Rosso Ammonitico Research Articles

First report of hybodont shark from the Toarcian Rosso Ammonitico Formation of Umbria-Marche Apennine (Polino area, Terni, Central Italy)

In this contribution we present the first material referable to hybodont shark from the Rosso Ammonitico Formation (Umbria-Marche-Sabina Palaeogeographic Domain). Two teeth were recovered isolated within Toarcian red marly-limestone (Bifrons Zone). The best-preserved tooth is characterized by a general structure well in accord with the classic crushing dentition typical of hybodont sharks within the Subfamily Acrodontinae. The gently domed occlusal surface of the tooth does not show any trace of occlusal crest and of wrinkles, and is characterized by densely pitted, finely reticulated ornamentation. The available characters allow a conservative classification of the material at the genus level as Asteracanthus sp. The best-preserved tooth can be referred to the most mesial area of the first row of lateral teeth, using as a reference the holotype of Asteracanthus medius. The new material represents the earliest evidence of Asteracanthus and the second one from the whole Northern Apennines (Central Italy), throwing new light on the dispersal of the genus on the Jurassic Tethys.

New data on the age and stratigraphic relationships of the Czajakowa Radiolarite Formation in the Pieniny Klippen Belt (Carpathians) based on the radiolarian biostratigraphy in the stratotype section

The radiolarian biostratigraphy of the Middle–Upper Jurassic pelagic siliceous sediments (Czajakowa Radiolarite Formation) in the Niedzica succession of the Pieniny Klippen Belt (Carpathians) is interpreted in terms of their age in a stratotype section, and facies equivalents in other tectonic-facies units of this region. The siliceous sediments are represented by radiolarian cherts and silicified limestones which are underlain and overlain by red nodular limestones, equivalents of the Rosso Ammonitico facies. The radiolarian association includes thirty-seven taxa belonging to twenty one genera which represent the Northern Tethyan Palaeogeographic Province. Key radiolarians recorded provide a means of correlation with zonation schemes based on Unitary Associations defined for the Jurassic Tethyan sediments. The age of the Czajakowa Radiolarite Formation in the stratotype section is determined as U.A.Z.9 to U.A.Z.11 corresponding to middle Oxfordian up to Kimmeridgian. Comparison of radiolarian biozones from the stratotype section with other facial equivalent sections in the Pieniny Klippen Belt reveals a significant diachronism for both the lower and the upper limits of the Jurassic pelagic siliceous facies.

Origin of red pelagic carbonates as an interplay of global climate and local basin factors: Insight from the Lower Devonian of the Prague Basin, Czech Republic

Red pelagic sediments are relatively common in the Phanerozoic. They are often interpreted as products of sea-bottom oxidation during greenhouse climate showing a conspicuous alternation with black shales and thus carrying important palaeoceanographic information. The Lower Devonian (Pragian) carbonate strata of the Prague Basin, Czech Republic (Praha Formation) contain a marked band of red pelagic carbonate, up to ~15m thick, which can be correlated for several tens of km. We investigated seven sections (17 to 255m thick) of the Prague Basin using the methods of facies analysis, outcrop gamma-ray logging, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, optical microscopy, element geochemistry, magneto-mineralogy and electron microprobe analysis. The aim was to find the mineral carriers of the red colour, investigate the stratigraphic context of the red carbonates and evaluate the local and global prerequisites for their formation. The red pigmentation represents enrichment by hematite with respect to goethite. Approximately 31% of the total reflectance falling in the red colour band represents a threshold for red coloration. The red pigmentation is carried by submicronic hematite dispersed in argillaceous pelagic calcilutite and/or inside skeletal allochems. Gamma-ray log correlation indicates that the red carbonate band developed in stratigraphic levels with low sedimentation rates, typically from 1 to 7.1mm/kyr, which are comparable to the Mesozoic Rosso Ammonitico facies. The red beds and the whole Praha Formation (Pragian to early Emsian) are characterized by low TOC values (<0.05%) and low U/Th, Mo/Al, V/Al, Zn/Al, Cu/Al and P/Al ratios indicating oligotrophic, highly oxic sea-bottom conditions. This period was characterized by global cooling, a drop in silicate weathering rates and in atmospheric pCO2 levels. The lower Devonian successions of the Prague Basin indicate that switching between two greenhouse climatic modes, colder oligotropic and warmer mesotrophic, may have been responsible for the alternation of red and grey carbonate strata, respectively.

