Cyclostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of a bioclastic storm-dominated carbonate ramp (late Pliensbachian, Iberian Basin)

Deposition of regressive successions and coeval positive trend in the oxygen stable isotope record in relatively deep marine successions of the upper Pliensbachian of western European basins have been related to a cooling interlude within the warm greenhouse conditions of the Pliensbachian. Sedimentological, cyclostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic analyses carried out in two upper Pliensbachian successions exposed in the Iberian Chain (Obón and San Pedro localities, Spain) allowed the characterization of the imprint of this cooling interlude on the relatively shallow areas of the Iberian carbonate ramp. The upper Pliensbachian succession is characterized by skeletal limestones and encompasses proximal mid-ramp to proximal outer-ramp facies, in which resedimentation and reworking by storm-induced flows controlled the accumulation of bioclastic debris. Two orders of high-frequency, metre-scale sequences have been identified: bundles of beds, and deepening-shallowing sets of bundles. According to the age calibration (previous biostratigraphic data and new strontium isotopes data) and correlation with nearby sections, these sequences are suggested as formed in tune with the short-term and long-term eccentricity Milankovitch cycles. The isotopic data from brachiopod shells and belemnite rostra indicate progressively increasing δ18O and slightly decreasing δ13C trends for the uppermost Pliensbachian Spinatum Zone, reflecting the influence of cooling conditions. However, facies analysis reflects that the expected coeval long-term regression was interrupted by a tectonically driven transgressive event in the uppermost part of the Spinatum Zone.