CONTROLS ON THE INCEPTION AND EVOLUTION OF THE LATE CRETACEOUS FORAMOL CARBONATE PLATFORMS: EXAMPLES FROM THE PERI-MEDITERRANEAN AREAS

A major shift from largely prevailing chlorozoan/chloralgal reef-producers and/or aragonite-dominated lithofacies to rhodalgal/molechfor (foramol sensu lato), calcite-dominated lithofacies, rich in opportunistic forms may proposed in the Cenomanian-Santonian. The large spreading of the foramol assemblages in the tropical/subtropical Late Cretaceous seas would be consistent with a change from oligotrophic to meso-eutrophic environmental conditions. Looking at the major global scale variations in the chemical/physical parameters of the Cretaceous Hydrosphere/Atmosphere system, the inception of the early Senonian Tethyan carbonate factories seems to be related with dramatic, geodinamically-induced global environmental changes in the ocean waters following the onset of the eo-alpine (mid-Cretaceous) orogeny.