Provenance of marbles used for building the internal spiral staircase of the bell tower of St. Nicholas Church (Pisa, Italy)

The aim of this study is to investigate the provenance of marbles used as architectural elements (bases, shafts and capitals of columns) for building the internal spiral staircase of the medieval bell tower of St. Nicholas Church at Pisa, Italy. Accordingly, the 45 collected marble samples have been analysed by optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and mass spectroscopy for carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratio analysis; additionally, SEM–EDS analysis have been performed to complement data about accessory minerals. By comparison with literature data on the main sources of the white Mediterranean marbles used in ancient times, the results show that the analysed samples are mainly white crystalline marbles from Carrara (Italy) and, subordinately, from other Tuscan and Eastern Mediterranean quarrying areas. In fact, Mt. Pisano and Campiglia M.ma (Tuscany, Italy) and Marmara (Turkey), Paros, Mt. Penteli, Thasos (Greece) are minor sources. The other coloured stones identified on the strength of their macroscopic features are quartzites from Mt. Pisano area and granitoids from Sardinia and Island of Elba (Italy). Occasionally, a very limited number of architectonical elements made up of Acquabona limestone from Rosignano Marittimo (Livorno, Italy), red limestone with ammonites (the so-called “Rosso Ammonitico”) and black limestone belonging to the Tuscan Nappe sequence, outcropping at northwest of Pisa in the nearby Monti d’Oltre Serchio area, are present.

Apparent polar wander path for Adria extended by new Jurassic paleomagnetic results from its stable core: Tectonic implications

As a continuation of a systematic paleomagnetic research in the northern part of stable Adria, which provided a well-defined apparent polar wander (APW) path for the Cretaceous-Eocene, we present new paleomagnetic results for the Jurassic. These new data were obtained from 15 geographically distributed localities from the Trento platform (eastern Southern Alps) using standard paleomagnetic approach. The Lower Jurassic shallow water carbonates are not considered for tectonic interpretation, due to inconsistent inclinations. The Middle and Upper Jurassic Rosso Ammonitico provided excellent kinematic constraints.With the new Jurassic results, an APW is now defined for Adria for the 167–40Ma interval. It is well constrained for timing of important changes, like the speed and the sense of rotations. This APW suggests that the CW rotation and southward shift changed to the opposite at 155.1±5.3Ma, signifying a dramatic change in the life of the Neo-Tethys, from opening to closing. The latter is manifested in fast CCW rotation and northward movement of Adria up to 102.9±2.4Ma and moderate displacements in the same manner in post-103Ma times. Combined data sets from stable Istria and the foreland of the Southern Alps point to an approximately 15° CW rotation with respect to Africa at the end of the Cretaceous, and an about 25° in the CCW sense, after the Eocene.

Biostratigraphy and sedimentology of the Ionian Zone Ammonitico Rosso in the Mavron Oros area (NW Epirus, Greece) - Paleogeographic implications.

New biostratigraphic and sedimentologic data on the Ammonitico Rosso (AR) formation in the Mavron Oros area (Ionian zone, NW Epirus) show that its thickness progressively reduces towards the N-NW (from 15 to 7m). Two sections were studied, in the thick (A) and thin succession (B) respectively. The ammonite fauna indicates a stratigraphic range for the AR from the early Toarcian to the Aalenian, in section A, and from the upper part of Middle Toarcian to the Aalenian, in section B. Thus, AR deposition was transgressive, confirming the stratigraphic pinching-out of the synrift formations, observed in the same area towards the N-NW. Sedimentologic observations showed that the AR in section B (where AR base is missing) consists of nodular mud-to wackestones with subsolved ammonite shells, and clear indices of early lithification and subsequent solution of fine carbonate material. These observations indicate low rates of sedimentation and repeated phases of non-deposition and submarine erosion, characteristic for seamount environment.

