arid periods to be distinguished. Six intervals of salinity oscillations of the basin water regime were recognized by the analysis of diatom algae and nannoflora. Short-range marine invasions were depicted against a background of a general tendency of freshening and shallowing of the basin. In general, the variation trends of species composition for the aquatic and continental floras were similar, thus providing a basis for the correlation of geological events.