Mediterranean imprint on coral diversity in the incipient red sea (Burdigalian, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

[eng] Globally, scleractinian coral diversity peaked in the Early Miocene (Burdigalian) and declined afterwards. In contrast to this global trend, scleractinian coral diversity in the Lower to Middle Miocene was low in the Red Sea that had started to open in the Oligocene and experienced its first marine incursion in the Burdigalian. Here, we report on coral diversity of reefs assigned to the Burdigalian to Langhian Wadi Waqb Member (Jabal Kibrit Formation) from outcrops exposed in the foothills behind the Red Sea coastline near Umluj, Saudi Arabia. Compared to the global records from the Paleobiology Database and the literature, the fossil record from the Wadi Waqb member suggests a relation of the taxonomic spectrum to the Arabian Gulf and the Mediterranean. No clear relation to the taxonomic spectrum to the Indian Ocean is observed. These faunistic differences are consistent with the hypothesis that the young Red Sea was connected to the Arabian Gulf via the Mediterranean through the Gulf of Suez, while there was no connection between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, as the south of the Red Sea rift was uplifted by the Afar mantle plume, blocking a direct exchange of marine biota.