Upper Cretaceous-Eocene microfacies from clasts in conglomerates of Zakynthos (Greece): a progress report

In the frame of ongoing research on the Paleogene depositional history of the Ionian Islands, we present new evidence on the Paleocene and Eocene of Zakynthos, focusing on reworked clasts from poorly known or as yet undescribed outcrops. Deposits of heterometric conglomerate crops out in Zakynthos along the Macherado/Romiri-Agalas road near the village of Kiliomeno, in the Lithakia quarry, the Keri hill and Makris Gialos. The noteworthy occurrence of clasts representing terms that not cropping out anymore in the island is one of the most important elements of interest, besides the well-preserved larger foraminiferal assemblages. The aim of this work is to provide a preliminary summary on the composition and age of these clasts with emphasis on microfacies analysis, affecting the depositional model of the Paleocene-Eocene carbonatic ramp of the Ionian Islands. A comparison with outcrops in Cephalonia including original data from a conglomerate cropping out in Poros is presented. The analysis of the matrix collected from each conglomerate is planned as the main way for a reliable age indication. The Kiliomeno conglomerate disconformably overlies well-bedded Paleocene pelagic limestones and is composed by clasts ranging in age from the Maastrichtian to the Lutetian from a wide range of environments with the noteworthy occurrence of SBZ 1 (Serra-Kiel et al., 1988) shallow subtidal wackestones and SBZ 2 larger foraminiferal packstones-grainstones. Preliminary data suggest that the composition of the conglomerates from Lithakia quarry, Kiliomeno and Keri hill is similar.