Shallow-water carbonate response to climatic events: sedimentological, paleoecological and chemostratigraphic approaches to foraminiferal biocalcification during the Paleogene in the Thetyan realm (Dinarids and Oman)

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The early Paleogene was the warmest time during the Cenozoic recording several significant climatic events (Zachos et al., 2001). This warm period coincided with major perturbations of the carbon cycle at different temporal scales. Many studies have focused on deep-sea sediments as record of these changes. However, only few studies have focused on the link between these global physical-chemical changes of seawater and shallow marine biota evolution during the Paleocene-Eocene time. We propose to examine the response of shallow water ecosystems to these paleoenvironmental changes as an important record to understand the development of early Cenozoic carbonate platforms. Though a detailed investigation of successions outcropping in NW Dinarids and Oman Mountains, as representative of circum-Tethyan platforms, we intend to verify the synchronicity of well known global climatic events. Their effects in low latitude platform facies will be examined by detailed bio-, chemo- and ecostratigraphical studies. Particularly we intend to investigate the relationship between Larger Benthic Foraminifer (LBF) evolution, the most common constituent of early Cenozoic carbonate platforms, and the major environmental and ecological parameters (e.g. water temperature, trophic regime, water chemistry). Further to address this objective we propose to apply ecological and geochemical studies of living larger foraminifera as powerful tool for the interpretation of the fossil community.