Jurassic-Cretaceous transition on the Getic carbonate platform (Southern Carpathians, Romania): Benthic foraminifera and algae

The carbonate succession of the Piatra Craiului Massif, i.e., the eastern part of the Getic carbonate platform (Southern Carpathians, Romania), comprises reefal and peritidal limestones that contain a diverse microfossil assemblage composed mainly of calcareous green algae and benthic foraminifera. The biostratigraphically most significant benthic foraminifera found in the several sections studied are described; some (Anchispirocyclina lusitanica, Neokilianina rahonensis, Bramkampella arabica, Everticyclammina praekelleri) are reported for the first time in this area. Hence, assemblages of both foraminifera and calcareous algae characterize three biostratigraphic intervals in the studied succession, the Kimmeridgian - lower Tithonian, the upper Tithonian - lower Berriasian, and the upper Berriasian - ? lower Valanginian intervals. The main microfacies types (bioclastic rudstone, coral-microbial boundstone, bioclastic grainstone, interbedded mudstones and wackestones with cyanobacteria nodules) as well as both the foraminifera and the calcareous algae are paleoecological indicators that may contribute to the decipherment of the depositional environments and to building a depositional model for the eastern part of the Getic carbonate platform at the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous transition.