A reef coral in the condensed Maiolica facies on the Mt Nerone pelagic carbonate platform (Marche Apennines). The enigma of ancient pelagic deposits

A coral interpreted as a shallow-water zooxa nthellate (z-) form has been recovered from the uppermost part of a condensed, pelagic ca rbonate platform-top succession, in levels with transitional characters between the jurassic Bugarone Group and the Maiolica Formation, a calpionellid-bearing pelagic deposit. While the existence of z­ corals in the jurassic pelagic facies of northern Apenninic structural highs is well documented, with earl y Tithonian forms diagnostic of the lower layers of the photic zone, the species described in this paper is slightly younger (late Tithonian ), possesses a different morphology and is known from typical reeffacies.While this find­ ing provides welcome evidence for the paleodepth interpretation of otherwise enigmatic facies, it also challenges our understanding of pelagic deposits, in paleoenvironments that have no modern counterparts.