At the break of an era, from the Permian into the Triassic period, a major extinction event, “The Great Dying” took place, severely affecting all life on Earth. Furthermore, it significantly affected the extent and composition of reef communities. During the late Ladinian and early Carnian reefs became a common characteristic of low latitude carbonate platforms.
In this thesis, I describe the composition and taxa in upper Ladinian – lower Carnian reef limestone from Storžič, which is situated in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. Additionally, I describe fossil groups from other locations in Slovenia and the world.
The Kamnik-Savinja Alps, part of which is Storžič, lay to the north of Slovenia and are composed mostly of Triassic shallow water carbonate rock, which was formed on the Julian Carbonate Platform in the Slovenian Basin. The Triassic rock was formed under the influence of extensional tectonics.
17 samples were collected along a Storžič alpine trail, from which thin sections for analysis were made. Seven different microfacies were identified. They can be discriminated by the content of different taxa and structures. The main taxa identified in the samples were Baccanella floriformis, Uvanella, Ladinella porata, Solenoporaceae, corals, thalamid sponges, sphinctozoa and inozoa. Among the microfacies, boundstones, which differ in their taxa compositions, were the most abundant. Only two microfacies are homogenous, however, all are poorly sorted. Druzy mosaic cements were the most common.
Reef limestone was researched at multiple sites all over Slovenia. Some locations showed identical taxa, while others showed nothing similar. The limestone from Storžič was compared with limestone from Peca, Lesno Brdo, the Julian Alps, Menina Planina, and Dole pri Litiji. Additionally, contemporary reef communities from other locations are described, ex.: a group from The Dolomites, Chinese Yangtze Platform, Wetterstein Formation, San Cassiano Formation, and the Japanese island of Shikoku.
|
