Distribution of coral-microbialite reefs along the French Jura platform during the Bimammatum Zone (Oxfordian, Late Jurassic)

Abstract

widespread in the various known geographical realms, north Tethysian, south Tethysian, north Atlantic, and Pacific (Leinfelder 2001). The many studies conducted by R. Leinfelderʼs German team during the 1990s have shown that these reefs were diversified and occupied specific ecological niches: stromatolites near the shore line, coral reefs in relatively shallow and proximal zones, siliceous sponge bioherms in deeper and distal parts of the platform, and microbial mounds in deep epicontinental basins (Leinfelder 1993, 2001; Leinfelder et al. 1993, 1996; Werner et al. 1994; Nose 1995; Schmid 1996; Nose & Leinfelder 1997; Leinfelder & Schmid 2000). These works paved the way for numerous publications about the coral assemblages, microbialites and microencrusters that were involved in the formation of these Late Jurassic reefs (Insalaco 1996; Insalaco et al. 1997; Bertling & Insalaco 1998; Dupraz & Strasser 1999, 2002; Olivier et al. 2003, 2004a, b, 2006; Mancini et al. 2004; Shiraishi & Kano 2004; Reolid et al. 2005, 2009; Helm & Schülke 2006; Matyszkiewicz et al. 2006, 2012; Pleş et al. 2013; Ricci et al. 2018a). Several studies on Late