“TABERINA” BINGISTANI HENSON, 1948

Geologica Romana 39 (2006), 89-94
“TABERINA” BINGISTANI HENSON, 1948 (FORAMINIFERA) FROM THE
UPPER CENOMANIAN OF APULIA (SOUTHERN ITALY): A NEW RECORD
Massimiliano Borghi * & Johannes S. Pignatti **
* ENI divisione AGIP, Esplorazione e Produzione, Via del Marchesato 13, 48023 Marina di Ravenna (Ra), Italy
** Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università La Sapienza, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy and IGAG/CNR, Roma
ABSTRACT - The first occurrence of “Taberina” bingistani Henson, 1948 from Upper Cenomanian limestones
of the Apulian platform cropping out near Polignano a Mare is recorded. The stratigraphic and paleogeographic
range of this species, whose generic assignment is still doubtful, are discussed.
KEY-WORDS: Taberina, Foraminifera, Micropaleontology, Paleobiogeography, Cenomanian, Apulia, Italy
RIASSUNTO - Viene segnalato il primo rinvenimento di “Taberina” bingistani Henson, 1948 nei calcari cenomaniani di piattaforma di Polignano a Mare (Puglia). Vengono discusse la distribuzione stratigrafica e paleogeografica di tale specie, la cui attribuzione generica appare ancora incerta.
INTRODUCTION
The aim of the present note is to give a brief account
of a new record of the larger foraminifer Taberina
bingistani Henson, 1948 from an Upper Cenomanian
limestone of central Apulia (Southern Italy). This occurrence is noteworthy from the paleobiogeograpic standpoint, because it adds a new element to the well-known
Cenomanian foraminiferal assemblages of the Apulian
platform (Azzaroli & Reichel, 1964; Luperto Sinni,
1966; Ricchetti, 1975; Luperto Sinni & Ricchetti, 1978;
Luperto Sinni & Borgomano, 1989) and Central-Southern Italy (for a recent review, see Chiocchini et al.,
1995).
OUTCROP LOCATION
AND GEOLOGICAL OUTLINE
The investigated outcrop is located in the NW corner
of the 1:25.000 quadrangle II NE, Monopoli (map no.
190 of the 1:100.000 Italian cartographic system). The
outcrop is easily accessed from North Polignano exit of
state highway 16 and located approximately 1 km from
the latter along the coastal road to Brindisi (Fig. 1).
The studied section belongs to the Bari Limestone
Formation (Valduga, 1965), ranging from the Valanginian to the ?Lower Turonian (Ciaranfi et alii, 1988).
These deposits are considered as inner shelf facies
(Luperto Sinni & Borgomano, 1989).
The upper part of the Bari Limestone Formation cropping out in the study area has been subdivided by Luperto Sinni & Borgomano (1989) into a lower member
(Micritic Member) and an upper member (Sannicandro
Member), referred by them respectively to the lower(?)
part of the upper Cenomanian and the upper(?) part of
the upper Cenomanian.
Luperto Sinni & Borgomano (1989) established the
Micritic Mb. on a section that seems to correspond to the
lower part of the section studied by us. They recorded in
it the occurrence of Cuneolina pavonia parva, Cisalveolina (?) sp., Nezzazata sp., Peneroplis cf. planatus
parvus and Nummoloculina heimi and referred this
member to the lower(?) part of the upper Cenomanian.
The whole of our section can be attributed to the Micritic Mb. of the Bari Limestone Fm.
The Sannicandro Mb., instead, containing Cisalveolina fraasi, Chrysalidina gradata, Pseudolituonella
reicheli, Pseudorhapydionina dubia, Nummofallotia cf.
apula, Nezzazata sp. and the alga Heteroporella lepina,
was referred by them to the uppermost Cenomanian.
Azzaroli & Reichel (1964) recorded analogous coeval
assemblages (Cisalveolina fraasi, Chrysalidina gradata,
Pseudolituonella reicheli, and Dicyclina sp.) from the
Polignano-Sannicandro-Mola area.
OUTCROP DESCRIPTION
AND FORAMINIFERAL ASSEMBLAGE
The investigated succession (Fig. 2) consists of two
superposed sections of sub-horizontal strata separated by
a thin not exposed interval. The thickness of the entire
Fig. 1 - Outcrop location.
