New palynological data in Muschelkalk facies of the Catalan Coastal Ranges (NE of the Iberian Peninsula)

The Middle Triassic (Ladinian) deposits of the Catalan Basin (Spain) are essentially represented by extensive marine carbonate platforms developed in a rift tectonic setting. During the Ladinian, a regional sea-level drop led to a significant paleogeographic reorganisation of the depocentres of eastern Iberia producing a relevant shift in the distribution of the sedimentary environments. To better calibrate the age of the correlative conformity and the associated depositional facies, a new palynological study was carried out in two localities in Tarragona province (Spain). The palynological assemblages suggest a Longobardian–Cordevolian age (Middle–Late Triassic transition) for the materials deposited below and above the correlative conformity. This study allows a refined biostratigraphic and sedimentary correlation between the carbonate sediments in the Catalan Basin and those in the Iberian Ranges and adjacent basins of the Tethys region