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www.solid-earth-discuss.net/3/901/2011/
doi:10.5194/sed-3-901-2011
© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed
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Shallow water carbonate platforms (Late Aptian, Southern Apennines) in the context of supraregional to global changes
Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse (IGG), CNR, Via Giorgio La Pira, 4, 50121, Firenze, Italy
Abstract. A preliminary study based on the comparison of recently published δ13C record of the Late Aptian Monte Tobenna and Monte Faito sections (Southern Italy) with reference carbon isotope curves reveals how sea-level fluctuations played a fundamental role in regolating the carbonate sedimentation in the inner lagoonal environments of the Apenninic platform and the occurrence of some peculiar facies during a time of increasing volcano-tectonic activity and trophic levels of the water.
During the lowering of the sea level, microbial carbonates were a common product of the shallow marine ecosystem in a general context of deterioration of the inner lagoon environmental conditions. When trophic levels were too high, due to the decisive contribution of a supraregional dictator (e.g. increase of the precipitation rate), and the environmental conditions were unsuitable for the main carbonate producers of the inner lagoonal settings, the Orbitolina (Mesorbitolina parva and Mesorbitolina texana) level formed, just before the minimum accommodation space on the platform was reached and fresh/brackish water environments spread. In deposits underlying the orbitolinid-rich facies of the carbonates studied, Salpingoporella dinarica alga is widespread, possibly due to the seawater's chemical composition that could have encouraged the development of its low-Mg calcite skeleton. On the contrary, during periods of sea level rise (and early highstand) no or minor microbial carbonates formed in the shallow lagoonal settings that were not influenced by the paleoenvironmental changes mostly induced by the mid-Cretaceous volcanism, and therefore easily remained in a healthy state.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 6403 KB) Interactive Discussion (Final Response, 8 Comments) Manuscript under review for SE Special Issue
Citation: Raspini, A.: Shallow water carbonate platforms (Late Aptian, Southern Apennines) in the context of supraregional to global changes, Solid Earth Discuss., 3, 901-942, doi:10.5194/sed-3-901-2011, 2011. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
