Facies analysis and depositional environments of the Taulanne Limestone Formation in the South Alpine Foreland Basin (Oligocene, southeastern of France)

The Taulanne Limestone Formation of the Castellane region (South Alpine Foreland Basin of France) represents an Oligocene lake depositional system developed above the marine Nummulitic succession. A sedimentological analysis of the Taulanne limestone allows the identification of nine marine, lacustr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Facies 2013-10, Vol.59 (4), p.717-736
Main Authors: Grosjean, Anne-Sabine, Pittet, Bernard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accommodation
Alluvial basins
Alps
Basins
Biogeosciences
Climate science
Climatic conditions
Deposition
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecology
Freshwater
Geochemistry
Lakes
Limestone
Marine
Minerals
Oligocene
Original Article
Paleontology
Sciences of the Universe
Sedimentology
Temporal distribution
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Summary:The Taulanne Limestone Formation of the Castellane region (South Alpine Foreland Basin of France) represents an Oligocene lake depositional system developed above the marine Nummulitic succession. A sedimentological analysis of the Taulanne limestone allows the identification of nine marine, lacustrine, and palustrine facies. The spatial and temporal distribution of these facies records five depositional sequences that are correlated between the Sant Peire section (edge of the lake) and the Prés section (central lake). Water-level variations highlight the high-frequency balance between drying and wetting periods under fluctuating climatic conditions. Lacustrine facies developed during more humid periods while palustrine facies correspond to more arid conditions and longer lake shoreline exposure. At the basin scale, the lateral changes in accommodation space are attributed to differential subsidence between the Prés and the Sant Peire sections, which permitted the deposition of a thicker succession in the central part of the lake (Prés section). The Taulanne limestone records a marine to continental transition. The progressive filling of the basin is related to the regional tectonic activity, namely the emplacement of the Embrun-Ubaye nappes to the northeast of the study area at about 30–32 Ma. This final regressive trend represents the transition between the underfilled flysch stage (marine Nummulitic succession) of a foreland-basin cycle to the overfilled stage (alluvial Red Molasse deposits) during the primary exhumation of the Internal Alps.
ISSN:0172-9179
1612-4820
DOI:10.1007/s10347-012-0350-0