Late Norian (Late Triassic) Radiolarian assemblages from chert pebbles of the Pentalofos Formation (Mesohellenic basin, Greece). Palaeogeographic implications

Abstract

Abstract Well-preserved Late Norian Radiolaria were extracted from two pebbles of radiolarian chert included in Lower Miocene conglomerates of the Pentalofos Formation, in the area of Meteora (Mesohellenic basin, Greece). Both samples yielded a similar assemblage characterized by the presence of species Betraccium deweveri PESSAGNO & BLOME, Bipedis acrostylus BRAGIN, Pylostephanidium ankaraense BRAGIN & TEKIN and several other taxa typical of the Betraccium deweveri zone (uppermost Norian). This is the first evidence of Upper Norian radiolarian cherts from Greece. It is likely that the studied chert pebbles were derived from ophiolitic complexes or distal continental margin series situated to the east of the Mesohellenic basin; they were part of the Upper Norian oceanic realm that was obducted, during the Late Jurassic, over the Pelagonian continental crust. During the Late Miocene they were still present east of Meteora and they have been eroded since.