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This outcrop is an example of carbonate sediments deposited in a deep water environment.
The sediments belong to the Maiolica Formation, which represents the basinal facies of a carbonatic platform that developed from Upper Jurassic to Eocene and that outcrops today in the Puglia region, in south-eastern Italy.
This carbonate platform was part of Apulia, one among several micro-plates in which the western margin of the ancient Tethys ocean was subdivided.
The western-most portion of this ocean evolved in what is today the Mediterranean sea.
The image below is a representation of the paleogeography of this area in Early Cretaceous.
Apulia appears as an insulated platform surrounded by oceans, a favorable condition for the deposition of carbonates.
Image source: Blakey - Sedimentation, Tectonics, and Paleogeography of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean Region
The Gargano promontory, in the north of Puglia, is a quite special area to observe the Apulia carbonate platform, because it is the only onshore location where all the facies are present, from inner platform, to shoals, platform margin, slope and basinal deposits.
Studying these facies is of particular interest for hydrocarbon exploration, because they are analogs to the reservoirs of the main discoveries occurred offshore in the Adriatic basin (eastern platform margin) and below the Apennines fold thrust belt in Val d'Agri (western platform margin).
Images sources:
- Zappaterra 1994 - Source-Rock Distribution Model of the Periadriatic Region
The outcrop acquired with the drone is an exposure of the Maiolica formation that represents the basinal sediments deposited at the base of the platform margin.
They consist of white, thin bedded micritic limestone with chert nodules.
As it is clearly visible in this outcrop, they can develope spectacular slumping features with intraformational folds and truncation surfaces.
The outcrop has an horizontal extension of 240 m and is 90 m high in its highest point. The layers thickness is 10-50 cm on average.
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