Biostratigraphy of Turonian to (?)Coniacian Platform Carbonates: A Case Study from the Island of Cres (Northern Adriatic, Croatia)

Abstract

The shallow marine carbonate deposits on the island of Cres, overlying deeper-water Cenomanian–Turonian  limestones, are characterized by an assemblage of rudists, benthic foraminifera, and associated microfossils. The paucispecific character of the fossil association suggests deposition in shallow areas of a carbonate platform, with low current-energies and restricted circulation. Similar assemblages indicating similar palaeoenvironments, are common in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform and adjacent areas. The assemblage of rudists (hippuritids) and microfossils indicate the Turonian to (?)Coniacian age of the investigated carbonate succession. The biostratigraphic importance of the so-called “primitive” hippuritids within the micropalaeontologically poorly defined biostratigraphy of deposits of this age, is  accentuated.