THE UPPER TRIASSIC PLATFORM MARGIN FACIES OF SOUTHERN APENNINES AND THEIR JURASSIC FATE: STATE OF THE ART

Norian-Rhaetian platfom margin buildups in Southern Apennines are mainly characterised by microbial-serpulid communities. However, the existence of marginal settings with metazoan-dominated buildups can be documented in several localities. The Jurassic fate of Rhaetian buildups was largely decided by the end-Triassic biological crisis that affected both the metazoan reefs and the microbial ones. Deep-water conditions persisted in the intraplatform troughs during the whole Lower Jurassic and locally also in the Middle Jurassic. The successions belonging to the Bulgheria and Verbicaro Units show basinal or slope facies during the whole Mesozoic, with a short shallowing-upward trend around the Triassic-Jurassic transition. The successions of western Matese-Mt. Marzano group-Maddalena Mts. record a more evident Hettangian regressive trend, followed by a transgressive trend starting from the base of the P. mediterraneus zone. At present it is not possible to assess the influence of eustatic vs. tectonic control on this sedimentary evolution.