Sedimentology and palaeoenvironment of the southeast Sicilian Tertiary platform carbonates

A thick succession of shelf and shelf-slope carbonates is developed in southeastern Sicily. Sedimentological aspects of the Oligocene to Tortonian sequence, including distribution and palaeoenvironmental factors, are considered. A new formation and four new members are proposed in the upper part of the succession.The region comprises a western half, typically exhibiting the principal deeper-water planktonic facies including marls, and an eastern area displaying typically inner-shelf carbonates and an attenuated succession. Coralline algal limestones and calcarenites are more typical of this latter region but there are also some volcanic intercalations. An attempt is made to relate the Hyblean succession to that of the Maltese Islands which lie at the southern end of this Tertiary carbonate platform.