GEOL. CROAT. ZAGREB 1997 The Middle and Upper Permian Deposits in Gorski Kotar: Facts and Misconceptions Dunja ALJINOVIC' and Iasenka SREMAC' Key words: Chronostratigraphic division, Pem10-Trias­ sic boundary, Permian, Gorski Kotar, Croatia. Abstract The frequent occurrence of sandstones and olher coarse-grained sedimentary rocks in Gorski Kolar indicates molasse type sedimenta­ lion as a consequence of the intensive erosion of all uplifted terrain in a tectonical ly active area. The indirect assumptions indicate thaI the age of the Gorski Kolar Palaeozoic complex, with the exception of a limited occurre nce of Carboniferous clastic rocks, corresponds to the clastic Trogkofel beds. i.e. (0 Middle Pcnnian. The absence of Upper Permian carbonate deposition in Gorski kolar indicates an interrup­ tion in sedime ntat ion at the Permo-Triassic boundary, and a possible hiatus in the Upper Permian. In previous studies it was concluded that there is a co nt inuous transition from the Permian (developed as the Groden clastic facies) to the Lower Triassic shallow marine sedimen­ tary rocks, although no such transitions occur in either the neighbour­ in g areas (Velcbit, Slovenia) nor in thc widcr Southern Alps . The continuous lransition ex ists only in the carbonatc successions (Upper Permian dolomite in the Velebit region and the BelJerophonc forma­ tion in the Alps). 1. INTRODUCTION The stud ies that deal with the sedimentary rocks of the c1astie facies within the Palaeozoic complex of Gorski kotar, inevitably encounter the problem of their agc whcrc they do not contain fossils or any intercala­ tion of fossiliferous limestone. In general, the strati­ graphic difTerentiation of clastic Palaeozoic sedimenta­ ry rocks from Gorski kotar is complicated due to the general absence of fossils in the clastic rocks, the poor preservation of ammonite fragments in black shales, poor preservation of fossils in the limestone intercala­ tions, and also due to the extremely intensive tectonics in the region and the absence of any lithostratigraphic I roacu]ty of Mining, Geology and Petrolelllll Engineering, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, HR-l 0000 Zagreb, Croatia. 2 Departmcllt of Geotogy and Palaeontology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Ulica kralja Zvonimira 8, HR-lOOOO Zagreb, Croatia. marker. These are the reasons why chronostratigraphic determination of the Palaeozoic sedimentary rock com­ plex is ambiguous. The coarse-grained clastic rocks are considered the youngest facies in the Perm ian succes­ sion. They are usually termed as "Groden c1astites", "clastic rocks of the Groden type" or as "deposits that correspond to Groden beds". The aim of this paper is to discuss the ages attributed to these "Groden clastic rocks" by various authors and to present differing and often opposing ideas about the age of the Palaeozoic complex. Also the intention is to compare the Gorski kotar Palaeozoic with the studied and described Palaeo­ zoic depos its in the neighbouring areas, and to contem­ plate the justification of the assumption or a continuous sedimentation from the Permian to the Lower Triassic. 2. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES Previous studies of Palaeozoic rocks in the Gorski Kotar region have been aimed mainly towards the dif­ ferentiation of the principal rock types, their mapping, and the description of mapped units which are some­ times termed as facies (Fig. I). In papers dating back to the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, various stratigraphic interpretations have been given for the Gorski Kotar Palaeozoic complex, with the majori ty dating it as Car­ boniferous (FOETTERLE, 1855; HAUER, 1868). More recent data about the Gorski Kotar Palaeozoic arc presented in papers by SALOPEK (1949a, b, 1960, 1961 ). During studies of the Gorski Kotar region Salopek defined the principal Upper Palaeozoic sedime~tary rock units in the vicinity of Mrzla Vodica and Crni Lug (SALOPEK, 1949a, 1960) and Gerovo and Trsce (SAL­ OPEK. 1 949b, 1961) · Figs. 1 & 2, and fig. 1 in SRE­ MAC & ALJINOVIC (1997 . this VoL) The principal sedimentary rock units were defined according to their lithology and mode of occurrence. This paper was presented at the scientific meeting dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the life of Professor Milan Herak, held on March 5th, 1997 in Zagreb IIIIIL mIIIL o Kocevje • IOOkm ... BOSNIA AND nERZEGOVINA • 0 N A Fig. I Simplified geological map of Gorski KOlar (modified after SA V Ie & DOZET, 1984). Legend: I) Carbon i ferous s'lI1dsl.O ncs; 2) Permian sedimentary complex: 3) Scythian clastic rocks and dol omit es; 4) Upper Triassic do lomite ("HaupldolomiC') ; 5) Jurassic carbonates ; 6) Cre­ taceous limes tones ; 7) Eocene breccia; 8) alluvium; 9) mai n localiti es. Apart from a limited occurrence of Upper Carbonif· e rou s Trit ic it cs sandstones on the ba nks of the Kriz stream, SA LOPEK (I 949a, 1960) regarded the major part of the Palaeozoic complex 10 be of Pcmlian age. In this complex he differentiated the follo wing units: ( I) the "clayey schists" in alternation with dark sandstones (pgs), (2) the "c layey schi sts" (g5), and (3) the gray sand stones Cps) which occur separately in the broader region. As a separa te unit (4) the author di stinguished also dark fossiliferous limestone (cv). This type of rock frequently accompan ies the "clayey schists" in alterna­ ti on w ith dark sandsto ne (pgs), and is also frequently inte rcalated with in the "clayey schists" (g5). Within the fo ss ilife rous lim estone, a fauna was discove red that corresponds to that of the Rattendorf beds. The ensuing units (5) are the Trogkofel limestone which diffe rs in the presence of inte rsecting calc ite ve ins, the occur­ rence of numerous calcite and quartz pebbles, and rarer occurrences of fusulinids than in the prev ious limestone types . A distinct (6) type termed the "cephalopod cla­ yey schi sts" occurs in alternalion with sandstone in a restricted area around Mrzla Vodica. Al so he d is tin ­ guishcd a different type of limestonc (7) from the previ­ ous ones, the " limestone with Lithoni ae". According to SALOPEK (1960) these se ven rock types contain enough fo ss il data to co nfirm a Lower Aljinovic & Srcmac; '!lIe Middle and Upper Permian Deposits in Gorski Kotar. .. and Middle Permian age (which was later verified by MILANOVIC & KOCHANSKY-DEVIDE, 1968, and KOCHANSKY-DEVIDE, 1973) - Fig. 2. After these conclusions SALOPEK (1960) described an cighth independent rock type (8), the Groden conglomerates, and (9) gray to light gray Groden sandstone (pcp). SALO PEK (1949b) outlined the Upper Palaeozoic in the vicinity of Gerovo and Trsce (Figs. I & 2) and differentiated five rock types, i.e. facies which corre­ spond to those near Mrzla Vodiea. However, he noticed that " the most striking difference is the lack of signifi­ cant limestone intercalations, which are present in all Upper Palaeozoic cross sections adjacent to Mrzla Vod­ iea, whcre they werc the principal bearers of a fusulinid and brachiopod fauna" (SALOPEK, 1949b, p. 194). Later, SALOPEK (1949a, b, 1960) also attempted to solve the stratig raphic questions connectcd with the Palaeozoic complex (Fig. 2). His conclusion s were as follows: "The fus ulinid sandstone undoubtedly proves the very limited occurrence of the Upper Carboniferous in the Palaeozoic rocks near Mrzla Vodica. According to thc fauna detcrmined they belong to the Ural ien. The basis for the Permian differentiation was the determina­ tion of ammonites found in the "black schists" by VOGL ( 191 3) as bcing related to the Sossio fauna type. The