Ichnocoenoses and taphocoenoses of posidoniid-bearing marl-limestone rhythmites and event beds, Toarcian-Aalenian, Northern Apennines, Italy

The Posidoniid-bearing rhythmic deposits, Toarcian to Aalenian (Early/Middle Jurassic) in age, of the Umbria-Marche basins (Fiuminata Colle Corno and Valdorbia type section) consist of hundred couplets, each composed by two semicouplets, a calcium carbonate-poor bed and a calcium carbonate-rich bed, respectively (CacO3 between 10% to 85%), where event tempestite beds randomly occurs. The aim of this work is to show ichnocoenoses and taphocoenoses as well as the faunistic variations of each semicouplet and event beds. Each couplet is ∼30cm thick in the Toarcian Rosso Ammonitico and up to 40cm in the Aalenian Calcari e Marne a Posidonia Formation, where the sedimentation rate increased. Here, couplets were deposited in the dysaerobic/aerobic transition zone. The clay-rich portion contains abundant thin-shelled poikilaerobic bivalves and benthic foraminifers (whithout radiolarians) and shows oxygen-poor ichnocoenosis with Chondrites, while the taphocoenosis exhibits convex-upward disposition and disarticulated bivalve shells. Conversely, the limestone semicouplet is rich in radiolarians and thin-shelled bivalves, usually more burrowed (ichnocoenosis including Chondrites and few Planolites and Thalassinoides) than the former, with grouping, dispersion, biogenic fragmentation and orientation-reorientation. In all marl-limestone semicouplets, foraminifers and radiolarians exhibit a periodic inverse correlation in abundance, while thin-shelled bivalves are always abundant. Rhythmically disposed within the rhythmites are also event beds indicating an occasional oxygen-rich substrate, fine-grained calcarenitic tempestites with hummocky cross-stratification, and winnowed bed (thin shelled bivalve concentrations). These deposits are intensely bioturbated (ichnocoenosis including Skolithos, Planolites, Trypanites, Chondrites, and Thalassinoides). Taphocoenoses include fragmentation, grouping, surficial burrowing, biogenic reorientation, and deep burrowing. Ichnological and taphonomical features indicate high physical and biogenical reworking affecting sediments. The Jurassic depocenters of Valdorbia and Fiuminata that received rhythmical dilution (clay) or productivity (carbonate) cycles during Toarcian and Aalenian time can therefore strongly contribute to the study of ichnological and taphonomical variations in rhythmic conditions.

Morphoceratid ammonites from the Upper Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) of Monte Kumeta, western Sicily

The Upper Bathonian beds of the Rosso Ammonitico Inferiore on Monte Kumeta, western Sicily, yielded several rare or previously unknown ammonites, including representatives of the family Morphoceratidae. This family has been known basically from the Upper Bajocian and the Lower Bathonian, but here the local sedimentation circumstances (deposition on top of a submarine high) and the exceptional preservation (seemingly rapid burial of skeletal remains by clayey mud) resulted in the survival of shells of small ammonites, usually lost through aragonite subsolution common in this environment. One new genus: Mangoldiceras n. gen. with Mangoldiceras distefanoi n. sp. as type species is designated, and the Upper Bathonian occurrences of the genera Ebrayiceras, Pseudodimorphinites and probably Polysphinctites are demonstrated. Ebrayiceras problematicum (Gemmellaro, 1877), which was regarded formerly as a Lower Bathonian ammonite, now is strongly suggested, on the basis of several newly collected specimens, as an Upper Bathonian species. These appearances are understood as rare finds that help to reconstruct the morphoceratid lineage as more continuous in the Bathonian and longer than previously known.

