Age and significance of Upper Cretaceous siliciclastic turbidites in the central Pindos Mountains, Greece

A significant 5- to 30-metre-thick interval of siliciclastic turbidites forming the First Flysch is present in the deep-water succession of the Pindos Zone. Nannofossil investigations in the central parts of the Pindos Mountains of mainland Greece indicate an assemblage of the Marthasterites furcatus zone (CC13). The presence of M. furcatus, together with common Quadrum gartneri suggests that the turbidites were deposited mainly during the middle to upper part of the late Turonian. The siliciclastic turbidites are interpreted as deposits of a lowstand fan as a result of a pronounced short-time eustatic sea-level drop in the late Turonian.