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Microbialites in the Middle–Upper Jurassic Ammonitico Rosso of the Southern Alps (Italy)

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STROMATOLITES: Interaction of Microbes with Sediments

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 18))

Abstract

The Trento Plateau (South-Alpine domain of the western passive continental margin of the Apulian plate), during the Middle–Late Jurassic was the site of extended microbialite development in Ammonitico Rosso facies. The setting was a current-swept, pelagic plateau located far from sources of terrigenous supply, characterized by very low average sedimentation rate. Both stromatolites and leiolites occur, commonly associated and passing into one another. For the carbonate-dominated Ammonitico Rosso depositional setting, it may be inferred that microbialites grew in well-oxygenated waters of normal salinity, arguably characterized by very low nutrient availability and probably located in the photic zone. A decimetre-scale basic rhythm occurring in some intervals of the local succession consists of a slightly clayey nodular unit stabilized by a carbonate, microbial unit. Transition from the lower to the upper unit of the rhythm may imply increase in hydrodynamics and oxygenation at the bottom and a progressive reduction in trophic level and bioturbation rate by burrowing metazoans. These rhythms are tentatively attributed to a precessional control.

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 Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the referees L. Martier and N. Nofke who provided very helpful feedback and to the editors of the book, particularly to Professor Vinod C. Tewari for his continuous and patient guidance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geoscience Department, Padova University, Via Giotto 1, Padova, Italy

    Francesco Massari

  2. Leibniz Center for Marine Tropical Ecology, Fahrenheitstrasse 6, 28357, Bremen, Germany

    Hildegard Westphal

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  1. Francesco Massari
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Correspondence to Francesco Massari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Sedimentology Group, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, General Mahadeo Singh Road 33, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India

    Vinod Tewari

  2. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Massari, F., Westphal, H. (2011). Microbialites in the Middle–Upper Jurassic Ammonitico Rosso of the Southern Alps (Italy). In: Tewari, V., Seckbach, J. (eds) STROMATOLITES: Interaction of Microbes with Sediments. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 18. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0397-1_10

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