Lithofacies map and schematic charts of regional evolution of Lixouri peninsula (Cephalonia island, Greece) (scale 1:50.000).

The Pre-Apulian zone has been traditionally considered as a relatively uniform Meso-Cenozoic carbonate platform domain. We examine one of the segments of this domain, focusing on the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene succession of the westernmost part (Lixouri peninsula) of the island of Cephalonia (Ionian islands). The general setting is complicated by strong tectonic deformation, including crustal extension, collision, and flexural subsidence, with undetermined amounts of shortening and block rotation. Using a biostratigraphic and facies analysis perspective, we show that the outcropping successions differ in stratigraphic completeness and hiatuses, sedimentary development, and faunal/floral content. Biostratigraphy is mainly based on larger foraminifers using the Shallow Benthic Zonation; additional evidence comes from coralline algae and planktonic foraminifers; special reference is made to the Paleocene deposits, yielding taxonomically diverse and unrecorded assemblages. Facies analysis attempts to standardize depositional and paleoecological evidence in order to provide a framework for the interpretation of the sedimentary model and for a detailed geological map. A detailed fossil record, improved age-dating, and facies interpretation introduce new perspectives and are used to explore two different issues. Firstly, we argue that six different tectono-sedimentary sectors can be distinguished in the study area. The boundaries of these sectors are indicated by distinctive lithological and stratigraphical discontinuities: they probably correspond to tectonically obliterated areas of unknown extent, and the mutual relationships among the sectors remain hypothetical. Secondly, assuming that their present-day position and the Meso-Cenozoic apparent facies gradient reflect actual relationships, we attempt to fit these sectors in a general depositional model. Thus, a general trend can be hypothesized for the study area, from a late Cretaceous rimmed platform to a Paleocene homoclinal carbonate ramp. In the Paleocene. differential interaction between local tectonic subsidence, eustatic sea-level change and biological controls on the carbonate factory produce a range of shallow water to slope deposits, punctuated by emersion episodes. A hiatus spanning much of the Eocene can be demonstrated throughout the study area. In Oligocene-Aquitanian times, an acme in spatial diversification is suggested, possibly related to flexurally subsiding foreland basins; in the late Early Miocene. progressive deepening ensued, with the demise of the former carbonate ramp.