Dropstones in Rosso Ammonitico-facies pelagic sediments of the Southern Alps (southern Switzerland and northern Italy)

Sparse isolated pebbles and cobbles of extraformational lithologies are occasionally found in fine-grained deep-water sediments. In the Middle and Upper Liassic deep-water marly limestones and marlstones of Rosso Ammonitico facies (Morbio and Rosso Ammonitico Lombardo Formations) in the western Southern Alps, Lombardy and Ticino, outsized ‘exotic’ clasts of volcanic and basement rocks occur sporadically. The clasts, of pebble size, are typically rounded. The rhyolitic volcanic clasts can be related to the Permian volcanic succession of the western Southern Alps, from which they must have been reworked; a quartzite pebble is obviously derived from the Hercynian basement. The clasts are best interpreted, in analogy to other occurrences, as dropstones transported to the site of final deposition by drift wood that occasionally occurs in the pelagic sediments. The only possible source area must be situated to the west of Lago Maggiore where the Permian volcanic suite was exposed in a fault block uplifted in the course of latest Triassic–Early Jurassic rifting.

Mesozoic architecture of a tract of the European–Iberian continental margin: Insights from preserved submarine palaeotopography in the Longobucco Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy)

The sedimentary successions exposed in northeast Calabria document the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous tectonic–sedimentary evolution of a former segment of the European–Iberian continental margin. They are juxtaposed today to units representing the deformation of the African and Adriatic plates margins as a product of Apenninic crustal shortening. A complex pattern of unconformities reveals a multi-stage tectonic evolution during the Early Jurassic, which affected the facies and geometries of siliciclastic and carbonate successions deposited in syn- and post-rift environments ranging from fluvial to deep marine. Late Sinemurian/Early Pliensbachian normal faulting resulted in exposure of the Hercynian basement at the sea-floor, which was onlapped by marine basin-fill units. Shallow-water carbonate aprons and reefs developed in response to the production of new accommodation space, fringing the newborn islands which represent structural highs made of Paleozoic crystalline and metamorphic rock. Their drowning and fragmentation in the Toarcian led to the development of thin caps of Rosso Ammonitico facies. Coeval to these deposits, a thick (>1km) hemipelagic/siliciclastic succession was sedimented in neighboring hanging wall basins, which would ultimately merge with the structural high successions. Footwall blocks of the Early Jurassic rift, made of Paleozoic basement and basin-margin border faults with their onlapping basin-fill formations, are found today at the hanging wall of Miocene thrusts, overlying younger (Middle/Late Jurassic to Late Paleogene) folded basinal sediments. This paper makes use of selected case examples to describe the richly diverse set of features, ranging from paleontology to sedimentology, to structural geology, which are associated with the field identification of basin-margin unconformities. Our data provide key constraints for restoring the pre-orogenic architecture of a continental margin facing a branch of the Liguria–Piedmont ocean in the Western Tethys, and for estimating displacements and slip rates along synsedimentary faults.

Toarcian ammonitico rosso facies from the South Iberian Paleomargin (Betic Cordillera, southern Spain): paleoenvironmental reconstruction

The Toarcian ammonitico rosso facies were widespread in the Mediterranean Tethys (between 15 and 30°N latitude) in the North Gondwana Paleomargin (Apulian promontory and North African Margin) and southern Iberian Paleomargin (Betic Cordillera). These facies were associated with epi-oceanic slopes of a sedimentary swell-trough system related to the extensional phase of continental rifting. In the Median Subbetic (southern Iberian Paleomargin), ammonitico rosso facies show a progressive change through the Toarcian on the hemipelagic swells after the fragmentation of a carbonate platform. During the latest Pliensbachian to the Bifrons Zone (middle Toarcian), sedimentation was dominated by epi-oceanic limestone and marl with a high influence of neighboring shallow-water environments represented by common turbidite–tempestite beds (with foraminifera and ooids). Microfossils and trace fossils provide no evidence of oxygen-restricted conditions. In the Gradata Zone (middle Toarcian), the ammonitico rosso facies appear (red nodular limestone and marly-limestone rich in the trace fossils Phycodes, Planolites, Thalassinoides, and Chondrites). Progressively more pelagic conditions and a restricted influence of emergent lands and carbonate platforms are reflected by the reduced input of turbidite–tempestite beds and increase of ammonitellas and radiolaria. A sea-level fall affected the hemipelagic swell during the middle–late Toarcian and favored sediment-winnowing by currents, with subsequent nodulation. The combined action of burrowing, compaction, and dissolution controlled nodulation, which ranges from diffuse nodules to sharp-edged nodules. The sedimentation rate conditioned the time available for nodule growth, the migration of the Ca2+ and HCO3 − precipitation horizon, and the degree of nodulation (from horizons with diffuse-edged nodules to semi-continuous to continuous layers formed by the coalescence of sharp-edged nodules).

