Paleobathymetric evolution of the early late Miocene deposits of the Pre-Apulian zone, Lefkas Island, Ionian Sea

The Manassi section in Lefkas Island belongs to the Pre-Apulian (Paxos) zone, the most external domain of the Hellenic realm. Its Early Tortonian sediments contain a rich foraminiferal fauna dominated, in numbers of individuals, by planktic species. Its benthic foraminiferal assemblages are characterized by a high number of taxa, with low numbers of individuals. Their study provides a basis for interpreting the paleobathymentry of the basin. The Manassi section represents deposition in upper to lower bathyal depths, during a period of intense tectonic activity. Downslope transport of fauna by turbidity currents partly overprints the signal of paleobathymetrically-diagnostic foraminifera distribution. The recognition of allochthonous taxa is used, together with %P, to identify turbidite beds intercalated with in-situ marly sediments. The micropaleontological and paleobathymentrical analyses of the studied sediments indicate that these correspond to distal atypical flysch deposited in the foredeep depozone of the most external domain (Pre-Apulian zone) of the Hellenide foreland basin.