Impact of Cretaceous Sea Level Rise and Anoxic Events on the Mesozoic Carbonate Platform of Yugoslavia

ABSTRACT The Adriatic/Dinaric carbonate platform of Yugoslavia was influenced by rapid sea level rise and an oceanic anoxic event during the Cenomanian-Turonian. Open-marine biota such as planktonic foraminifera, radi-olarians, and locally even ammonites, associated with and bracketed by successions of typical shallow-water carbonates, indicate partial drowning of substantial areas of the platform during this time, suggestive furthermore that the rate of increase of water depth was locally great enough to outpace carbonate production. The presence of carbon-rich and fish-bearing platy limestones, commonly cherty, as an associated coeval facies indicates the development of anoxic or euxinic environments, and the stromatolitic laminations in such rocks are attributed to the action of bacterial mats. It is suggested that an extensive column of deoxygenated water developed in the neighboring Marche-Umbrian-Adriatic deep-water basin and was carried on to the carbonate platform during the Cenomanian-Turonian transgression.