f Sedimentary Facies and Depositional Environments of the Upper Triassic Carbonate-Evaporite Succession of Denizli-Kızılyer (SW Anatolia, Turkey)

The Upper Triassic carbonate-evaporite Kızılyer unit, which outcrops mainly in southeastern Denizli area (SW Turkey), occurs as a tectonic slice within the carbonate and ophiolithic units of allochthonous Lycian nappes (Alçiçek et al, 2003; Gündoğan et al., 2008). It consists of interbedded layers of sulphates (anhydrite/gypsum), dolostone and dolomitic limestones represented by: Lithofacies-I: dark gray homogeneous dolostone, including three microfacies: mudstone: dolomicrite, with rare ostracods and ghosts of foraminifers; wackestone-packestone: dolobiomicrosparite, including peloids, foraminifers, rare ostracods and echinoderm plates with syntaxial overgrowths; and bioclastic packstone: composed of ostracods, ossicles of echinoderms/crinoids and peloids; and Lithofacies-II: light-dark grey dolomitic limestone with fenestral fabrics, including two microfacies: cryptalgal boundstone composed of discontinuous cryptalgal laminae which fragments are separated by dolosparitic or sulphate cements and ostracod/peloidal packstone-grainstone: made up of alternating layers containing ostracods, algal aggregates and traces of hyaline foraminifers. Sedimentological and micropalaeontological evidences indicate that Kızılyer succession was deposited in protected environments of the peritidal zone of a shallow inner ramp under a tropical/arid climate.