Milankovitch cyclicity of magnetic directions in Cretaceous shagow-water carbonate rocks, southern Italy

Spectral analyses of 115 m continous bore-cores of Lower Cretaceous shallow marine carbonates establish identical cyclicities for sedimentary features (textural and diagenetic parameters) and for remanent magnetization (intensity, inclination and declination). Identical spectral peaks also occur in the estimated perturbations of the Earth's orbit (Milankovitch cycles) for the same geological period, suggesting that the lithological and magnetic parameters are controlled, directly or indirectly, by astronomically determined phenomena. Such observations enable cyclical stratigraphie methods io be applied on a cm-scale, and open the possibility of high-precision relative dating and correlation of sedimentary sequences and their controlling processes.