Lower Jurassic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of Podpeč Limestone (External Dinarides, Slovenia)

Abstract

The "Podpeč limestone" outcropping south of Ljubljana (Central Slovenia), deposited at the northern edge of the Dinaric Carbonate Platform, comprises mostly dark grey and black thick bedded oolitic limestone, and is renowned for several horizons of lithiotid bivalves. Foraminifera, especially Orbitopsella spp., are rather frequent, but no detailed distribution of foraminiferal taxa was given. Furthermore, documentation of foraminiferal species is scarce, with few photographs. In order to give a comprehensive picture of foraminiferal assemblage of the "Podpeč limestone" and its distribution, three sections were measured in detail and sampled. The foraminiferal assemblage consists of 17 species, described in detail. On the basis of foraminifera, the investigated part of the "Podpeč limestone" belongs to the Lituosepta recoarensis and Orbitopsella praecursor biozones of early Late Sinemurian and Early Pliensbachian age, respectively.