Depositional environment of Upper Carboniferous – Lower Permian beds in the Karavanke Mountains (Southern Alps, Slovenia)

Late Paleozoic rocks were studied in detail in the Dov anova soteska section. The Upper Carboniferous sedimentary succession, correlated with upper part of Auernig and SchulterkofelFm. in the Carnic Alps, indicates cyclic clastic-carbonate deposition in a coastal to shallow marine ramp setting with strong influenceofcoarse-grainedfluvial-deltaicsilici-clastics from the hinterland, storm dominated regime of nearshore sediments, and offshore algal buildups. The Lower Permian sequence is developed differently from its time equivalentGrenzland Fm. and is subdivided into Dov anova soteska Fm., Born Fm., and Rigelj beds. It is marked by the formation of a reef mound on the platform margin. Open-marine inner platform close to the marginal shoals represented the depositional environment of the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sediments. Thus, a platform evolution from a ramp into a rimmed shelf is suggested.