Facies and sequence architecture of a tropical foramol-rhodalgal carbonate ramp: Miocene of the central Apennines (Italy)

Integrated data from sedimentological and microfacies analyses have been used to reconstruct the stratigraphic and architectural evolution of a carbonate ramp exposed in the central Apennines. The platform was a wide homoclinal ramp characterized by rhodalgal, bryomol and foramol skeletal-grain asso...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: BRANDANO, Marco, CORDA, Laura, CASTORINA, Francesca
Other Authors: EDITORS MUTTI M, PILLER W. AND BETZLER C., Brandano, Marco, Corda, Laura, Castorina, Francesca
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: WILEY-BLACKWELL 2010
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11573/160418
Description
Summary:Integrated data from sedimentological and microfacies analyses have been used to reconstruct the stratigraphic and architectural evolution of a carbonate ramp exposed in the central Apennines. The platform was a wide homoclinal ramp characterized by rhodalgal, bryomol and foramol skeletal-grain associations that developed under tropical-subtropical conditions. Based on facies distribution and palaeoecology, the ramp can be subdivided into: (1) an inner zone whose main components include balanids, molluscs and branching red algae; (2) a middle zone characterized by rhodolitlis and larger foraminifera; and (3) an outer ramp consisting of: (a) a proximal zone dominated by bryozoan colonies, bivalves and echinoids: (b) an intermediate zone where the main components are benthic and planktonic foraminifera, worm tubes, fragmented echinoids and bivalves; and (c) a distal zone where marls and calcarenites contain silica-sponge spicules, planktonic foraminifera and mollusc-bryozoan-echinoid debris.