The Miocene Petroleum System of the Northern Apennines in the Central Po Plain (Italy)

Facies, depositional environment, and palaeoecology of the Middle Triassic Cassina beds (Meride Limestone, Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland)

“…This suggests, at least in some cases, long-term transport and deposition by hyperpycnal flows from rivers in flood, the delayed settling of plant remains resulting in discrete plant-rich laminae. Possible source area could be the emerged southwestern borders of the Meride Limestone basin (see figure 2 in Picotti et al 2007). This aspect will be further investigated in the near future by means of both macroflora and palynofacies analysis.…”

“…The lowermost formation is the Bellano Formation, a fluvio-deltaic sequence dated to the late Anisian (Illyrian) on the basis of its palynological content (Sommaruga et al 1997). During the late Anisian a progressive transgression of a shallow epicontinental sea from the east took place, in consequence of which carbonate platforms began to grow (Furrer 2001a) north of an emerged land buried today under the Po Plain (Brusca et al 1981;Picotti et al 2007). Dolomitized microbial limestones, characterized by stromatolitic laminations (Lower Salvatore Dolomite), were deposited in a shallow subtidal to intertidal environment.…”

“…The Besano Formation, the San Giorgio Dolomite and the Meride Limestone were deposited in the same basin, whose east-west extension is estimated to have been about 10 km or even 20 km if they were settled in the same basin as the Perledo-Varenna Formation (Gianotti and Tannoia 1988;Bernasconi 1994). As the Meride Limestone is considered to be the source rock of the oil of Trecate, Villa Fortuna and Gaggiano fields (Italy; Picotti et al 2007) the intra-platform basin where it was deposited extended southwards for over 60 km. The Besano Formation and the dasycladalean-rich Middle Salvatore Dolomite are roughly coeval, representing a basinal and a shallow-water facies, respectively.…”

“…Organic carbon content averages around 1% TOC (Picotti et al 2007) but it reaches up to 20% in thin black shale layers (Bernasconi 1994). The top of the Lower Meride Limestone is defined by a dolomite marker bed (''Dolomitband'';Frauenfelder 1916), reaching a thickness of about 30 m (Wirz 1945;Furrer 1995).…”

Integrated Ladinian bio-chronostratigraphy and geochrononology of Monte San Giorgio (Southern Alps, Switzerland)

“…2) starts with fluvio-deltaic deposits dated to the late Anisian (Bellano Formation, Illyrian; Sommaruga et al 1997), unconformably overlying a Lower Permian volcanic basement. The upper Anisian sediments testify to the progressive transgression of a shallow sea from the east and to the initiation of carbonate platform growth (Salvatore Dolomite/Esino Limestone; Zorn 1971) north of a land area buried today below the Po plain (Picotti et al 2007). Dolomitized microbial limestones, characterized by stromatolitic lamination, were deposited in a shallow subtidal to intertidal environment (Lower Salvatore Dolomite).…”