90
Geologica Romana 39 (2006), 89-94
BORGHI & PIGNATTI
Fig. 2 - Upper part of the investigated succession; the about 5-cm thick level yielding “T.” bingistani was found at the bottom of the quarry.
succession is about 20 m. The succession is consists of
limestones, dolomitized in places, with intercalated cmthick reddish levels interpreted by us as evidence of
subaerial exposure; the dolomitization is interpreted by
us as secondary.
Petrographic and geochemical evidences along with
microfacies analysis testify to frequent environmental
Fig. 3 - “T”. bingistani Henson, subaxial section. Scale bar = 1 mm.
changes in the succession and allow us to interpret the
investigated carbonates as shallow-water to peritidal
deposits, occasionally subaerially exposed (Borghi et al.,
1996).
The fossil assemblage includes rudists (in particular
Sauvagesia nicaisei), which are concentrated in the
lower and uppermost part of the succession, smaller and
“TABERINA” BINGISTANI HENSON, 1948 (FORAMINIFERA) ...
Geologica Romana 39 (2006), 89-94
91
THE RECORD OF “TABERINA”: DISCUSSION
Fig. 4 - “T”. bingistani Henson, oblique axial section. Scale bar = 0.5
mm.
larger benthic foraminifera and algae. Planktonic
foraminifera do not occur in the investigated deposits.
Slides of selected samples were prepared for nannoplankton, but proved to be barren of fossils. Variation in
microfaunal composition is apparently controlled by
both sedimentary and diagenetic factors, among which
notably small-scale changes in water depth and dolomitization.
Besides “T.” bingistani (Figs. 3, 4 and 5), the fossil
assemblage includes a typical late Cenomanian taxon
(De Castro, 1988), Cisalveolina fraasi, along with Vidalina sp., Cuneolina ex gr. pavonia, Trochospira avnimelechi, Biconcava bentori, Biplanata peneropliformis,
Nezzazata spp., Nezzazatinella picardi, Pseudorhapydionina dubia, Peneroplis parvus, Peneroplis sp., Chrysalidina gradata, Broeckina sp., Trocholina, and
Pseudonummoloculina heimi. Other common elements
are Textulariina, miliolids (including Spiroloculina
cretacea Auctt.), anomalinids, algae (e.g., Thaumatoporella), and the micro-problematicum Aeolisaccus sp.
Fig. 5 - “T”. bingistani Henson, sub-transverse section. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.
Taberina bingistani was described by Henson (1948)
on specimens in thin section from Kuh-i-Bingistan (Iran):
According to the original description, it is characterized
by possessing “initial spire with two to three involute
whorls; later chambers saucer shaped, building a cylindrical or acute conical test with about thirteen chambers
per millimetre measured along the axis; sutures slightly
depressed; megalosphere unicellular, circular in section,
measuring 0.11-0.15 mm in diameter.”
The genus Taberina Keijzer, 1945 is based on its designated type species T. cubana, from the Paleocene of Cuba
(Keijzer, 1945). His concept of Taberina is rather broad:
as outlined later (Henson, 1950), he considered that
Edomia Henson, 1948 and Pseudedomia Henson, 1948
are synonyms of Taberina, an opinion not shared by
subsequent authors (Hamaoui & Fourcade, 1973;
Loeblich & Tappan, 1987). Contrary to Henson (1948),
in our opinion the generic assignment of Taberina bingistani Henson is questionable, because the architecture of
the type species this genus does not seem to be properly
understood (Banner & Highton, 1989). Indeed, this
applies to various taxa which have been previously
referred to Taberina, such as T. malabarica (Carter, 1853)
(originally described as Orbiculina, from the EarlyMiddle Miocene of the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean domains), and T. daviesi Henson, 1950 (Late Paleocene of the Middle East and Somalia). Due to their
architecture, these last two species are currently ascribed
to genera different from Taberina (Banner & Highton,
1989; Pignatti, 1992). The generic attribution of another
nominal species, T. subcretacea Iovcheva, 1962 from the
92
Geologica Romana 39 (2006), 89-94
BORGHI & PIGNATTI
Fig. 6 - Paleogeography of central Neo-Tethys in late Cenomanian times (after Philip et al., 1993, modified and redrawn). Legend: white = land, gray
= terrigenous shelf and shallow terrigenous basin (shallow sea), light gray = carbonate platform (shallow sea), dark gray = deep sea. A = Apulian
Platform; AA = Anti-Atlas; BD = Bey Daglari; Ca = Calabria; ET = Eastern Taurus; G = Gavrovo; GO = Golija Massif; IM = Iberian Massif; KS =
Kirsehir; L = Lebanon; LA = Lazio-Abruzzi; MC = Massif Central; PL = Pelagonian Massif; PN = Panormides; RH = Rhodope Massif; S = Sardinia;
TA = Tatra Mts. The asterisks indicate the known records of “Taberina” bingistani. Records from Iran and an uncertain record from Somalia are not
shown.
