Discovery of a Mississippian Reef in Turkey: The Upper Viséan Microbial-Sponge-Bryozoan-Coral Bioherm From Kongul Yayla (Taurides, S Turkey)

Abstract

For the first time, a Mississippian reef is described from Turkey. This microbial-sponge-bryozoan-coral bioherm has been discovered in the Central Taurides (South Turkey), at Kongul Yayla located between Hadim and Taşkent. The bioherm contains a rich and diversified fauna: sponges and rugose corals are of particular interest. The bioherm shows four main facies reflecting distinct growth stages from the base to the top: (1) the basal bioclastic beds, (2) the core facies formed of framestone comprising rugose corals, lithistid sponges, fistuliporid bryozoans and microbial boundstone, (3) the crest facies with large colonies of cerioid rugose corals and chaetetid sponges, and (4) the bioclastic facies containing reworked material from the bioherm in lateral and overlying positions to it. The entire bioherm is topped by siltstones with thin bioclastic horizons, often slumped. Siphonodendron pauciradiale and Lithostrotion maccoyanum are the guide taxa for the RC7\beta biozone and indicate an upper Asbian age for the bioherm. The Kongul Yayla bioherm resembles most the Cracoean reefs from northern England. It confirms the position of this buildup type along the platform margins and edges in the Palaeotethyan realm as seen in the British Isles, Belgium, southern France, southern Spain and North Africa. Facies and the coral fauna argue for a European affinity of the Anatolian terrane.