Facies and early dolomitization in Upper Albian shallow-water carbonates of the southern Apennines (Italy): paleotectonic and paleoclimatic implications

Abstract

Thick successions of Cretaceous carbonates in the southern Apennines of Italy are of great economic interest since they host important aquifers and huge hydrocarbon accumulations. The reservoir of the Val d???Agri and Tempa Rossa oilfields (in the subsurface of Basilicata) consists of Upper Cretaceous rudist-rich lime- stones passing downward into mid-Cretaceous dolomitized limestones of restricted platform facies. Upper Albian- Lower Cenomanian dolomitized carbonates exposed in the Sorrento Peninsula and in the Cilento Promontory, part of the Apennine Carbonate Platform, represent a good surface analogue for the lower part of the reservoir. They are composed of meter-thick beds of stratabound dolomite and shallowing-upward cycles of restricted platform limestones capped by silicified evaporites and marly levels. Field relations, petrography, and geochemistry implicate the reflux of penesaline waters as the most probable dolomi- tization process. High-frequency climatic variability between dry and wet phases can explain the formation of evaporites, which are coeval with karstic bauxites in other sectors of the southern Apennines. The dolomitized car- bonates of the Sorrento Peninsula pass laterally into do- lomitized breccias, which were the result of local tectonic collapse of the platform. This is further evidence of mid- Cretaceous syn-sedimentary tectonics that in other areas of the Adria passive margin contributed to the formation of intraplatform basins where source rocks accumulated

Multiscale Fracture Analysis in a Reservoir-Scale Carbonate Platform Exposure (Sorrento Peninsula, Italy): Implications for Fluid Flow

“…Early diagenetic dolomitization generated different types of dolomite, named "dolomite A" and "dolomite B" [26][27][28]44]. The former is characterized by smaller crystal size (10-50 m) and low porosity grade; the latter shows a larger crystal size (70-130 m) and variable porosity grade [32,44].…”

“…The studied outcrop is located in the Lattari Mts, within the Sorrento Peninsula, a ridge mainly made of TriassicCenozoic shallow-water carbonates [22][23][24][25][26][27]. The analysis has been focused on a package of six beds belonging to a Barremian-Lower Aptian shallow-water carbonate succession [28] cropping in the SW slope of Mt.…”

“…Faito. Previous studies focused on these carbonates because of their analogies (in terms of age, lithology, facies, texture, and mechanical layers thickness) with the Val D' Agri and Tempa Rossa reservoir units of the Basilicata region [14,15,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. These oil reservoirs are trapped within the buried Apulian Platform carbonates by broad antiform folds deriving from thick-skinned inversion [33][34][35].…”

Fault‐controlled dolomite bodies as palaeotectonic indicators and geofluid reservoirs: New insights from Gargano Promontory outcrops

“…The fault and fracture patterns associated with the studied dolomites or recorded by their overall distribution, dimensions and geometries therefore represent a new evidence for Early Cretaceous brittle tectonics in Gargano Promontory and in southern Italy. Evidence for Cretaceous extensional to strike‐slip tectonics was already found in Gargano Promontory (Chilovi et al ., ; Graziano, ; Korneva et al ., ), near Murge (Festa, ; Turco et al ., ; Korneva et al ., ) and in other southern Italian locations (Shiner et al ., ; Carannante et al ., ; Santantonio et al ., ; Tavani et al ., ; Iannace et al ., ). The aforementioned lines of evidence, generally limited to Aptian and younger Cretaceous stages, rely mainly on field characterization of syn‐sedimentary faults and minor folds, well and seismic data as well as broad regional facies trends, but never on faults marked by dolomitization products.…”

Structural, stratigraphic, and petrological clues for a Cretaceous–Paleogene abortive rift in the southern Adria domain (southern Apennines, Italy)

“…In addition, Upper Cretaceous proximal slope breccias were documented in the Lattari, Caserta, and Taburno Mts. (Figures a and ; Iannace, Frijia, Galluccio, & Parente, ; RDTc, ISPRA, ), whereas Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene margin to slope calcarenites and breccias with fragments of rudists (Calcari Cristallini Fm., CBIa in ISPRA, ) and locally Eocene alveolines–nummulitides slope calcarenites (AEN in ISPRA, , ) cover the Upper Triassic–Cenomanian platform to margin carbonates in the Maddalena Mts. (Figure a).…”