Conodont-based stratigraphy in the Devonian of the Serre Massif (southern Italy)

The results of litho- and biostratigraphic studies of three sections measured in weakly metamorphosed Famennian carbonate successions of the Stilo Unit in the Serre Massif (Calabria, southern Italy), together with recently published stratigraphic data related to other Devonian carbonates from the same area, allow definition of three formations: Assi Formation, San Giovanni Formation, and Ponte Vina Formation. The Assi Formation consists of grey, slightly nodular limestones alternating with thin-bedded calcareous slates; the type section has recently been dated, by conodonts, as Early-Middle? Devonian. The San Giovanni Formation consists of reddish nodular limestones, rich in greyish matrix, and contains Famennian (Late Devonian) conodonts. The Ponte Vina Formation is mainly composed of metacarbonates recently dated as Late Devonian by means of conodonts. These new data suggest correlation with nearby domains belonging to the Sicilian Longi-Taormina Unit or other better-known Paleozoic sequences in the western Mediterranean area, such as the Alps and the Betic and Rifian chains, and indicate that the studied succession developed in a sedimentary basin along the northern Gondwana margin during the Devonian.