Aptian of northeastern Bulgaria is uncertain, because no
details on its internal structure are given in the original
diagnosis, beyond its being “complex”.
Further investigations pending on the architecture of
Taberina cubana, we prefer to stress the uncertainty of
generic attribution of the species here recorded, and to
use an open generic assignment (“Taberina” bingistani).
“T.” bingistani Henson is a very distinctive larger
foraminifer of the Cenomanian of the Middle East. It has
been recorded from Iran (Henson, 1948; Sampò, 1969),
Kuwait (El-Naggar & Al-Rifaiy, 1973), Jordan (Koch,
1968), Israel (Henson, 1948; Hamaoui, 1966), Lebanon
(Hamaoui & Saint-Marc, 1970; Saint-Marc, 1970, 1977,
1982), and Syria (Henson, 1948). Other occurrences may
include specimens from Somalia recorded as Edomia gr.
iranica-reicheli Henson, 1948 by Prestat (1977: pl. 14,
fig.7; pl. 15, fig. 1) and referred to T. bingistani by SaintMarc (1982). The closest record to our study area, and as
yet the only record from Europe, is that by Fleury (1980;
p. 488, pl. 1, figs. 7-10) from western Greece (Proti
Island, Gavrovo domain) (Fig. 6).
It may be worth mentioning that in the same timespan
and depositional environment of “T.” bingistani there are
two other taxa in southern Italy which are to some extent
morphologically similar to the former in random thin
sections, Rhipidionina casertana De Castro, 1965 (=
Pseudorhipidionina casertana Auctt.), and Praerhapydionina murgiana Crescenti, 1964. However, the
endoskeleton of these species appears less developed and
their test is clearly compressed in its peneropliform adult
stage.
CONCLUSIONS
The record of “T.” bingistani Henson, 1948 adds a
new element to the well-known Cenomanian
foraminiferal assemblages of the Apulian platform and
of the central Mediterranean area in general. The generic assignment of this species needs careful restudy of the
type species of the genus.
Some hypotheses can be made about the scarcity of
finds of this taxon:
- reduced thickness (about 5 cm) of the layer, at least
in the studied section;
- lack of this thin layer elsewhere due e.g. to a stratigraphic gap;
- high environmental specialisation of this taxon;
Geologica Romana 39 (2006), 89-94
“TABERINA” BINGISTANI HENSON, 1948 (FORAMINIFERA) ...
- erroneous assignment to coeval taxa (Rhipidionina
casertana and Praerhapydionina murgiana), which are
superficially similar in random thin section.
Thus, the presence of “T.” bingistani Henson, 1948 in
the Apulian domain testifies to the existence of biogeographic links during the Cenomanian between the
Apulian carbonate platform and the Middle East domain.
Finally in the studied outcrop the co-existence of “T.”
bingistani and Cisalveolina fraasi (a typical marker for
the upper Cenomanian; De Castro, 1982) is recorded for
the first time. Also, the co-occurring Chrysalidina
93
gradata is “probably is confined to the mid Cenomanian
and the earlier part of the late Cenomanian; Turonian
records have yet to be confirmed” (Banner et al., 1991:
115).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - We are indebted Prof. M. Chiocchini,
Prof. C. Ferràndez-Cañadell, and Dr. S. Venturini (ENI-AGIP)
for critical review and suggestions. The comments of an
anonymous referee are gratefully acknowledged. We thank Dr.
A. Fiorentino for attempting nannoplankton investigation.
Financial support: MURST Cofin grant 2004 045173_003.
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Accettato per la stampa: Novembre 2006