Paleogenski karbonatni facijesi nižega dijela naslaga dinaridskoga predgorskoga bazena sjeverne Dalmacije
In the Northern Dalmatia area five outcrops of the lower Palaeogene carbonate deposits (Cikola I i II, Novigrad, Ostrovica i Grabova Glava) have been the subject of detailed sedimentological, micropaleontological and microfacies research. Furthermore, the biostratigraphic approach in combination with conventional facies analysis was used to reconstruct a range of carbonate depositional systems. Carbonate sedimentation took place in the inner, middle to outer ramp environments, where the dominant organisms were Large Benthic Foraminifera. The collision processes between the Adriatic continental microplate and Euroasia continental plate caused the formation of the Dinaridic foreland basin, developed during the Palaeogene in front of the uplifting mountain belt. Early Palaeogene transgression occurred in different times in different basins, as parts of the Outer Dinarides, firstly by the brackish lagoonal deposits known in literature as Kozina beds. Studied deposits are part of the Northern Dalmatian foreland basin and during its existence the conditions for the carbonate sedimentation were attained on two occasions. During the Early Eocene Foraminifera limestones were deposited on the vast forebulge area, and in the Middle Eocene Upper Nummulitic limestones deposited on the limbs of the wedge-top basins. During the different time intervals, spanning from the Ypresian to the Bartonian, in the NW–SE oriented foreland basin, carbonate ramps developed, controlled by synsedimentary tectonics, creating a couple hundreds of meters of deposits within environments described as Dinaridic Carbonate Ramps System.