San Salvatore Dolomite

The San Salvatore Dolomite, sometimes known as the Salvatore Dolomite or San Salvatore Formation, is a Middle Triassic (late Anisian) geological formation in Switzerland and Italy. The primarily lithology is micritic dolomite with a high proportion of algal mounds (stromatolites).[1] It corresponds to a thick warm-water carbonate platform on the northern edge of an island in what is now the Po Plain. This formation and its local equivalents are common in the hills around Lake Maggiore, Varese, and Lugano, preserving fossils of marine invertebrates such as ammonoids, gastropods, and bivalves. At its southernmost extent on Monte San Giorgio, only the lower part of the San Salvatore Dolomite is preserved. The middle and upper parts are replaced by the Besano Formation, San Giorgio Dolomite, and Meride Limestone, which were deposited in a deeper and more anoxic basin between carbonate platforms.[2][3][4][5]

San Salvatore Dolomite
Stratigraphic range: Late Anisian (Illyrian)
Monte San Salvatore, which is mostly formed by San Salvatore Dolomite
Type	Geological formation
Sub-units	Rasa Dolomite
Underlies	Besano Formation, Pizzella Marls
Overlies	Bellano Formation, Fenera Annunziata Sandstone, Pissone Dolomite
Lithology
Primary	Dolomite
Location
Region	Lombardy, Piedmont, Ticino
Country	Italy   Switzerland
Extent	Southwestern Limestone Alps
Type section
Named for	Monte San Salvatore
San Salvatore Dolomite (Switzerland)