Transgressive Eocene clastic-carbonate sediments from the Circum-Rhodope belt, northeastern Greece: implications for a rocky shore palaeoenvironment

Abstract

Locally exposed Middle to Upper Eocene conglomerates in the western part of the Cenozoic Thrace Basin are interpreted as products of continuous marine erosion of a rocky coast (consisting of Lower Cretaceous carbonates) and subsequent redeposition of the land‐derived limestone material in a wave‐dominated nearshore setting during a prolonged transgression. Contemporaneous biological activity in the warm‐temperate marine environment contributed to the accumulation of mixed coarse‐grained clastic–carbonate sediments on the upper shoreface. The formation of a relatively thick sedimentary succession was favoured by the interplay of several controlling factors as only shoreface deposits were preserved in the rock record. The results may help to elucidate the evolution of the hydrocarbon‐bearing Thrace Basin and to assist with the regional correlation of its basal deposits. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Depositional characteristics and constraints on the mid-Valanginian demise of a carbonate platform in the intra-Tethyan domain, Circum-Rhodope Belt, northern Greece

“…The Aliki Limestones are covered unconformably by middle to upper Eocene breccias/conglomerates (Kopp, 1965;von Braun, 1968), referred to as basal clastic series by Papadopoulos (1980). The Palaeogene psephitic rocks have monomict composition containing redeposited sand-sized to gravelsized clasts from the nearby exposed Lower Cretaceous carbonates (Kopp, 1965;von Braun, 1968;Chatalov et al, 2014). A broadly defined Early Cretaceous age of the Aliki Limestones was suggested by Maratos and Andronopoulos (1964), but a recent study of the benthic foraminiferal assemblage has confined their Berriа-sianelower Valanginian range (Ivanova et al, 2015; see also section 4).…”

“…Thus, the lower and middle levels (interval I: 0e65 m) consist entirely of foraminiferalepeloidal wackestones and peloidaleforaminiferal packstones, while the upper part (interval II: 65e100 m) includes predominant bioclasticpeloidal packstones/grainstones and rare BacinellaeLithocodium boundstones. Gravel-sized limestone clasts from the base of the Eocene cover display pronounced abundance of MFT 4e7, i.e., oncoidalepeloidal packstones, intraclastic-peloidal packstones, micropeloidaleooidal 'grainstones' and calcimudstones (see also Chatalov et al, 2014, fig. 7g).…”

Biostratigraphy and tectonic significance of lowermost Cretaceous carbonate rocks of the Circum-Rhodope Belt (Chalkidhiki Peninsula and Thrace region, NE Greece)

“…Middle Eocene brecciaconglomerates and upper Eocene-Oligocene nummulitic limestones, sandstones, and marlstones cover unconformably the Makri unit and the Aliki Limestones (Papadopoulos, 1982). A recent study on planktonic and large benthic foraminifera specified the age of the strata covering the Aliki Limestones as middle to late Eocene (Bartonian-Priabonian) (Chatalov et al, 2014).…”

“…The middle Eocene clastic rocks contain reworked pebbles from the Aliki Limestones (Kopp, 1961(Kopp, , 1965Maratos and Andronopoulos, 1964) which represented at that time a rocky shore (Chatalov et al, 2014). The cover successions include also thick upper Eocene-Oligocene to lower Miocene volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks (Christofides et al, 2004).…”

“…The results from a parallel sedimentological study of the lowermost Cretaceous limestones will be presented in detail in another paper submitted for publication (Chatalov et al, 2014). Therefore, only the general sedimentological framework of the two carbonate successions will be briefly outlined here.…”