HAUTERIVIAN SHALLOW MARINE CALCAREOUS BIOGENIC MOUNDS - SE SPAIN

Hauterivian biogenic deposits from the Prebetic northern margin near C audete (Albacete Province, southeastern Spain) are represented by low domed bodies, less than 10 m thick, surrounded by bioclastic sediments and capped by siliciclastics. They consist of a coral, stromatoporoid and microbial framework with cavities filled by mud, rapidly lithifie d. Intermound bioclastics, derived from the mound organic community, r eflect high energy conditions and shallow water settings. Mound growth and architecture were controlled by nutrient fluxes and internal ligh t gradients. Comparisons with closely related structures from the Pala eozoic and the Recent show some similarities but also significant diff erences; the example documented here also departs from other Cretaceou s occurrences.