Abstract
During the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), between 5.97 and 5.33 Ma, the marine connections between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea were temporarily restricted. The post-MSC reflooding of the Mediterranean Sea by the Atlantic waters and its sedimentary record are debated. The Boudinar basin (North-Morocco) provides an exceptional record of this period between ca 5.32–5.27 and 4.37 Ma at youngest (Zanclean - Zone PL1). The sedimentary succession of this basin comprises seven facies associations corresponding to depositional settings ranging from continental to open marine environments.We provide a new sequence stratigraphic framework, based on twelve stratigraphic sections. Two orders of depositional sequences (4th, 3rd order), related to base-level changes during the Late-Messinian Early-Pliocene time interval, are correlated at the basin scale. According to our reconstruction, the post-MSC base level rise and the Zanclean reflooding lasted from a minimum of several tens up to hundreds thousands years, suggesting a gradual, not catastrophic event indicative of a progressive transgression.