Limestone lithofacies from the South African continental margin

Carbonate sedimentation has played an important part in the Cainozoic history of the South African offshore areas. The Agulhas Bank sector of the continental shelf and upper slope is covered by a patchy veneer of relict and Recent sediment. Under this thin cover of sediment lies a succession of Cainozoic carbonate rocks very different from those exposed onshore. The Agulhas Bank rocks have been divided into the following lithofacies: (1) lagoonal-quartzose lime wackestones; (2) pelagicforaminiferal lime packstones; and (3) infralittoral-skeletal lime packstones. The rocks within each lithofacies are not necessarily time-equivalents; indeed any one lithofacies may have a considerable time range.