Fossils, sediments, tectonics

Abstract

Tectonic displacement and small-scale tsunamis apparently affected deposition of the Kolymbia limestone, Cape Vagia, Rhodes, Eastern Mediterranean. Coarse beds interrupt the sequential build-up of this Pliocene-Pleistocene bryomol limestone. Celleporid bryozoans, bivalves, and brachiopods dominate these beds. The palaeoecology of the thicket-forming Celleporaria palmata is re-evaluated and subsequently revised. The limestone comprises two parasequences in a transgressive systems tract, and deposition occurred at palaeodepths between 30 and 120 m. At intervals, tectonic movements lowered relative sea level and sent slumps of shallow-water fauna downslope. The depositional history was validated using independent sets of data: sediment structure and grain size, palaeobathymetry using bryozoan growth forms and occurrences of modern representatives of bryozoans and other taxa, basin configuration, and regional tectonics. Concordance of these lines of evidence provides a means of evaluating confidence in palaeoenvironmental inferences.