Sossio beds are represented by a goniatite cephalo­ pod fauna. These laycrs arc confi ned to the upper part of the succession of clayey schist in alternation wi th dark sandstones (pgs). Therefore, "the clayey sch ists and sandsto nes" (pgs) reach and enclose the Middle Permian Sossio beds. The sporadic dark limestone intercalation with fusu lini ds contain s a scant fauna, which indicates the Rattendorf and in part maybe the Trogkofel beds. A gradual transition ex ists from the "pgs" into the Groden deposit s which consist of con­ glomerates and sandstone. The Upper Permian Bcllero­ phone facies is absent" (SALOPEK, 1960, p. 128). Although Salopek does not stress it , it is obvious from his papers that the rocks cal led "Groden conglom­ erates" and "Groden sandstone" he associates with the rocks that , by Ihe fo ss il co nt ent , are att ached to the Lower and Middle Pennian. So, hc concludes: "Within the clayey schi sts and sandstones (pgs) in their upper part sporad ically an intercalation of conglomerate can be found. This is the transit ion into the Permian clastic series." However, he considers that the mentioned con­ glomerates occur in the upper part of that Permian series, therefore they are sti ll confined to the Middle Permian (Fi g. 2). The confirmat ion of this opin ion is found in the paper by SALOPEK (1961, p. 245), where in the dcscri ption of Palaeozoic rocks in the areas of Smrecje, Trsce and Cabal' (Fig. 1) he states the fo llow­ ing: "The typica l cephalopod schist facies does not occur in Ihe Gerovo-Cabar Palaeozoic, nevertheless on the basis or the significant "pgs" series, these deposits in the Gerovo-Cabar Palaeozoic can be, together with overlyi ng sandstones and conglomerates, connected to the Wordian (Middl e Permian) which was palaeonto­ logically determined near Mrzla Vodica." It is impor- 233 tant to stress that Salopek tried to find the eq uivalent sedimentary rocks to those that he had previously stud­ ied (SALOPEK , 1948), and that he associates the Gors­ ki kotar Palaeozoic development with the development of the Palaeozoic in the Velebit region (and not in the Alps). From the desc ription of Groden conglomerates in Gorski Kotar made by Salopek which he claim ed to belong to the "Upper Pennian series" some later misin­ terpretations were inferred. According to some later citations (JURKOYIC, 1959; RAMOYS & KOCHAN­ SKY-DEVIDE, 1965; SUSNJARA & SINKO VEC, 1973) it is stated that Upper Permian Groden clastic rocks exist, which is a total misinterpretation of conclu­ sions made by Salopek. An accurate confirmation of the Upper Permian in Gorski kotar documen ted by fo ssils has not been made. The problem whether Upper Permian rocks do or do not occur in Gorski Kotar, conscquently raises the ques­ tion of a continuous or di scontinuous transition at the Permo-Lower Triassic boundary. The question of this contact was rai sed by SCAYNICAR & SUSNJARA (J 967 , p. 93) - Fig. 2, who determined that "at several places it is possible to observe a direct contact, and no clements indicat ing tran sg ression are visibl e, but an impression exists that there was a continuous succes­ sion. " These authors tried to solve th is problem wi th the aid of petrographic methods. These methods revea led only thc quant itati ve differences in associa tions of heavy minera ls between the Palaeozoic clastic rocks (for which it is claimed that they are the transitional lith ofac ies) and the Triassic clastic rocks. The differ­ ence is primarily manifested through the content or chlori te and apatite, the quant ity of which rises from the Permian sedimentary rocks and is significantly en ha­ nced in thc Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks. Thc sa­ me authors, on the basis of these ana lyses emphas ise the tight connection between the sedimentary rocks