Hauptdolomit (Norian) — stratigraphy,paleogeography and diagenesis

Geochemical and carbonate petrographical methods were coordinated in facies investigations and environmental reevaluations, related to the Hauptdolomit (Hd.) = main doimite formation (±Norian) of the Northern Calcareous Alps.It is practical to distinguish eight, environmentally controlled, facies units (1–8) and three geochemical groups (I–III). Superimposed upon the environment pattern (tidal complex, lagoonal complex, barrier bar and shoal complex) is a predictable (geochemical) dolomitization and non-carbonate distribution.The vertical and lateral facies associations, their waxing and waning in the geologic columns, allow paleogeographic reconstructions. Especially important are clayey, ±bituminous facies, commonly known as “Seefeld facies”, which are interpreted to be of mainly intertidal to very shallow near-shore, rather than of deep-water, origin. Threefold stratigraphy can be substantiated and is found to be practicable for the Hd. formation in a large part of the Northern Calcareous Alps.In an attempt to explain some of the phenomena associated with dolomitization in the Hd. formation, a model of anaerobic dolomitization has been considered, outlining steps of early diagenetic dolomitization.     

川北广元须家河组一段沉积相与沉积环境演化分析

四川盆地北部三叠系—侏罗纪发育,出露良好,是三叠纪—侏罗纪转换时期古气候与古环境变化的良好物质记录.其中,晚三叠世诺利期是四川盆地海陆转换的重要过渡期,尤其是对陆地生态系统的影响更加显著.以川北广元剖面为研究对象,对晚三叠世诺利期末须家河组须一段进行沉积相及沉积环境演化的分析,结果表明:研究剖面发育潟湖沼泽—三角洲平原...     

楚雄盆地东部晚三叠世沉积环境

本文着重从野外剖面典型沉积相以及室内资料分析出发,通过对楚雄盆地东部晚三叠世古地貌、岩相、古生物、粒度以及微量元素等方面的分析,探讨盆地东部晚三叠世的沉积环境,认为晚三叠世的沉积环境从海相演变为过渡相和陆相。     

Palynomorphe und organisches Material aus den Raibler Schichten einer oberostalpinen Schuppe der Iberger Klippen (Kanton Schwyz, Schweiz)

A palynology and organic matter study has been carried out on samples of the Upper Triassic Raibl beds from an Upper Austroalpine thrust sheet, preserved in the area of the Iberg Klippen (Laucherenst?ckli). The palynological assemblages indicate an early Carnian (Julian) age. Comparison with well calibrated successions from the Southern Alps suggests a correlation with the Late Julian ammonoid zone Austrotrachyceras austriacum. The lithofacies of the studied sections suggests a substantial similarity to Raibl beds of the Upper Austroalpine of the Northern Calcareous Alps and those of the Silvretta- and the S-charl nappe of the Grisons. The minute Upper Austroalpine thrust sheet represents the westward extension of series with similar facies, which are still preserved in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Liechtenstein and western Austria (Vorarlberg). According to the Thermal Alteration Scale (TAS) of Batten (1996) the observed medium brown colors of the pollen grains correspond to a value of 4/5, which is equivalent to vitrinite reflectance (VR) values of 0.7–0.9 %R_o. In comparison with other sites in Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg and the Upper Austroalpine of Central Grisons (Silvretta and S-charl nappe) with measured VR values of > 2%R_o the organic matter of the studied samples shows only minor thermal alteration, indicating that the Upper Austroalpine thrust sheets of Iberg represent the highest part of the nappe stack in Central Switzerland, formerly covered by a comparatively thin overburden.      

Sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of northern Lebanon since the Late Cretaceous: implications for the Levant margin and basin

