The Schlern Formation, also known as Schlern Dolomite, and Sciliar Formation or Sciliar Dolomite in Italy, is a limestone, marl and dolomite formation in the Southern Limestone Alps in Kärnten, Austria and South Tyrol, Italy.Schlern Formation at Fossilworks.orgSchlern 1 Formation at Fossilworks.orgSciliar Dolomite at Fossilworks.org
Description
It preserves fossils dating back to the Middle Triassic period (late Anisian-middle Ladinian), or Illyrian to Longobardian in the regional stratigraphy. The formation correlates with the Wetterstein Formation of the Northern Limestone Alps. The formation is also coeval with the Livinallongo or Buchenstein Formation. The Schlern Formation is unconformably overlain by the Cassian Dolomite, and overlies the Contrin Formation separated by another unconformity. Deposition of the formation took place between the Pelsonian Humid Interval and the Ladinian Humid Interval, that preceded the better known Carnian Pluvial Event (CPE).Bernardi et al., 2018, p.3
In Italy, the unit is recognized in the Civetta and Latemar reef buildups, and in Austria at the Gartnerkofel.
Fossil content Among others, the following fossils have been described from the Schlern Formation: Bivalves Daonella esinensisOgilvie Gordon, 1927 Gastropods
Cassianopsis decussataFriesenbichler et al., 2019 Coelostylina conica Fedaiella neritacea Hologyra alpinaBöhm, 1895 H. elevata Hologyra (Vernelia) dissimilis Loxonema aequale Neritaria plicatilis Palaeonarica concentrica Promathildia pygmaea Pustulifer alpina Tyrsoecus (Stephanocosmia) Zygopleura spinosa
See also
List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Austria List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Italy Bletterbach
References
Bibliography
Text and images are available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Further reading A. Emmerich, V. Zamparelli, T. Bechstädt and R. Zühlke. 2005. The reefal margin and slope of a Middle Triassic carbonate platform: the Latemar (Dolomites, Italy). Facies 50(3–4):573-614 J. Pfeiffer. 1988. Paleontology and microfacies of a platform margin in the Carnic Alps (Austria, Middle Triassic). Facies 19:33-60 E. Fois and M. Gaetani. 1981. The northern margin of the Civetta buildup. Evolution during the Ladinian and the Carnian. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e stratigrafia 86(3):469-542 E. Fois. 1981. The Sass da Putia carbonate buildup (western Dolomites): biofacies succession and marginal development during the Ladinian. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia 87(4):565-598