New stratigraphical data on the Middle–Late Jurassic biosiliceous sediments from the Sicanian basin, Western Sicily (Italy)

The reported data present the stratigraphy of several sections across a Middle– Late Jurassic Radiolaritic Unit, well exposed in different thrust sheets pertaining to the Maghrebian chain of Southwestern Sicily. The aim was to define the chronostratigraphical distribution of the Jurassic biosiliceous sedimentation in the Sicanian palaeogeographical zone, a deep water basin belonging to the Southern Tethys continental margin. The radiolarian biostratigraphy indicates that the switching from carbonate to siliceous sedimentation in the Sicanian Basin is referable to the Bajocian, as shown by the section of Campofiorito, near Corleone. The biostratigraphical dataset allows the correlation between the onset of biosiliceous sedimentation and the fall of biodiversity in the Sicanian basin with the carbonate productivity crisis, indicated by the highest eutrophication that affected Western Tethys during Middle Jurassic times.