Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia
pagrne 417-424

THE EQUIVATENT OF THE'FARAONI LEVEL'
- _ 

(I]P_PERMOST HAUTERIVIAN, TOVTN CRETACNbUS;
RECORDED IN THE EASTERN PNNT OF TRENTO-PL-EÍÈNU

(VENETIAN SOUTHERN ALPS, ITALY)

FABRIZIO CECCA(1), sIMoNE GALEOTTI(1), RoDoLFo coccloNl(1) & ELISABETTA ERBA(')

. Key<uords: Stratigraphy, Lower Cretaceous, Hauterivian, Am_
monites, Planktonic foraminifers, Venetian Southern Alps.

.. --.Riassunto. Nei pressi di Feltre (Alpi Meridionali, Veneto), ne_gli affioramenti di Cismon e pian del V"s.o,ro, è srato nconoscluro
nella formazione del Biancone un equivalente del Livello Faraoni.
originariamente descritto come Livello repere regionale nell,Appenni-
no Umbro-Marchigiano. In particolare, lo strato contenente una ricca
fauna ad Ammoniti della sotrozona a p catulloi (l{auteriviano termi_
nale) ed i sottili "black shales" che nella sezìone àer cismon ro orece-
dono sono correlabili con 1a pane inferiore del Livello Fr."orri d._
scritto in Umbria-Marche. Nello strato ad Ammoniti si osserva,
come rn Appennino, una abbondanza di Foraminiferi planctonici pri_
mitivi di tipo globigerinide identificabili come Gorbarchikella sp[. Il
rinvenimenro su una vasra area della Tetide Mediterranea di analoghi
litotipi, ed in panicolare dr uno straro ricco in Ammoniti con identi-
co tipo di conservazione, deve essere messa in relazione a variazioni
paleoceanografiche che interessarono lo zooplankton e le Ammoniti.

. - . A,bstract. An equivalent of the Faraoni Level, originally descri_
bed in the Umbria-Marche Apennines as a regional lithostratigraphic
marker, was recognized near Feltre (Venetian Southern Alp$ irthe
Biancone formation of the Cismon and pian del Vescovo secrlons.
The ammonite-rich bed of the p catulloi srbzone (uppermost Haute-
rivian) and the underlying thin black shales in th.-òrr-o, ...tro,
are correlatable with the "Lower interval" of the Faraoni rrvel descri-
bed in Umbria-Marche. As in the Apennines, in the ammonite_bea-
ring bed a flood of primitive, globigerinalike planktonic foramini-
fers, identified as Gorbachihella spp., was ob."*.à. The deposition of
similar lithologies, panicularly the ammonite-rich bed, over a wide
area of the Mediterranean Tethys suggests palaeoceanographic changes
affecting the zooplankton and the ammonite .o*-r.riì"r.

lntroduction.

This short note is focused on the documentation
of an equivalent of the Faraoni Level within the Bianco_
ne formation of the Venetian Southern Alps. In parricu_
lar, an ammonite-bearing bed was observed at the Ci_
smon and Pian del Vescovo sections. This layer is coeval
and very similar to the "Guide bed,' of the Faraoni Le-

vel, which was originally described as a regional marker
by Cecca et aI. (1994a) in the Maiolica forlation of the
Umbria-Marche Apennines. The Biancone formation (of
mainly Early Cretaceous age) consists of light grey ro
grey pelagic nannoconid-limestones, with chert lenses
and nodules. A peculiar reddish/pinkish inrerval was di_
stinguished in a few secrions oucropping in the Sout-
hern Alps and dated as Flauterivian-Barremian (Bosellini
et a1., 1978). Bio-magnetostratigraphic studies of several
sections allowed the attribution of such an interval to
magnetic chron CM4 (Channell et aI., 1979,1993).

The Maiolica formation (Early Cretaceous) in the
Umbria-Marche Basin is very similar in lithology to the
Biancone formation but a ..reddish,/pinkish interval,,
'was never observed.

The Faraoni Level was defined in Umbria_Marche
as a 25 to 40 cm thick alternance of organic carbon_rich
black shales (Baudin et al., L995) and limestones. One of
the limestone beds, named .,Guide-bed", is characterized
by a well preserved, rich and diverse ammonite fauna
indicating the uppermost Flauterivian p. angulicostata
zofie, P. catwlloi subzone. The Faraoni Level was correla_
ted to the middle part of chron CM4 in rwo secrions of
the Umbria-Marche Apennines (Cecca er al., 7994b;
Channell et a1., !995).

The field data at Cismon and pian del Vescovo.

The Cismon secrion crops our at km 52.6 of the
State road n. 50 (Fig. 1), along the valley of the Cismon
river. The age control of the Cismon secrion is based on
intergrated litho-bio-magnero-chemostrutigraphy (Chan_
nell et a1., 1,979; Bralower, 19gZ; \Weissert et al., 19g5;
\fieissert, 1989; Erba; 1994). Magnetic chron M4 begins

1) università degli studi di urbino, Istituto di Geologia, loc. crocicchia, 61029 urbrno.
2) Dipanimento di Scienze della Terra dell'Università'degli Studi di Milano, via Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milano.



418 F. Cecca, S. Galeotti, R. Coccioni & E. Erba

/ óozata
îrento

I 
studyl

L-

\ Firenze

in the uppermost part of the "red interval" and is 2 m
thick. The surveyed portion of the section starts ar the
top of the "red interval" followed by 60 cm of grey
Iimestone and by the following lithologic succession,
from bottom to top (Fig. 2):

1) black shale; 0.5 to L cm;
2) thin calcareous lenses; O to 0.5 cm;
3) black shale; 0 to 0.5 cm;
4) grey limestone, 42 cm-thick, subdivided in two

parts by a stylolithe: 4a, rich in ammonires (24 cm); 4b,
devoid of ammonites (18 cm);

6l or".r-o"oo. -o"1., i.to'h^'I. n 
q 

^-.rrrrrr vru) v.J Lrrr,
6) limestone; 4 cm;
7) grey marl; 0.5 cm.

The rich ammonite fauna from layer 4a comprises
t he foll owin g f^xai Plry I I op a cIry c e ras infund ib ul u m (d' O r -
bigny), Neolissoceras grasi (d'Orbigny), Hypoplrylloceras
tetlrys (d'Orbigry), Pseudothurmannia ntortilleti (Picrer.
& De loriol), P sarasini Sarkar (Fig. 3), ?Emericiceras cÍ.
clausum (Sarasin & Schòndelmayer), Psilotissotia n. sp.
and Barremires sp. The ammonites ttear a pseudomor-
phic test and are filled by micrite and calcite in geopetal
structure. Tectonic fractures often break the fossils.

The Pian del Vescovo section is located only 1 km
west of the Cismon section aiong the road to the La-
mon town at km 2 (Fig. 1). Flere, layer 4 was observed

flg. r Location map. 1: Cismon sec-
tion; 2: Pian del Vescovo sec-
tion.

and is splitted into two parts.by a stylolithe, being the
lower part enriched in ammonites as in the Cismon sec-
tion. Flowever, only one black-shale layer was identified
below layer 4 and seems ro correspond to the interval
1-3 from Cismon section (Fig. 2). The ammonite fauna
from layer 4 of the Pian del Vescovo section includes
the following taxa: Phyllopacbyceras infundibulum (d'Or-
bigny), Pseudothurmannia catwllol (Parona), P. cf. sarasi-
ni Sarkar, ?Emericiceras sp., Psilotissotia sp. and Barremi-
tes sP.

The ammonite fauna from layer 4a at both locali-
ties is indicative of the base of the ? catwlloi subzone of
the P angwlicostata zone of latest Flauterivian age.Micro-
facies analysis was carried out on the Cismon secrion
from the top of the "red interval" to sample +2 (Fig.2).
Few types of microfacies were distinguished: (1) iargely
dominated by micrite with sparse radiolarians and
benthic foraminifers in samples -4, -L, and +2; Q) domi-
nated by radiolarians along with sparse benthic forami-
nifers in samples -3 and in layer 4b; (3) characterrzed by
very abundant primitive, globigerinaJike planktonic fo-
raminifers identified as Gorbacbikella spp. (Fig. 4a-e) and
abundant radiolarians in the ammonite-bearing Iayer 4a;
(4) characterízed by scattered, small-sized planktonic fo-
raminifers together with very rare radiolarians in sample
-2, half a way between the "red interval" and layer 4a.
The planktonic foraminiferal assemblage of sample -2 is
much more diversified than in layer 4a and includes:



