Foraminifera from the Norian–Rhaetian reef carbonates of the Taurus Mountains (Saklıkent, Turkey)

Abstract

Norian–Rhaetian reef carbonates are exposed in several localities in Taurus Mountains. They predominately contain hypercalcified sponges, followed by scleractinian corals and other less numerous organisms. A coherent Norian–Rhaetian reef structure is exposed near the small town of Saklıkent, west of Antalya. Foraminifers occur in reef carbonates of Saklıkent by numerous genera as shown in this paper. Two species — Siculocosta taurica and Siculocosta sadati — are described as new. The foraminiferal association of Saklıkent is similar or almost identical to the associations known from the Norian–Rhaetian reefs of Sicily, Northern Calcareous Alps, and Greece but shows less similarity to the foraminiferal association from the Apennines, Italy. The most abundant foraminifers are milioliporoids, particularly galeanellids and cucurbitids. Some sessile and agglutinated foraminifers, including Alpinophragmium perforatum Flügel, which mostly occurs abundantly in the Norian–Rhaetian reef carbonates, could not be found in the Saklıkent reef. This association of foraminifera is reported for the first time from a Norian–Rhaetian reef in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey.

Keywords

• Foraminifera
• Upper Triassic
• reef
• Saklıkent
• Taurus Mountains
• Turkey