First record of lowermost Cretaceous shallow-water limestones in the basement of the Transylvanian Depression (Romania)

Abstract

Triassic, Upper Jurassic and upper Lower Cretaceous sedimentary formations were previously studied from the Transylvanian Depression basement, but the presence of lowermost Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian) has not been confirmed paleontologically. The carbonate sequence cored from a borehole drilled in the central part of the Transylvanian Depression yields microfossil assemblages dominated by benthic foraminifera. These new data unequivocally document the presence of characteristic Berriasian-Valanginian taxa in these deposits.