66

CISMON SECTION

Layers

s-7Ì

4b

4a

L3Ì

Claaihedbergella eouetacea Neagu (Fig. ah), Favusella
hauteriaica (Subbotina), Globigerinelloides ? sp., Hedber-
gella aptica (Agalarova) (Fig. 4f), H. delrioensi.s (Carsey)
(Fig. ag), H. sigali Moullade. This association is attribu-
table to the H. sigali - H. delrioensis Zone spanning the
entire Flauterivian (Coccioni & Premoli Silva, 1994).
Benthic foraminifers (tentatively identified as ammodi-
scids, textularids, nodosarids and miliclids) are scattered
through the studied interval.

Microfacies analysis was carried out on one sam-
ple from layer 4a at Pian del Vescovo. It shows the same
microfacies characters than layer 4a at Cismon, in parti-
cular the abundance of Gorbachikella spp.

The "Faraoni Leael" in the eastern oart ofTrento Plateau

PIAN DEL VESCOVO
SECTION

41,9

: ll

I

t

I
tl

I

I

I
u

Ton nf rlre
"red interval "

@

\9

Grey chert

Ammonites

Stylolithe

Limestone

Shale

b

w

Fig.2 - The Cismon and Pian del Ve-
scovo sections and position of
the samples for micropaleon-

. tological study.

Correlations to the Faraoni Level from the Umbria-
Marche Basin.

As mentioned above, a similar ammonite fauna
indicative of the base of the P catulloi subzone of the P
angulicostata zone 'was previously found with an identi-
cal preservation in the "Guide-bed" of the Faraoni Level
from the Umbria-Marche Basin (Cecca et al., 1994a). Tn
addition, the "Guide-bed" also yielded the same pecu-
liar flood of primitive, globigerinaJike planktonic fora-
minifers identified as Gorbachikella (Coccioni et al.,
submitted). Thus, although in the Umbria-Marche suc-
cession radiolarians are much more abundant overali, it
seems that the ammonite-bearing portion oÍ layer 4
from the Cismon area is equivalent of the "Guide-bed"
of the Faraoni Level from the Umbria-Marche area.

The succession from northern Italy, however, is
hard to correlate bed by bed with that from the Um-
bria-Marche. Cecca et al. (1,99aa) described the Faraoni
Levei as composed by (f-- bottom to top),

- "Lower Interval", with
(limestone), C (black shaie);

- "Guide-bed", a 18-20
limestone (layer D);

layers A (black shale), B

cm-thick ammonite-rich

Fig. 3 - Pseudothurmannia sarasinisarkar: a, lateral view; b, ventral /i. 
- "lJpper Interval": with layers E (black shale)' F

viev Cismon section, la-ver 4a, x1. (limestone), G (black shale).



420 F. Cecca. S. Galeotti. R. Coccioni & E. Erba

A) microphotograph of GorbachikelLa (arrows) assemblage with radiolarians, x 25; B, C) Gorbacbikella sp., transverse section, x 160;
D, E) axial section, x 160; F) Hed.bergella aptica (Agalarova), transterse sectìon, x 290; G) Hedbergella delrioensis (Carsey), transverse
section, x 290; Íl) Claoihedbergella eocretdced Neagu, transverse section, x 290. All microphotographs from Cismon section: A-E,
layer 4a; F-H, sample -2 (see Fig. 2).

Fìo 4



\

Limestone

Calcueous
lens

F=
L-

Black shal€
shaly interbed

O
Black che(

o
Grey chen

Stylolithe

\9

G

F_
E

c-

A

In Figure 5 we tentatively correlate (1) the "l,ower
Inrerval" of the Faraoni kvel (Cecca et al., 1994a) with
levels 1 to 3 from the Cismon section, although the mar-
casite nodules and black chert were not observed in both
the Cismon and Pian del Vescovo sections; Q) Iayer 4a
from both Cismon and Pian del Vescovo sections is equi-
valent to the "Guide-bed" of the Faraoni Level in Um-
bria-Marche; (3) the "Upper Interval" seems to be absent
in the Cismo Ít area, being apparently deleted by the sty-
lolithe surface. The latter interpretation is speculative
and the suggesrcd correlation is marked by question
marks. Definitely, layers 5-7 from the Cismon section are
not correlative to the Faraoni's "Upper Interval".

