Evolution of a Ladinian (Middle Triassic) intraplatform basin: Stratigraphy, microfacies and palaeoecology of the Meride Limestone (Monte San Giorgio, Canton Ticino, Southern Switzerland)

The Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland, Canton Ticino) is a rich archive for the depositional environment of an important thanatocoenosis, including a world-known Triassic marine vertebrate fauna. Current sedimentological and micropalaeontological investigations are expected to shed more light on the palaeogeographic setting, on the evolution of the basin, and on the conditions which allowed the exceptional preservation of the fossils of this Lagerstätte, inscribed in 2003 on the Unesco World Heritage List because of its unique palaeontological value.