which are presumably Upper Permian with the Lower Triassic rocks. The authors them selves conclude that "furth er field and analyt ical st udies are necessary in order to solve the relation ship bctwcen thc Upper Pal­ aeozoic and the Lowcr Triassic". RAFFAELLl & SCA­ VNlCAR (1968, p. 25) state that " the coarse-grained petromictic conglomerates and sandstone, according to their petrographic composition and their stratigraphic position, match the Groden deposits from the Can~ian Alps". These authors also state their doubt: " ... lhat it is not kn own whether the whol e Upper Permian in th e Gorski Kotar region is developcd as a clastic facies or that equivalents of the Bellerephon limestone might ex ist. " The authors of the Explanatory notes for the Del­ nice Sheet of the Basic Geological Map SA VIC & DOZET (1985), state that the Gorski Kotar Pa laeozoic complex contains Upper Carboniferous deposits (C3) as well as Lower and Middle Permian deposits. The frequent occurrence of coarse grained sedimen­ tary rocks and sandstones (Groden facies ) HERAK & !1 " s: "0 tv c »;::;'r.n en 0 Q U) -, ;::; "' - 3 ~ if2: SO o· ~ .s ;!; - ~ ~ '0 9.~. 00 ::J ~ 001'::-0 ':-' ::::!. ::::- D. ~. Po: 2.. o c ~3 < 0 o -- ~ zg -", 3:~ - " ~~ < ~. n ~ ;::;. ::: [~ Q ;<; -~ " 5' ~ ~. ~~ ",3 ro ;;~ Z -. 0 "0 mo ~~ "' _. "'" no :c ~ o . " 0 0;: Co "" --2-- . \0 c. 000 0,0 '"'. n ;:;: "'~ "'. en,=. - " Zo - 0 "'3 ;! ~ ::.> (1) :-B; --~~ 000 00 < ~ 0 :>: ~. ;::: ~ ~ 0 SCYTHIAN LATE PERMIAN MIDDLE PERMIAN EARLY PERMIAN OUTER DINARIDS SLOVENIA ORTNEK KOCEVJE ~j]~~=~1 (RAMOVS 8. KOCHAN· ~THIAN SKY-OEVIDE,I965: RAMOYS. 1968: ITALIAN RESEARCH GROUP. (GERMOVSEK, 1962: RAMOV$ 8- KOCH~NSKY­ DEVIOE.1965) DZHULFIAN ABADEHIAN CAPITAN IAN WORDIAN ARTINSKIAN SAKMARIAN ASSELIAN 1985: MASSARI 81 al., 1988) TRstE (ALJINOVIC, 1997) (1961) ~ limeSlone breccia r=1 ~ sandy mk:aceous shale §:m ~ o _ conglomerale tabular grainstone Iragments of reef limestone IimoMe and haematile fragments h:.:·.'·:·:::·:~::J sandstone - pe l ~e sediments sha le GORSKI KOTAR SALOPEK tttil (1960) l imestone w~h quaFlz pebb les Erm biocaicaren~e g7§j limestone bklcks f) ammonites brach ipods ",- crinokJs ¢ noral detr~us MRZLA VODICA (KOCHANSKY·DEVID~ . 1973) Paralriliciles Darvasites Pseudofusuiifla aft , rakoveci Robusroschwagerina Schellvieni Zellia ex gr. Herilschi Nankinela Paraschwagerina Ramovsia limes @ bioc lastic detritus - w~h cortices Q int raclasts arld pellets ~~:J~I~~t. 1968) D calc lnhite ___ unconform~y >- taleral faCies exchange VELEBIT Mt. ? ? (KOCHANSKY-DEVIOE, 1979) (venica l scale mOdl!ied) Sraffelasp Yabeina sirtalis Neoscllwagerina cra/tCuMera Eoverbekina salopeki Scllwagerina camiolica Zellia llerirsclli Occkfentoscllwagenna ex/ensa Pseudoscllwagerina exatl. a/pina Lower Triassic dolomites Lower Triassic shales Dense, bedded dolom~es Light-coloured saccharoidal dolomites Middle-Upper Permian black limeslones Dark-gray spolty limeSlones Trogkofe llimestones Middle Perm ian shales Ko~na conglomerates w~h IimeSlone pebbles Permian quaFl> conglomerates KoSna basal breccia Sandslones (gray. red. yell ow) Ranendorf limestones c 8 Ii " r § Q u s , Aljinovic & Srelll:lc: TIle Middle and Upper Permian Deposits in Gorski Kot:lr. .. TOMIC (1995) considered as molasse type sedimenta­ tion occurred in Upper Permian. Since the studies published by SALOPEK (1949a, b, 1960, 196 1), and the paper by SCA VNICAR & SUSNJARA ( 1967), who on thc basis of petrologica l evidence regard the coarse-grained fac ies as the youn­ gest Upper Permian deposits, not a single paper has been publi shed that gives either new palacontological o r petro logica l ev idence or data that could be used to cla rify the problem of the Upper Permian in Gorski Kotar. Nevertheless, a widespread idea that "Upper Per­ mian Groden clastic rocks" ex ist, is expressed by ci ta­ ti ons made by var ious authors (SUSNJARA & S IN­ KOV EC, 1973; CERINA, 1986; PALINKAS & SRE­ MAC , 1989; PALINKAS et aI., 1993), although their studies did not deal with the stratigraphy of the rocks present. 