Biostratigraphy of turonian to (?)coniacian platform carbonates: A case study from the Island of Cres (Northern Adriatic, Croatia)

The shallow marine carbonate deposits on the island of Cres, overlyingdeeper-water Cenomanian–Turonian limestones, are characterizedby an assemblage of rudists, benthic foraminifera, and associatedmicrofossils. The paucispecific character of the fossil association suggestsdeposition in shallow areas of a carbonate platform, with lowcurrent-energies and restricted circulation. Similar assemblages indicatingsimilar palaeoenvironments, are common in the Upper Cretaceousdeposits of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform and adjacent areas.The assemblage of rudists (hippuritids) and microfossils indicatethe Turonian to (?)Coniacian age of the investigated carbonate succession.The biostratigraphic importance of the so-called “primitive”hippuritids within the micropalaeontologically poorly defined biostratigraphyof deposits of this age, is accentuated.