Facies and fossil associations in Ladinian carbonate olistoliths at Dole pri Litiji, Slovenia

Abstract

The Ladinian Pseudozilian formation in the central part of the Sava Folds, Slovenia, was deposited in a deeper marine basin situated among the carbonate platforms lining the western margin of the Neotethys. The formation consists of shale and sandstone, hemipelagic limestone, volcanics, and volcanoclastics. At Dole pri Litiji, tuffaceous sandstone contains metre-scale olistoliths dominated by microbialites, solenoporacean algae, sponges, microproblematica and, to a minor extent, corals. Six types of fossil reef associations were recognized based on different proportions of these components. The presence of Ladinella porata Ott, dasycladaceans, and solenoporacean algae suggests the olistoliths originate from within the photic zone, perhaps the platform margin or the upper slope. Similar or even identical associations can be found in other Anisian to early Carnian reefs, suggesting the perseverance of reef associations that established themselves during the Middle Triassic recovery. Rather than replacing the older associations, new associations were added through time. The Anisian–early Carnian reef associations thus probably remained present even after the Late Triassic rise of scleractinian corals to dominance.