This paper presents an updated review of the Upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentological and stratigraphic evolution of the Levant margin with a focus on the northern Lebanon. Facies and microfacies analysis of outcrop sections and onshore well cores (i.e., Kousba and Chekka) supported by nannofossil and planktonic foraminifers biostratigraphy, allowed to constrain the depositional environments prevailing in the Turonian to Late Miocene. The “Senonian” (a historical term used to define the Coniacian to Maastrichtian) source rock interval was subdivided into four sub-units with related outer-shelfal facies: (1) Upper Santonian, (2) Lower, (3) Upper Campanian, and (4) Lower Maastrichtian. This Upper Cretaceous rock unit marks the major drowning of the former Turonian rudist platform. This paper confirms the Late Lutetian to Late Burdigalian hiatus, which appears to be a direct consequence of major geodynamic events affecting the Levant region (i.e., the continued collision of Afro-Arabia with Eurasia), potentially enhanced by regressional cycles (e.g., Rupelian lowstand). The distribution of Late Burdigalian–Serravallian rhodalgal banks identified in northern Lebanon was controlled by pre-existing structures inherited from the pulsating onshore deformation. Reef barriers facies occur around the Qalhat anticline, separating an eastern, restricted back-reef setting from a western, coastal to open marine one. The acme of Mount Lebanon’s uplift and exposure is dated back to the Middle–Late Miocene; it led to important erosion of carbonates that were subsequently deposited in paleo-topographic lows. The Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic facies variations and hiatuses show that the northern Lebanon was in a higher structural position compared to the south since at least the Late Cretaceous.     

晚三叠世卡尼期黑色页岩事件在龙门山地区的沉积学和古生物学响应

龙门山前缘地区卡尼阶-诺利阶马鞍塘组中部发育一套薄-中层状黑灰色、灰黑色、黑色（含介壳）钙质泥（页）岩,在该套岩石中瓣鳃类生物多见,原生二价金属硫化物（黄铁矿）发育,水平层理发育,显示着低能环境贫氧条件的典型特征。与马鞍塘组中部黑灰色、灰黑色钙质泥（页）岩相当层位的卡尼期晚期沉积,在松潘-甘孜地区、昌都地区、可可西里地区均可见到,多显示为黑色、灰黑色色调,岩性为泥（页）岩或粉砂质板岩、钙质板岩,反映了一次黑色页岩地质事件在中国西部古特提斯东部地区产生了大范围的影响。全球对比表明,该套深色泥（页）岩在西特提斯、印度喜玛拉雅等地均有分布,覆盖在卡尼期早期碳酸盐沉积之上。据此,作者认为晚三叠世卡尼期特提斯范围的黑色页岩事件,很有可能与卡尼期全球性的碳酸盐生产危机有关,马鞍塘组中部发育的深色泥（页）岩即是此次事件在扬子地台西缘的反映。根据对川西北地区绵竹汉旺、安县雎水、江油马鞍塘等剖面的实际考察与研究,认为代表缺氧事件沉积的马鞍塘组中部黑灰色泥（页）岩之下为卡尼阶灰岩段（即汉旺组中下部灰岩段,主要为鲕粒灰岩、海绵礁灰岩等）,之上为诺利阶灰色粉、细砂岩夹灰岩、泥岩段（相当于石元组）。黑灰色钙质泥（页）岩不仅是该组岩性变化的转折点,亦是古生物、古生态急剧变化的转折点。在马鞍塘组下部广泛可见的六射海绵、海百合、苔藓虫、珊瑚等海相化石在马鞍塘组中上部地层（上卡尼阶至诺利阶底部）中很少看到,仅见丰富的瓣鳃类、菊石、腕足类等有壳类动物化石。
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西藏措勤断块中—上三叠统嘎热扎地组的建立

在西藏措勤断块新建了中三叠统—上三叠统卡尼阶岩石地层单位——嘎热扎地组.在建组剖面上,嘎热扎地组厚约485 m,下部岩性以碎屑岩为主,上部岩性为碎屑岩夹灰岩.嘎热扎地组与下伏上二叠统—下三叠统木纠错组、上覆上三叠统诺利阶麦龙岗组均为整合接触关系.该组尚未发现指示地层时代的化石,但前人在其下伏的木纠错组中发现了早三叠世牙...     

Die fazielle Entwicklung des Alpinen Buntsandsteins (Skyth) im Westabschnitt der Nördlichen Kalkalpen (Tirol/Salzburg, Österreich)

For the first time the origin of the Alpine Buntsandstein (Scythian) in the western part of the Northern Calcarous Alps is outlined by lithofacies types and their relations. The eastern realm of Tyrol seemed to be interesting because of the transition from the terrestric-fluviatile facies of the Alpine Buntsandstein to the marine Werfen beds and the marine influence on the Alpine Buntsandstein. Lithology and sedimentary petrology enable a classification as redcoloured Lower Buntsandstein and white and grey Upper Buntsandstein. Analyses of sedimentary structures, lithofacies types and paleocurrent directions show, that most of the Lower Buntsandstein is composed of sandstones of a braided fluvial system, whose uppermost part ist replaced by sediments of a coastal plain only in the eastern part of Tyrol. Marginal marine influence is testified by sporadic occurrence of gypsum, increased carbonate content, bimodal current directions and trace fossils (Diplocraterion). Fluviatile sedimentation of the Upper Buntsandstein, starting above, is rapidly suppressed by transgression of the »Werfen Sea« from E to W, resulting in the development of estuaries, lastly being replaced by the marine Werfen beds.     