3. DISCUSSION In the rather few papers that deal with the problems of the youngest Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks in Gorski Kotar severa l inconsistent interpretations can be obscr­ vcd. Firstly, therc is an inconsistency in the petrograph­ ic defini ti on of the you ngest faci es. As can be observed in the paper by SCAVNICAR & SUSNJARA (1967) it is asserted that in the boundary reg ion toward s the Lower Triass ic at the studied localities near Su ha Recina, Podtisovac, Zelin and Trii(~e , sandstones occur which have the characteristics of transi tion rocks. Due to their red colour they resemble the Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks. However, red sandstones also have grey equivalents. A year later RAFFAELLI & SCAV­ NICA R ( 1968, p. 25) determi ned that the "coarse­ grained petromiclic conglomerates and sandstones" are transition deposits and compared them with the Groden type deposits from the Carnian Alps. SCA VNICAR et a l. 3 (p. 46) substantiatcd a fac ies differentiation, i.e. the ex istence of "coarse-grained and finc-grained conglom­ erates inserted between sandstones" which repreSCnl the " membe rs of the yo ungest Palaeozoic clastic series". However, the same authors (p. 47) state that "occasion­ a ll y the terminating members are fine-grained mica­ ceous sandstone and silty-pelitic sedimentary rocks of a grey-purplish to a reddish colour which are lithological­ ly sim ilar to the Lower Triassic deposits at the Trsce, Podtisovac and Suha Recina localit ies". PALINKAS & S INKOVEC ( 1986) consider shale, si ltite and sand­ stone as the youn gest Permian clastic sedi mentary rocks. PALI NKAS et al. (1993) adopted the opinion from earlier s tudics (SCA VNICAR & SUSNJARA, 1967) about the Upper Permian greyish-green and pur­ pli sh-g rey fine -grained s iltite and pelite which are in 3 SeA VNtCAR, B .. SOKAC, B. & VELIe, I. (1972): Pateogeogratija trijnsa II podrucju Vanjskih Dinarida, I Gorski kotar.- Unpub­ li shed report. Archive of the Institute of Geology, Zagreb. 235 eonfom1able succession with the Lower Triassic periti­ dal basal dolomites. However, PALINKAS et al. ( 1993) stated, that " according to a cross sect ion near Lokve and Skolski Brijeg, the Upper Permian clastics are rep­ resented by black shales and sands tones thc layers of wh ich are several centimetres thi ck. Red shales and "Groden " type sandstone equivalent s und erli e these deposits". From the above statements it is obv ious that the answer to "what underlies the Lower Triass ic sedimen­ tary rocks" is ambiguous. Red and grey conglomerates and sandstone are present below the Lower Triass ic rocks (SCAVNICAR & SUSNJARA, 1967; RAFFA­ ELLI & SCA VNICAR, 1968), also red coloured con­ glomerates, sandstone and pelitic rocks (SCA VNICAR et a1 3 ; PALINKAS & SINKOVEC, 1986), as well as black shale and sandstone (PALINKAS ct aI. , 1993). No single facies can be inferred as the sole Uppcr Per­ mian member, excluding therefore the lithological crite­ rion as being satisfactory for stratigraphic evaluation. It is apparent that the colours are also not characteristic. RAFFAELLI & SCAVNICAR (1968) detcrmined that there are red Groden clastic rocks that also have g rey cquivalents. Although SCAVNICA R et aI. ' concluded that the transi tion deposits are red and can be mistaken for Lower Triassic, PALINKAS ct a l. ( 1993) found black shale and sandstone in contact with the overlyi ng dolomites, and in boreholes bluish and gray sandstones were detcnnined. Since SALOPEK (1949a, b, 1960) interpreted the faci es that the above mentioned au thors prese nt as