High evolutionary rates and the origin of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (Middle-Upper Jurassic of Italy) reptiles

The fossil record of metriorhynchids and plesiosaurians from the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (RAVFm, Middle–Upper Jurassic, Italy) is represented by elements collected between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. All the metriorhynchid material is referred to the genus Neptunidraco. The first RAVFm plesiosaurian material was collected in the nineteenth century and referred to Plesiosaurus: elements are here described and interpreted as a chimerical association of crocodylomorph and plesiosaurian bones, providing the first co-occurrence of these clades in the RAVFm. The second plesiosaurian is the associated skeleton that we refer to Anguanax zignoi gen. et sp. nov. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis confirms the basal geosaurine affinities of Neptunidraco resulted by parsimony analysis. Using both methods, Anguanax was recovered as a basal pliosaurid, sister group of the clade including Marmornectes and Thalassophonea. Bayesian inference methods indicate that both Italian lineages diverged from other known lineages between 176 and 171 Mya, also showing divergence rates significantly higher than any other representative of their respective clades. We suggest a phase of rapid evolutionary adaptation to deeper marine environments in the ancestors of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese reptiles as a response to the latest Liassic regressive regime in Northern Tethys.

The first 40Ar–39Ar date from Oxfordian ammonite-calibrated volcanic layers (bentonites) as a tie-point for the Late Jurassic

AbstractEight volcanic ash layers, linked to large explosive events caused by subduction-related volcanism from the Vardar Ocean back-arc, interbedded with marine limestones and cherts, have been identified in the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (northeastern Italy). The thickest ash layer, attributed to the Gregoryceras transversarium ammonite Biozone (Oxfordian Stage), yields a precise and reliable 40Ar–39Ar date of 156.1 ± 0.89 Ma, which is in better agreement with GTS2004 boundaries than with the current GTS2012. This first biostratigraphically well-constrained Oxfordian date is proposed as a new radiometric tie-point to improve the Geologic Time Scale for the Late Jurassic, where ammonite-calibrated radiometric dates are particularly scarce.

A pliosaurid (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation of Italy

Plesiosauria is a clade of medium to large bodied marine reptiles with a cosmopolitan distribution ranging from the latest Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. In Europe, the fossil record of Plesiosauria is mainly known from the Northern latitudes, whereas it is much rarer from the Southern and Mediterranean areas. Here, we report the first articulated skeleton of an Italian plesiosaurian, from the Callovian-Oxfordian deposits of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation of Kaberlaba (Veneto). The specimen is referred to Pliosauridae based on the large size of the skull, compared to the appendicular skeleton, the presence of the lacrimal, and a distinct anterolateral projection of the prefrontal into the orbital margin. Mandibular and vertebral symplesiomorphies support the placement of the Italian taxon among the “gracile-longirostrine grade” of basal pliosaurids. The Kaberlaba plesiosaurian represents the second reptile clade recovered from the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation, after Thalattosuchia.

