The Southern Marion Plateau (SMP) represents a vertical stacking of Miocene carbonate platform deposits. Two sites (1196 and 1199) were drilled on top of this plateau, penetrating a 663-m carbonate succession of bioclastic and reefal sedimentary bodies. The study focuses on the least dolomitized 410-m-thick upper part of the succession, which is middle to late Miocene in age. Sedimentological and paleontological studies were conducted at both sites in order to propose a paleoenvironmental model and its evolution through the Miocene age. Six main microfacies of possible environmental significance were defined using statistical multivariate analyses, based on the recognition and point counting of 24 biogenic components. Depositional environment reconstructions are proposed as well as the biosedimentary and the environmental evolution regarding seismic architectures, stratigraphy, biosedimentology, and microfacies analysis. The SMP platform mainly results from a vertical stacking of lens-shaped bodies in homoclinal to distally steepened ramp settings.

Supplement to: Conesa, Gilles A R; Favre, Eric; Münch, Philippe; Dalmasso, Hélène; Chaix, Christian (2005): Biosedimentary and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Southern Marion Platform from the middle to late Miocene (northeast Australia, ODP Leg 194, Sites 1196 and 1199). In: Anselmetti, FS; Isern, AR; Blum, P; Betzler, C (eds.) Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program), 194, 1-38