Tempestite facies models for the epicontinental Triassic carbonates of the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain)

This study focuses on storm deposits in the Muschelkalk facies of the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain) and interprets their deposition mechanisms. Three types of storm deposit are distinguished: (i) pot/gutter casts; (ii) tempestite beds; and (iii) storm-winnowed deposits. Each deposit provides information about the carbonate platform environment in which it was deposited. The tempestite models proposed are: (i) the bypass-zone tempestite model, occurring in a muddy ramp at the epicontinental basin margin. This model is characterized by potholes and gutters that form in a shoreline bypass-zone during storms; (ii) the gradient-current tempestite model in which frequent tempestite beds are related to storm gradient currents. Thickness and grain size decrease towards the deep distal ramp; and (iii) the winnowed deposit tempestite model whereby storm deposits are winnowed and deposited in the same environment with only short lateral transport having occurred. This model evokes more restricted and shallower conditions, lagoons or inland seas. The distribution of all these deposits in the stratigraphic sections studied corroborate the eustatic third-order cycle identified, although the different features of the storm deposits and their positions in each section indicate a subsidence varying in time and space. In the transgressive stage, the margins of the epicontinental basin were a well-developed ramp with potholes and gutters. In contrast, during the high sea-level stage, storm deposits generated tempestite beds or storm-winnowed deposits in the different areas. The epicontinental carbonate platform with ramp edges evolved into a complex depositional system of coastal and shallow-marine environments with lagoons and restricted inland seas. Thus, the epicontinental platform underwent substantial change from the Late Anisian to the Late Ladinian and this is reflected in its storm deposits.