LAUSR

Abstract The mainly calcareous succession from the mid Tournaisian to the lower part of the upper Visean in the Southern Montagne Noire Mont Peyroux nappes and Cabrieres slices is sedimentologically revised. From the late Visean, the Variscan orogeny affected the area, and the studied Mississippian part of the succession was considered as part (together with the Devonian) of a period of tectonic quiescence, later included as nappes and olistolites in a wildflysch. This study presents the facies from pelagic limestones, calciturbidites, bioclastic limestones and microbial limestones, and the relationship between platform and calciturbidites in the pre-orogenic context of the Montagne Noire basin during the Mississippian. The differences in the lithostratigraphy is analyzed by means of four tectonostratigraphical units (Mont Peyroux nappe, Roquessels band, Cabrieres area and La Serre band) previously defined by other authors, that together with the deep-water Vieussan-Caragnas unit (not studied here due to the poverty in chronostratigraphical data) allow reconstructing the original carbonate platform. The latter seems to correspond to a ramp for the latest Tournaisian to early Visean, and a distally-steppened ramp from the middle Visean to the early late Visean, including basin plain to slope as the deepest water environments, and middle ramp as the shallowest, except for the uppermost part of the succession, where the inner ramp is recognized. During this period, the shallowing tendency in the tectonostratigraphic units is well marked: Mont Peyroux nappe – Roquessels band – Cabrieres area – La Serre band (from deeper to shallower), which differs from the shallowing trend defined by previous authors during the Devonian. Strong similarities are observed with the preserved Mississippian carbonates in the Mouthoumet Massif to the south, which might represent the shallowest water deposits of the ramp, not preversed in the Cabrieres-La Serre areas.