Triassic nannoplankton limestones of deep basin origin in the central mediterranean region

Abstract

Samples of Triassic pelagic limestones collected in several regions of the Central Mediterranean area were examined with the electron microscope. They show calcareous nannoplankton existing already from Middle Triassic time. The Middle Triassic nannofossils are contained in nodular limestones such as the “Ammonitico Rosso” of Epidaurus (Greece); the Upper Triassic ones are contained in nodular limestones like the Ammonitico Rosso of Hallstatt (Austria), as well as in Halobia cherty limestones of the Pindos basin in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece. In the Halobia limestones it is possible, in spite of the recrystallization effects, to recognize such an abundance of organic forms — even if in fragments — that we can suppose the original sediment to be a kind of nannoplankton ooze. Because of the very low accumulation rate (few metres/m.y.) of the Middle Triassic Ammonitico Rosso limestones, the coccoliths cannot be considered a significant factor of carbonate pelagic sedimentation at this time; the very high accumulation rate (up to 25 metres/m.y.) of the Upper Triassic cherty limestones in the Pindos basin, on the contrary, allows the nannoplankton to be considered a very important agent of calcareous pelagic sedimentation. The authors hypothesize that the Dogger-Malm, mainly represented by radiolarites, was only a temporary interlude in the Mesozoic pelagic carbonate sedimentation.