Mid- to late Permian microfloristic evidence in the metamorphic successions of the Northern Apennines: insights for age-constraining and palaeogeographical correlations

Recent studies on the stratigraphy of Paleozoic successions belonging to key sectors of the inner Northern Apennines provide data that can be used to propose new hypotheses about the palaeogeography of the western Mediterranean domain during post-Hercynian times.We report here the first evidence of mid- to late Permian (Guadalupian–Lopingian) palynomorphs in the chronostratigraphically highly debated metamorphic units of the Northern Apennines (the Rio Marina Formation, the Mt Calamita Formation and the Le Cetine Formation) and consider the stratigraphic implications for the Tuscan ‘basement’ to which the study rocks belong and their palaeogeographical attribution considering their Gondwana affinity. These results agree with the interpretation that the Alpine Tethyan sedimentary cycle was already active during the mid- to late Permian.