THE RHAETIAN OF NORTHEAST ASIA

In the course of investigations in the North Caucasus, the Pamirs and the Soviet Northeast, geologists observed in sections certain beds with a peculiar fauna, underlain by deposits of the Norian stage and overlain by Upper Jurassic deposits. According to I. I. Tuchkov, in the Soviet Northeast these beds are unconditionally referred to the Rhaetian. In 1959 A. I. Afizky found numerous Upper Norian ammonites within these deposits on the Bolshoi Anyui River (lower course of the Kolyma River). As early as 1937 J. Fromaget mentioned findings of Norian ammonites in the supposedly “Rhaetian” beds in south-Asian sections. This author first put forward the Rhaetian stage problem, suggesting that it might be regarded as a zone of the Norian stage. Such a solution of the Rhaetian stage problem breaks with traditional stratigraphy. The present paper points out another way towards the solution of the above problem, taking into account both the numerous cases of findings of beds with a mixed Norian-Rhaetian fauna and the irregular distribution of ammonite zones in the Norian (six zones) and the Rhaetian (one zone) stages. By lowering the lower boundary of the Rhaetian stage and including the two upper zones of the Norian stage into the Rhaetian, the problem, of the latter may be solved without breaking with traditional stratigraphy.—Auth. Eriglish summ.     

The Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous of eastern Heilongjiang, northeast China: stratigraphy and regional basin history

In eastern Heilongjiang, the Upper Jurassic is marine and restricted to the Suibin and Dong’an areas, where it is characterized faunally by Callovian–Volgian (Tithonian) bivalves and florally by dinoflagellates. The Lower Cretaceous is widely distributed in eastern Heilongjiang, and characterized faunally by Berriasian–Valanginian bivalves, Barremian–Albian ammonites and Aucellina, and florally by dinoflagellates. To the west, the marine facies grade into non-marine beds. Thus, in the east, for example in the Dong’an and Dajiashan areas, near the northwestern Palaeo-Pacific, the Lower Cretaceous is marine; westward, in the Yunshan, Longzhaogou, Peide, and Zhushan areas, marine and non-marine deposits alternate, whereas further west still, e.g. in the Jixi Basin, non-marine facies are intercalated with marine beds. This regional distribution is indicative of a large, shallow embayment opening eastwards to the Palaeo-Pacific; during the Early Cretaceous successive transgressive-regressive events influenced the climate and biota of eastern Heilongjiang and northeastern China. Many of the Lower Cretaceous sections contain abundant coals, demonstrating that in this region the Early Cretaceous was an important coal-forming period. Some non-marine bivalve species are common to the Lower Cretaceous Jixi Group of eastern Heilongjiang, the Jehol Group of western Liaoning and the Transbaikalian Group of Siberia, suggesting that these groups are of comparable Early Cretaceous age.     

Comparisons between the Urgonian platform carbonates from eastern Serbia (Carpatho-Balkanides) and northeast Iran (Kopet-Dagh Basin): Depositional facies,microfacies, biostratigraphy,palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology

In the Getic of the Carpatho-Balcanides (eastern Serbia) and the Tirgan Formation of the Kopet-Dagh Basin (northeast Iran), platform carbonates were deposited during the Barremian/Early Aptian in environments in the domain of the northern Alpine Tethys and deformed during the Alpine orogeny. In this study, Urgonian carbonate platform deposits are discussed in detail with regard to depositional facies, microfacies, biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology. Detailed sedimentological and palaeontological investigations have been carried out on five sections in eastern Serbia and three sections in northeast Iran supported by an analysis of 392 thin-sections. Petrographic analysis of thin-sections led to the recognition of eight microfacies types grouped into four facies zones. A supratidal–intertidal (restricted)–intertidal (open-lagoon)–platform-margin sand-shoal transition was recorded in both areas. Supratidal facies are characterized by bioclastic mudstones and fenestral and peloidal wackestones and packstones; intertidal (restricted) facies are represented by bioclastic wackestones, whereas intertidal (open-lagoon) facies are indicated by bioclastic packstones/grainstones and oncoid grainstones. High-energy sand-shoal facies are dominated by ooid grainstones/rudstones followed by orbitolinid packstones. Benthic foraminifera are especially abundant and along with calcareous algae are the most important fossils used for age determination of shallow-marine carbonate deposits. Thirty-two benthic foraminiferal genera were identified from eastern Serbia with an additional 38 genera from northeast Iran dominated by agglutinated forms. Identified calcareous algae provide significant data for depositional environments and palaeoecology. The microfossil associations in the two regions are very similar and share a number of common characteristics, but also some differences and show a strong affinity to those of the northern margins of Tethys. In both study areas shallow-marine environments of the Barremian/Early Aptian were replaced by deep-marine conditions during the Late Cretaceous.     

