Rudist facies distribution in the Central-Southern Apennines and Apulia, Italy

Abstract

The distribution of rudist facies in the Cretaceous carbonate platform deposits of the central-southern Apennines and Apulia have been compared from a biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic and palaeogeographic point of view. Particular time intervals related to the spreading of rudist communities inside a precise environmental setting have been considered. The analysis evidenced that sedimentological characters and rudist assemblages are closely linked to the environmental settings either within individual palaeogeographic domains or among different domains. These observations show that the distribution of rudists in these palaeogeographical domains is controlled by local factors and in particular by the environmental facies contrary to several assumptions on isolation and provineialism.