Geochemical evidence for sediment provenance in mudstones and fossil‐poor wackestones (Upper Jurassic, Majorca Island)

Terra Nova, 24, 437–445, 2012AbstractThe notion that diagenetic imprint on ancient carbonates significantly compromises palaeoenvironmental interpretations is revealed as an oversimplification. The enigmatic case at the core of this research is an extended, homogeneous, macrofossil‐poor deposit showing distinctive dark brown colour and very fine grain size (Aumedrá Fm., Majorca Island). This markedly contrasts with standard ammonitico rosso (AR) facies known from Jurassic epioceanic swells. Geochemical analysis of matrix micrite, carbonate cements and belemnite rostra are used to interpret the Aumedrá carbonates. Stable (Carbon and Oxygen) isotopes and elemental abundance are compared with data from under‐ and overlying deposits, and coeval sections. Conspicuously higher than expected C and O isotope signature, together with strontium enrichment and a typically low iron and manganese concentrations favour a distant, shallower, probably aragonitic sedimentary supply. Modern and ancient examples of carbonate deposition are integrated with possible hydrodynamic conditions justifying transport over the studied area. A potential NE source is envisagedTerra Nova, 00, 1–9, 2012

Microbially-induced Fe and Mn oxides in condensed pelagic sediments (Middle-Upper Jurassic, Western Sicily)

This article presents a petrographic comparison of the Rosso Ammonitico facies of Western Sicily and the original Rosso Ammonitico Veronese of Northern Italy based on a total of 27 sections. The Rosso Ammonitico has been the subject of numerous controversies that range from bathyal to shallow-water platform sedimentation. Therefore it seemed interesting to verify if the term Rosso Ammonitico has the same geologic connotation from region to region. The Middle-Upper Jurassic Rosso Ammonitico of Western Sicily is a condensed succession formed during a period of extensional synsedimentary tectonics related to the spreading of the Ionian Ocean. Slope-to-basin or pelagic carbonate deposits characterize the sedimentation which consists of reddish mudstones and wackestones. The abundant fauna is composed of radiolarians, protoglobigerinids, Saccocoma, Bositra associated with ammonites. A few ferruginous hardgrounds, Fe–Mn oxide crusts and Mn-coated condensation horizons are also present. The red matrices contain abundant Fe–Mn encrusted, microbored and bioeroded bioclasts. Sporadic Fe–Mn oncolites composed of amorphous Mn-minerals and goethite are also conspicuous. The matrix, as well as the shells and the fillings of the complex associated veinlets, are frequently altered into calcite microsparite. Submicronic iron bacterial and fungal filaments associated with mineralized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are observed in the matrix. They record dysaerobic microenvironments at or near the sediment–water interfaces. Early mineralized discontinuities enhanced by subsequent pressure dissolution are reported in the succession. Mn–(Ni) bacterial filaments are exceptionally observed in the cortex of the Fe–Mn oncolites. As a consequence of an early lithification, the Mn filaments are poorly preserved. The pigmentation of the rock is due to the dispersion of submicronic oxyhydroxides (now goethite and amorphous iron) formed by bacterial mediation during early diagenesis in microaerophilitic environments. As in the case of the original ‘Rosso Ammonitico Veronese’, Fe and Mn bacteria/fungi were able to produce bioconstructions which have no bathymetric significance. The limiting factor must have been the oxygen content which was low in these very quiet and relatively deep environments. Thus the Rosso Ammonitico of northern and southern Italy have a number of points in common, but some obvious dissimilarities are observed that explain some of the various sedimentological interpretations. Among them, the chemical composition is of particular importance, more Fe is present in Veneto (Northern Italy) while Mn is associated with the Sicilian Rosso Ammonitico. The Sicilian localities were more proximal to oceanic magmatic sources which were related to the activity of the oceanic crust.

Geologia dell’area di Rapolano Terme in Provincia di Siena (Appennino Settentrionale)

Geologia dell’area di Rapolano Terme in Provincia di Siena (Appennino Settentrionale)

The Jurassic Prehodavci Formation of the Julian Alps: easternmost outcrops of Rosso Ammonitico in the Southern Alps (NW Slovenia)

