NEW LOCATION OF TRACE FOSSILS IN THE MIDDLE EOCENE (LUTETIAN) VOLCANOGENIC-SEDIMENTARY SERIES OF THE ACHARA-TRIALETI FOLD-AND-THRUST BELT (GEORGIA): PRELIMINARY STUDY RESULTS

Within the Borjomi canyon (the central part of the Achara-Trialeti Fold-and-Thrust Belt), one new section containing trace fossils – the Ardagani 4 section has been investigated. The exa­mi­ned for the first time trace fossil assemblage is closest to the Nereites ichnosubfacies of the Nereites ichnofacies, which is typical of mud- and silt-rich sediments in the distal part of deep-sea turbidite depositional systems (outer fan). The analysis of trace fossil assemblage and sedimen­to­lo­gical features of the Ardagani 4 section suggests that the sediments of the lower part of the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of the Borjomi canyon reflect the environment of deep sea sedimentation by bot­tom currents. Within the Achara-Trialeti extentional basin, the existing Paleocene-lower Eoce­ne turbidite sedimentary environment was preserved even at the beginning of the Middle Eocene.