Importance of Hercynian tectonics within the framework of the Southern Alps

The Hercynian remnants present within the Alpidic structural zones of the Southern Alps are reviewed. The pattern of Hercynian metamorphism is zonal from granulites in the western area to anchimetamorphic facies in the eastern one. In the folded zone at the eastern margin a severe Hercynian folding phase took place during the Westphalian. Thrust sheets comprising sequences of different facies ranging in age from Caradocian to early Westphalian are sutured by late Westphalian molasse deposits. The assumption that the Southern Alps and the external Dinarides remained outside the Hercynian folding front is contradicted by field evidence.     

鄂尔多斯盆地东缘保德地区上古生界层序地层与沉积相特征*

为了揭示鄂尔多斯盆地东缘层序地层与沉积相特征,以层序地层学和沉积学理论为指导,对鄂尔多斯盆地东缘保德扒楼沟剖面及周缘上古生界的层序与体系域界面类型、层序结构、沉积相类型及沉积演化进行研究。依据区域性不整合面、下切谷冲刷面、海侵方向转换面和区域性海退面等层序界面将研究区上古生界划分为7个三级层序,分别对应于本溪组、太原组2段、太原组1段、山西组、下石盒子组、上石盒子组和石千峰组。保德扒楼沟及周缘上古生界剖面发育16种岩石类型和8种岩石组合。区内上古生界发育障壁海岸相、碳酸盐岩台地相、辫状河相和曲流河相。SQ1-SQ3中低位体系域发育风化壳和潮道亚相,海侵体系域发育潮坪亚相和潟湖亚相,高位体系域发育碳酸盐岩台地相、潟湖亚相和潮坪亚相;SQ4-SQ7中低位体系域发育辫状河河床亚相,海侵体系域主要发育曲流河泛滥平原亚相,高位体系域主要发育多期曲流河河床亚相—堤岸亚相—泛滥平原亚相的演化序列。区内上古生界经历了由障壁海岸相和碳酸盐岩台地相向河流相的演化过程,沉积演化主要受物源供给、海平面变化和构造活动的控制。     

A Periglacial Palaeoenvionment in the Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian Tobra Formation of the Salt Range, Pakistan

The Upper Carboniferous—Lower Permian(Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian) Tobra Formation is exposed in the Salt and Trans Indus ranges of Pakistan.The formation exhibits an alluvial plain(alluvial fan-piedmont alluvial plain) facies association in the Salt Range and Khisor Range.In addition,a stream flow facies association is restricted to the eastern Salt Range.The alluvial plain facies association is comprised of clast-supported massive conglomerate(Gmc),diamictite(Dm)facies,and massive sandstone(Sm) Hthofacies whereas the stream flow-dominated alluvial plain facies association includes fine-grained sandstone and siltstone(Fss),fining upwards pebbly sandstone(Sf),and massive mudstone(Fm) Hthofacies.The lack of glacial signatures(particularly glacial grooves and striatums) in the deposits in the Tobra Formation,which are,in contrast,present in their timeequivalent and palaeogeographically nearby strata of the Arabian peninsula,e.g.the AI Khlata Formation of Oman and Unayzah B member of the Saudi Arabia,suggests a pro-to periglacial,i.e.glaciofluvial depositional setting for the Tobra Formation.The sedimentology of the Tobra Formation attests that the Salt Range,Pakistan,occupied a palaeogeographic position just beyond the maximum glacial extent during Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian time.     

