Equatorial Shelf of the Palaeozoic Supercontinent – Cradle of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform

Carbonate sediments have been deposited in oceans and seas from the Proterozoic up to the present day. Their palaeogeographic distribution, extent and composition changed substantially through time. Recent carbonate platforms are closely linked with reef constructions, but, during the past, non-reefal carbonate production played an important role in the periods of the depressed reef-growth (KIESSLING et al., 2003). Under the term “carbonate platform” in Croatia we usually consider the sedimentary environment in the Karst Dinarides from the Late Triassic up to the end of Cretaceous, or even to the Middle Eocene. Nevertheless, the first evidence of shallow-water carbonate platform sedimentation in the western part of equatorial Palaeotethys is related to the Late Viséan (Fig. 1A), with ooids, crinoids and small foraminifera as carbonate producers (VELIĆ et al., 2002; KIESSLING et al., 2003). Equatorial Shelf of the Palaeozoic Supercontinent – Cradle of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform