Crinoidal limestones as Ordovician–Cretaceous geological heritage

Abstract

Attention to carbonate rocks is important in the contemporary geoheritage studies, although the related knowledge is yet to be complete. The consideration of the already published information can help to fill this gap. The present study offers interpretation of crinoidal limestones (encrinites) in the terms of geoheritage. A total of 180 literature sources (chiefly articles in international journals) were selected, and their content was analyzed. These sources trace the history of crinoidal limestones from the Ordovician to the Cretaceous; these carbonate rocks were especially common in the Carboniferous and Jurassic. Nonetheless, crinoidal limestones are relatively rare in the world’s sedimentary records, and, thus, they constitute a geoheritage resource. The multiple lines of evidence imply that these rocks can be assigned to ten geoheritage types. The existing works stress their scientific and educational utility. Their touristic importance is linked, particularly to the colors of these rocks, which associate with the common people’s emotions. The collected literature suggests that crinoidal limestones are chiefly a potential, not yet proven geoheritage resource. However, several in-situ and ex-situ geoheritage objects representing these rocks have already been established. Generally, the present study demonstrates a novel perspective for the application of carbonate sedimentology.