The start‐up of the Dolomia Principale/Hauptdolomit carbonate platform (Upper Triassic) in the eastern Southern Alps

Wide carbonate platform environments developed on the western passive margin of the Tethys during the Late Triassic, after a major climate change (Carnian Pluvial Episode) that produced a crisis of high‐relief microbial carbonate platforms. The peritidal succession of this epicontinental platform (Dolomia Principale/Hauptdolomit, Dachstein Limestone) is widespread in the Mediterranean region. However, the start‐up stage is not fully understood. The original platform to basin depositional geometries of the system have been studied in the north‐eastern Southern Alps, close to the Italian/Slovenian boundary where they are exceptionally preserved. Sedimentological features have been investigated in detail by measuring several stratigraphic sections cropping out along an ideal depositional profile. The analysis of the facies architecture allowed reconstruction of the palaeoenvironments of the Dolomia Principale platform during its start‐up and early growth stages in the late Carnian. The carbonate platform was characterized by an outer platform area, connected northward to steep slopes facing a relatively deep basin. Southward, the outer platform was connected to inner sheltered environments by a narrow, often emerged shelf crest. Behind this zone, carbonate sedimentation occurred in shallow lagoons and tidal flats, passing inward to a siliciclastic mudflat. The Dolomia Principale platform was initially aggrading and able to keep pace with a concomitant sea‐level rise, and then prograding during the late Carnian. This stratigraphic interval was correlated with the Tuvalian succession of the Dolomites, allowing depiction of the depositional system on a wide scale of hundreds of kilometres. This large‐scale depositional system presents features in common with some Palaeozoic and Mesozoic carbonate build‐ups (for example, the Permian Capitan Reef complex, Anisian Latemar platform), both in terms of architecture and prevailing carbonate producers. A microbial‐dominated carbonate factory is found in the outer platform and upper slope. The recovery of high‐relief microbial carbonate platforms marks the end of the Carnian Pluvial Episode in the Tuvalian of Tethys.     

The Middle Jurassic radiolarites and pelagic limestones of the Nieves unit (Rondaide Complex, Betic Cordillera): basin starvation in a rifted marginal slope of the western Tethys

Middle Jurassic radiolarites and associated pelagic limestones occur in the Rondaide Nieves unit of the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. The Rondaide Mesozoic includes: (a) a thick succession of Triassic platform carbonates, comparable to the Alpine Hauptdolomit and Kössen facies; (b) Lower Jurassic pelagic limestones comparable to the Alpine Hierlatz and Adnet facies; (c) the Middle Jurassic Parauta Radiolarite Formation, described herein; and (d) a thin Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous condensed limestone succession. The Parauta Radiolarite Formation and associated limestones were studied with respect to stratigraphy, petrography, micropalaeontology (radiolarians, calcareous nanno- and microfossils) and facies. Radiolarite sedimentation occurred in the Middle Bathonian in a restricted and dysoxic deep Nieves basin, perched in the distal zone of a continental margin fringing the Tethyan ocean. This margin was adjacent to a young narrow oceanic basin between the South-Iberian margin and a continental block called Mesomediterranean Terrane. The Nieves basin was part of a marine corridor between the Proto-Atlantic and Piedmont-Ligurian basins of the Alpine Tethys. The regional tectonic position, the stratigraphical evolution since the Triassic, the age and the nature of the Mesozoic facies and the palaeogeographic relations to adjacent domains show striking analogies between the Betic Rondaide margin and coeval units of the Alps.     

四川义敦地区上三叠统曲嘎寺组岩相古地理研究

对四川义敦地区上三叠统曲嘎寺组9幅1：5万区调图幅和44条剖面和沉积等厚线的综合分析研究,认为该区曲嘎寺组主体部分发育了浅海陆棚-泻湖相、开阔碳酸盐台地相、扇三角洲与碳酸盐台地交互相、浅海陆棚相、局限台地相等5种相组合,并可划分为义敦弧后前陆盆地、义敦火山弧及弧内火山洼地、沙鲁里边缘海等3个次级火山-沉积盆地,在义敦初始火山弧内发育有果德火山穹隆、根隆火山穹隆、扎翁拉火山洼地等更次一级的古地貌单元。     