the upermost part of the Upper Pennian sequence, as Mid­ dle Permian, it is possible that these are the same facies but their age was interpreted differently. In the longest encou ntered cross section throu gh Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks (approximately 1 SO m) situated in thc valley of the Sokol ica stream ncar Trsce (SALOPEK, 1961; ALJINOVIC, 1997) - Figs. I & 2, it is possible to distinguish several facies of coarse-grai­ ned quartz conglomerates and sandstone. These facies are laterall y contemporaneous (ALl INOV IC, 1997). Moreover, in the uppermost part of the cross section , black shales occur in alternation wit h sandsto ne con ­ taining large quantities of plant dctritus. ft is indis­ putable that the conglomerate facies a lLernating with shales and sandstones form a unique genetic sequence and are interpreted as facies of a fan delt a compl ex (ALJINOVIC, 1997). It is important to stress that SALOPEK (1961 ) bcli­ eved that this Palaeozoic sequence was fo lded during the Variscan orogeny which he represents with a sketch (p. 248, fig. 4). Very close to this outcrop, i.e. in the Sokolska slije­ na cross section, SeA VNICAR et ai. 3 determined a continuous transition over the Palaeozoic/Lower Trias­ sic boundary in the following way: "The starting point for the study was located in grey dolomites, and the outcrops of Upper Palaeozoic clayey schi sts and sand­ stone occur some 10 m below them". The rea l contact 236 therefore is absent, but thc effect of a continuous transi­ tion remains, probably due to the lack of any angular discordance. The lack of any angular discordance was, it seems, the principal criterion indicating continuous deposit ion between the Palaeozoic and Lower Triassic. Some authors have questioned the validity of the char­ acter of this contact. SCA VNICAR & SUSNJARA (1967, p. 93), and SCAVNICAR et al 3 state that there are no clements of Lower Triassic transgressive rela­ tionships, nor an angular discordance, "but an impres­ sion exists that there is a continuous sequence and a normal transition". In their report SCAVNICAR et a1. 3 conclude that continuous deposition exists on the basis of characteristics or 6 studied cross sections across the Pal aeozoic/Lower Triass ic boundary. On four of the studied cross sect ions the contact was covered so that direct observations were not possible. The same authors state that the character of the transition is gradual, but, nevertheless, in their conclusion claim that the contact with the Palaeozoic is marked by an abrupt appearance of Lower Triassic do lomites accompanied by variable amounts of barite. The following question remains: If the change from Palaeozo ic sedimentation to Lower Triassic sedimentation is expressed as an abrupt change from a principally clastic deposition (sandstone, shale, red conglomerates, or black shale and sandstone) into oolitic lightl y coloured dolomites, is the presumption of continuous sedimentation justified? Perhaps less so, as the character of thc contact cannot frequently be obser­ vcd duc to the surface cover and tectonics. It has been recogni zed that a few metres of a cross section can con­ tai n whole geological periods (e.g. the Upper Aptian and Lower Albian in Istria · VELlC et aI., 1995). If a continuou s transition ex ists, and it can only be docu­ mented petrographically, it is then necessary to show the cross section in detail accompanied by almost con­ tinuous sampling, in order to determine the changing character of the petrographic parameters. The attempt to dctermine the transi tional deposits, i.e. the character of the Palaeozoic/Lower Triassic tran­ sit ion by the ana lys is of the heavy mineral fraction (SCAVNICAR & SUSNJARA, 1967) seems to be co· mpletely justified. The difference is mainly expressed in the quantity of apatite