Revised radiolarian ages for the sedimentary cover of the Balagne ophiolite (Corsica, France). Implications for the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Balano-Ligurian margin

Abstract

Abstract The age of radiolarites covering the Balagne ophiolite is reassessed based on new and revised radiolarian fossil evidence. The oldest radiolarian cherts are dated as upper Bathonian-lower Callovian in two tectonic units: San Colombano and Novella. These are amongst the oldest ages available so far from ophiolites of the Ligurian ocean. An important stratigraphic gap, spanning the Callovian-early Kimmeridgian interval, is specified between radiolarites and the overlying (and locally gullying) San Colombano shallow-water limestones (sub-unit I). We can now specify that radiolarian ooze accumulated until the late Kimmeridgian in the distal parts of the Balagne margin (sub-unit SC III and Novella unit), while fragments of Hercynian basement fell into the Balagne basin during the late Kimmeridgian-Tithonian.