四川盆地及其邻区中上寒武统洗象池群沉积相与沉积模式特征研究

近年来,我国海相碳酸盐岩油气勘探正处于大发现期,其中四川盆地龙王庙组气藏的突破,使得寒武系碳酸盐岩储层越来越获得研究者的重视。洗象池群作为寒武系有利储集层段目前还处于勘探初期,地质研究程度相对滞后。为此,基于前人的研究成果,通过综合分析露头、钻井、地震和测井等资料,研究了四川盆地及邻区洗象池群沉积相、沉积体系模式,编制岩相古地理图,建立洗象池群“三滩夹两凹”沉积模式,指出了该区下一步天然气勘探的方向。研究结果表明:(1)四川盆地洗象池群呈现碳酸盐岩镶边台地的古地理格局,发育蒸发台地、局限台地、半局限台地、台地边缘、斜坡盆地等5种沉积相;(2)建立了洗象池群“三滩夹两凹”沉积模式,其中一条为台地边缘颗粒滩,分布于该盆地东缘,另外两条为台内颗粒滩,分布于局限台地相的东西两侧,分属局限台地相和半局限台地相;(3)台内颗粒滩发育主要受古地貌及高频海平面升降变化所控;台地边缘颗粒滩主要分布于盆地的东缘,发育受沉积古地貌坡折控制。结论认为:台内颗粒滩和台地边缘滩储层质量好,是天然气勘探的重要领域;洗象池群“三滩夹两凹”沉积模式和颗粒滩带分布的新认识,对古老地层的沉积体系研究具有重要的理论意义。     

Nouvelles Données sur le Crétacé Supérieur de la Sardaigne Orientale

The stratigraphic distribution of the principal Upper Cretaceous facies in Sardinia ispresented, with special reference to the eastern part of the Island. Included are remarks on the mid-Cretaceous tectonic activity, which marks the base of the Upper Cretaceous depositional cycle. The presence of Upper Santonian and Lower Maastrichtian (the latter represented by marls with sparse turbidite interbeds) in the Lanaitto syncline (Oliena) is documented. Both contain outer-shelf assemblages rich in planktic Foraminifera. Recognition of rare detrital glaucophane in the Maastrichtian sandstones suggests a source area affected by high-pressure metamorphism, possibly corresponding to the southward extension of alpine Corsica.The Tertiary conglomerates exposed near Oliena include pebbles of facies (Campanienand Upper Maastrichtian rudistid limestones with larger Foraminifera) unknown in outcrop. A preliminary study of the rudists suggests a faunal exchange between different palaeobio-geographical provinces belonging, respectively, to the West European and Adriatic Plates.A palaeontological appendix contains remarks on some representatives of the family Heterohelicidae and on one species of Gunnarites found in the Lower Maastrichtian.     

The Late Jurassic Tithonian, a greenhouse phase in the Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous 'cool' mode: evidence from the cyclic Adriatic Platform, Croatia

Well‐exposed Mesozoic sections of the Bahama‐like Adriatic Platform along the Dalmatian coast (southern Croatia) reveal the detailed stacking patterns of cyclic facies within the rapidly subsiding Late Jurassic (Tithonian) shallow platform‐interior (over 750 m thick, ca 5–6 Myr duration). Facies within parasequences include dasyclad‐oncoid mudstone‐wackestone‐floatstone and skeletal‐peloid wackestone‐packstone (shallow lagoon), intraclast‐peloid packstone and grainstone (shoal), radial‐ooid grainstone (hypersaline shallow subtidal/intertidal shoals and ponds), lime mudstone (restricted lagoon), fenestral carbonates and microbial laminites (tidal flat). Parasequences in the overall transgressive Lower Tithonian sections are 1–4·5 m thick, and dominated by subtidal facies, some of which are capped by very shallow‐water grainstone‐packstone or restricted lime mudstone; laminated tidal caps become common only towards the interior of the platform. Parasequences in the regressive Upper Tithonian are dominated by peritidal facies with distinctive basal oolite units and well‐developed laminate caps. Maximum water depths of facies within parasequences (estimated from stratigraphic distance of the facies to the base of the tidal flat units capping parasequences) were generally <4 m, and facies show strongly overlapping depth ranges suggesting facies mosaics. Parasequences were formed by precessional (20 kyr) orbital forcing and form parasequence sets of 100 and 400 kyr eccentricity bundles. Parasequences are arranged in third‐order sequences that lack significant bounding disconformities, and are evident on accommodation (Fischer) plots of cumulative departure from average cycle thickness plotted against cycle number or stratigraphic position. Modelling suggests that precessional sea‐level changes were small (several metres) as were eccentricity sea‐level changes (or precessional sea‐level changes modulated by eccentricity), supporting a global, hot greenhouse climate for the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) within the overall ‘cool’ mode of the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.