Calpionellid biostratigraphy and microfacies analysis of a Tithonian–Berriasian carbonate succession in the Western Srednogorie (Bulgaria)

In the eastern part of the Western Srednogorie Unit, around Dragovishtitsa Village, a specific succession of the Gintsi and Glozhene–Slivnitsa formations has provided micropalaeontological evidence for late Tithonian (Chitinoidella, Praetintinnopsella and the base of Crassicollaria zones) and mid-Berriasian (the Elliptica Subzone of the Calpionella Zone) age on the basis of 45 chitinoidellid and calpionellid species. A significant stratigraphic hiatus is documented within the Glozhene–Slivnitsa Formation, since a part of the Crassicollaria Zone, as well as the Alpina+Remaniella subzones of the Calpionella Zone, is absent from the Dragovishtitsa 1 section. The conformably overlying Salash Formation is of mid-Berriasian age (Elliptica Subzone) and is locally characterized by the presence of calcareous sandstones (Dragovishtitsa 2 section). The Salash–Cherni Osam Formation, as well as the clayey limestone unit covering the Slivnitsa Formation, is also of mid-Berriasian age (Elliptica Subzone). The Slivnitsa and Glozhene–Slivnitsa formations, which underlie the Salash–Cherni Osam Formation in the Dragovishtitsa East section, correspond to the Crassicollaria Zone and the Alpina Subzone, respectively. Reworking of calpionellids from the Crassicollaria Zone is documented in the Alpina and Elliptica subzones in all three studied sections. Eight microfacies types are distinguished, which suggests that the carbonate sediments were deposited in a carbonate platform rather than in a pelagic basin environment, althought the upper part of the studied sections reveals an upward-deepening trend. The Slivnitsa Formation is covered by highly diachronous sediments from more distal settings: from mid-Berriasian around Dragovishtitsa Village to the Berriasian/Valanginian transition at the Tri Ushi section to late Valanginian in the Dragoman and Kalotina sections. This fact, together with the significant stratigraphic hiatus within the Glozhene–Slivnitsa Formation, is interpreted here as tectonically controlled. The presence of transitional depositional settings from carbonate platform to deeper-marine environments caused deposition of specific lithostratigraphic units not always corresponding to the diagnostic features of the Glozhene, Salash and Cherni Osam formations.