The Julian Alps are located in NW Slovenia and structurally belong to the Julian Nappe where the Southern Alps intersect with the Dinarides. In the Jurassic, the area was a part of the southern Tethyan continental margin and experienced extensional faulting and differential subsidence during rifting of the future margin. The Mesozoic succession in the Julian Alps is characterized by a thick pile of Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic platform limestones of the Julian Carbonate Platform, unconformably overlain by Bajocian to Tithonian strongly condensed limestones of the Prehodavci Formation of the Julian High. The Prehodavci Formation is up to 15 m thick, consists of Rosso Ammonitico type limestone and is subdivided into three members. The Lower Member consists of a condensed red, well-bedded bioclastic limestone with Fe–Mn nodules, passing into light-grey, faintly nodular limestone. The Middle Member occurs discontinuously and consists of thin-bedded micritic limestone. The Upper Member unconformably overlies the Lower or Middle Members. It is represented by red nodular limestone, and by red-marly limestone with abundant Saccocoma sp. The Prehodavci Formation unconformably overlies the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic platform limestone of the Julian Carbonate Platform; the contact is marked by a very irregular unconformity. It is overlain by the upper Tithonian pelagic Biancone (Maiolica) limestone. The sedimentary evolution of the Julian High is similar to that of Trento Plateau in the west and records: (1) emergence and karstification of part of the Julian Carbonate Platform in the Pliensbachian, or alternatively drowning of the platform and development of the surface by sea-floor dissolution; (2) accelerated subsidence and drowning in the Bajocian, and onset of the condensed pelagic sedimentation (Prehodavci Formation) on the Julian High; (3) beginning of sedimentation of the Biancone limestone in the late Tithonian.

The oldest known metriorhynchid crocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of North-eastern Italy: Neptunidraco ammoniticus gen. et sp. nov.

Metriorhynchidae is a clade of marine-adapted crocodilians known from several Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous specimens collected predominantly in South America and Europe, but poorly known in the northern margin of Gondwana. The “Portomaggiore crocodile” is the most complete specimen of an Italian metriorhynchid to date: it consists of a partial skeleton that has been provisionally referred to an unnamed species of Late Jurassic Metriorhynchus or Geosaurus. The specimen is preserved in the reddish, nodular limestone of the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (Bajocian–Tithonian); new data on microfossil associations constrain the age of the metriorhynchid to the late Bajocian–earliest Bathonian. On the basis of cranial synapomorphies, the “Portomaggiore crocodile” falls as the closest sister-taxon of the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous geosaurines, and is referred to Neptunidraco ammoniticus gen. et sp. nov. It is unique among Middle Jurassic metriorhynchids in showing an incipient streamlining of the skull, shared with Late Jurassic and Cretaceous taxa. Since Neptunidraco is the oldest known member of Metriorhynchidae, its phylogenetic position supports the hypothesis that the timing of the initial metriorhynchid and geosaurine diversifications should start in the Bajocian.

Integrated isotope and biostratigraphy of a Lower Cretaceous section from the Bakony Mountains (Transdanubian Range, Hungary): A new Tethyan record of the Weissert event

An integrated stratigraphic subdivision, on the basis of ammonites, belemnites, calpionellids and stable isotope ratios is proposed for the Lower Cretaceous carbonate succession of the Hárskút, Közöskút Ravine profile (HK-12), (Bakony Mts, Hungary). Abundant and diverse cephalopod assemblages occur in middle and late Berriasian Rosso Ammonitico facies, in a nearly complete sequence spanning the Tirnovella occitanica and Fauriella boissieri Zones. A new belemnite species, Duvalia hungarica, is described from this level. The overlying Lower Valanginian strata are condensed, but also yield rich assemblages of the Thurmanniceras pertransiens and Busnardoites campylotoxus Zones. The cephalopod fauna of the Late Valanginian Saynoceras verrucosum Zone is much less diverse. The overlying 19 m interval of Biancone-type marl yielded no megafossils. The uppermost part of the profile late Hauterivian cephalopods were found. Stable isotope analysis shows a well-defined positive δ 13C excursion in the Valanginian strata, identified for the first time in Hungary. Although correlated with a possible anoxic event (known as ‘the Weissert event’), as in many other sections, no black shale or organic-rich level is recorded at Hárskút.