Discussion and Conclusions.

Despite the lithologicai differences between the
Biancone and Maiolica formations, and particularly in

Tlte "Faraoni Lepel" in the edstern part ofTrento Plateau

TRENTO PLATEAU
(North-Eastem Italy)

CISMON SECTION

6
.)(Da

UMBRIA-MARCHE
(Apennines, Central Italy)

BOSSO SECTION

Type section of the

Faraoni Level

Layers

1
6

5

4b

_\

Fig. 5 - Simplified lithologic logs and
proposed correlations of the
Bosso section, type section of
the Faraoni Level (lrllarche
Aoenninesl and the Cismon
section (Trento Plateau).

the Upper Flauterivian interval, we suggest that the
"Guide-bed" of the Faraoni Level is also present in the
Cismon area, some 500 km apart in terms of modern
geography. This implies that the palaeoenvironmental
conditions leading to the deposition of this ammonite-
bearing bed acted at much larger scale than previously
thought (Cecca et a1.,1994a).

It is worth mentioning that Hoedemaeker (1995a)
reported an important turnover of ammonite faunas at
the base of the P catulloi subzone. Such an event was
correlated to a sea-level fall corresponding to a type-l
sequence boundary (Hoedemaeker, 1995b). In Umbria-
Marche and Cismon area this faunal turnover is deposi-
tionally represented by the "Guide-bed" and layer 4a,
resPectively.

The abundance of ammonites in the "Guide-bed"
might indicate a reduced accumuiation rate or a mass-
mortality event. The flood of primitive, monogeneric



^11 F. Cecca, S. Galeotti, R. Coccioni & E. Erba

planktonic foraminiferal assemblage associated to this pe-
culiar layer suggests that a change in surface water stîuc-
ture and trophism may have occurred at the time of its
deposition. In fact, planktonic foraminifers below and
above the "Guide-bed" in the Maiolica are raÍe and di-
scontinuously recorded (Micarelli et al., 1977; Coccioni
et al., 1,992; Cecca et al., 1994b).

The organic matter of the black shales of the
"I-ower" and "Upper" intervals of the Faraoni Level is
mainly of marine origin: type II organic matter and a
mixture of type II and III have been distinguished (Bau-
din et al., t995). The palynofacies are dominated by
amorphous organic matter and dinoflagellate cyst assem-
blages are scarse and poorly diversified (Baudin et a1., in
press). The geochemical and palynological data support
the hypothesis of dysoxic rather than strictly anoxic
conditions on the sea-floor (Galeotti, 1996; Baudin et
a1., in press) during the deposition of the black-shale
layers.

Minor fluctuations of 613C were recorded in the
Upper Flauterivian-I-ower Barremian limestones of the
Southern Alps (lVeissert et a1., 1985; Weissert & Lini,

1991; Channell et al., 1993) and might suggesr changes
in palaeoproductivity.

Our study demonstrates that part of the Faraoni
Level occurs in a palaeogeographic area wider than pre-
viously thought. The lithological and palaeontological
characteristics of the "Guide bed" seems to be related to
palaeoenvironmental change as suggested by geochemi-
stry (Baudin et a1., 1,995; in press) as well as ammonires
and foraminifers. We speculate that changes in paiaeo-
productivity affecting the zooplankton and rhe ammoni-
te communities resulted in the deposition of the arnmo-
nite-rich bed. Further multi- and interdisciplinary sru-
dies are needed to clarify the palaeoceanographic condi-
tions and palaeobiologic changes which led to the depo-
sition of the Faraoni Level.

Acknotaledgements.

lVe would like to thank Prof. Isabella Premoli Silva (lt4ilan)
and Helmut 'Weissen (Zùrich) for their reviews and critical
suggestions which considerably improved this paper.
E. Erba research funded by MURST 40olo funds to I. Premoli Silva.

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Receioed July 5, 1996; lrccepted October 4, 1996

The "Faraoni Level" in tbe eastern part of Trento Plateau