and chlorite in the rocks. The rocks that were determined as Upper Permian tran si­ tional rocks have higher quantities of apatite and chlo­ rite than the underl ying Palaeozoic rocks, and are simi­ lar to the Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks. However, elevated quantities of apatite and chlorite as the only differentiating parameter between Palaeozoic rocks and Lower Triass ic rocks was di sputed by the discovery of apatite and chlorite as the main mineral components in the heavy mineral fractions in succession that were doc­ umented as Middle Permian (JELASKA & PROHIC, 1982). Thcreforc, these Middle Perm ian sedimentary rocks, due to the elevated quantities of apati te and chlo­ ritc have the character of transition deposi ts towards Lower Triassic. It should be noted that the Lower Per­ mian sedimentary rocks from the Alps also contain Geologia CrO:llica 50(2 apatite and chlorite in the heavy mineral fraction (KRAINER, 1993, p. 546, fig. 9). In the light of these questions and inconsistancics, an open dilemma remains as to which criterion to use for age determination of the unfoss iliferou s clastic facies, i.e. how to interpret the transitional nature of the Palaeozoic/Lower Triassic boundary. With this objec­ tive in mind it is necessary to review the definitions of Palaeozoic and Lower Triassic successions in adjacent areas and present som e of the more recent develop­ ments that deal with the problems of simil ar lithofacies. 3.1. GEOLOGICAL SETTING OF PALAEOZOIC AND LOWER TRIASSIC ROCKS IN ADJACENT REGIONS (VELEBIT AND THE SLOVENIAN PART OF THE OUTER DINARIDS) The geographical posi tion of the Gorski Kotar, bet· ween the Velebit Palaeozoic complex to ~he East, and thc Slovcnian Palaeozoic to the West (Fi gs . [ & 2), necessarily imposes the need for comparison with these areas both in the lithological and biostratigraphical sense. Revealing the lithostratigraphica l problems in Gorski Kotar would provide the answer to the problem of the "miss ing link". This would not only be of local importance but would also contribute to the studies that deal with global events within the Palaeozoic. The Palaeozoic sedimentary sequ ence in Velebit (Fig. 2) was described in detail and biostratigraphically docum ented by SALOPEK (1948 ), KOCHANSKY· DEVIDE (1965, 1982), SREMAC (1991), and TIS· LJAR et al. (1991 ). The Permian deposits unconfor· mably overlie Carboniferous deposits. They commence with limestone containing Schwagerina and Pseu­ doschwagerina, which are equivalent to the Rattendorf beds that occur in the Alps. The middle Rattendorf beds arc cspecially well developed (sandy clays wi th shale intercalation - Granzlandbanke) with fu su linids of the Zellia· type, Quasiftlsldina nimia KOCI-IANSKY·DEV· IDE, Neospirifer (KOCHANSKY.DEVIDE, 1982) and the problcmati ca Ramovsia limes KOCHANSKY · DEVIDE. The Kosna beds consist of coarse -grained conglomerates which often contain limestone pebbles that rangc from Moscovian to Upper Assel ian (KOCH· ANSKY ·DEVIDE ct aI. , 1982) . Apmt from these extra· ordinary mottled limestone conglomerates, the Kosna series also includes fine-grained quartz conglomerate and also red, yellow and grey pyritic sandstone (RAF· FAELLI & SCAVNICAR, 1968) which are usually found in the basal part together with the breccias (SALOPEK, 1942). Limestones containing Darvasiles, Pseudoschwagerina and algae (KOCI-IANSKY · DEV· IDE, 1973) are rarely found in this series. The Kosna series is considered to be the continuation of the clastic Trogkofel beds deposits from Slovenia, which form a dominanlly carbonate limestone evol ution in the Alps, passing gradually in the east into a more claycy-sandy­ conglomerate type of sedimentation (KOCHANSKY· DEVIDE, 1982). Aljinovic & SrCllI;lC; '111e Middle ;111<1 Upper Pcnni:1I1 DCI)()sils in Gorski Ko[