strati.ch - Lithostratigraphic Lexicon of Switzerland

Representation and status

Historical Variants: Sasso della Luna (Varisco 1881, Bichsel & Häring 1981), Marne del Sass de la Lüna [sic] (Carta geol. Italia), Sass de la Luna (Bersezio et al. 2004)

Superordinate unit

Units at roof

Units at floor

Age at top

Note about top

Rotalipora reicheli (Mornod) = Middle Cenomanian

Age at base

Tectonic unit (resp. main category)

Kind of protolith

Definition: Varisco A. (1881) : Carta geologica della provincia di Bergamo, 1:75'000, con note illustrative. Bergamo

Definition: Bichsel Matthias, Häring Markus O. (1981) : Facies evolution of Late Cretaceous flysch in Lombardy (northern Italy). Eclogae geol. Helv. 74/2, 383–420

p.387: The term "Sasso della Luna" was introduced by Varisco (1881) for the well-bedded, light-colored marly limestones and marls occurring in the Bergamo region (Fig. 1). Varisco attributed a Late Cretaceous age to this formation. The upper part has been dated as Middle Cenomanian by Rotalipora reicheli (Mornod), the youngest species present. The Sasso della Luna is partly a lateral equivalent to the Scaglia bianca (Upper Albian-Lower Cenomanian, Gandolfi 1942, Luterbacher 1965) and to the Scaglia rossa (Middle-Upper Cenomanian) in the west, but to the Scaglia variegata in the east. The formation is composed of resedimented biomicrites ("pelagic turbidites") consisting of 50% to 80% of planktonic foraminifera (Rotalipora and Heterohelicidae), calcispheres and radiolarians. Silt-sized quartz
grains and mica are common, benthonic foraminifera (mainly Textularia) occur only exceptionally. In the Brianza and in the western Bergamasco, the Sasso della Luna reaches a thickness of 300 m. The individual beds are up to 4 m thick. Here, the formation is overlain by the Scisti neri superiori. In the eastern part of the study area, the Sasso della Luna is thinner bedded and is similar to the Scaglia bianca.
The unit is about 200 m thick and is grading upwards into Scaglia rossa.