Facies analysis and correlation of high-order sequences in middle–outer ramp successions: variations in exported carbonate on basin-wide d 13 C carb (Kimmeridgian, NE Spain) BEATRIZ BA ´ DENAS*, MARC AURELL* and DARREN R. GRO ¨ CKE   *Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain (E-mail: bbadenas@unizar.es)  School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada ABSTRACT Carbonate mud that accumulated in the deep parts of a late Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp (Iberian Basin, NE Spain) was partly derived by resedimentation from shallow water production areas. High-frequency sea- level changes, probably driven by climatic changes in tune with precession and short-eccentricity cycles, affected carbonate production and the amount of exported sediment. Facies analysis and correlation of three outcrops located in middle and outer ramp settings allows a comparison of high-order sequences (bundles of beds and sets of bundles) across a ramp transect and an assessment of the carbonate factory. Analysis of the storm deposits found in middle ramp settings identifies deepening to shallowing high-frequency cycles based on the level of exported carbonate. In outer ramp areas, many of the bundles exhibit a thinning trend, indicating a progressive decrease of carbonate production and hence, carbonate export during periods of high- frequency sea-level rise. d 13 C carb values show a gradual increase through the studied long-term transgressive interval ranging from 1Æ5& to 2Æ8&. Within this long-term evolutionary trend, short-term d 13 C carb fluctuations occur that correspond with some of the high-order cycles defined from sedimentary facies analysis. These short-term d 13 C carb shifts are interpreted as shifts in carbonate export from shallow reef regions to the outer ramp. A consequence of this study is that variation in d 13 C carb can be used for correlation in outer ramp successions, at least on a basin-wide scale. Keywords Carbon isotopes, carbonate ramp, cyclicity, sea-level, Kimmerid- gian, Jurassic. INTRODUCTION Bundles characterized by variations in thickness of limestone beds are observed in many outer platform successions and reflect fluctuations in environmental factors such as pelagic productiv- ity, import of platform-derived carbonate, or vari- ation in terrigenous influx (e.g. Einsele & Ricken, 1991; Schwarzacher, 2000; Williams et al., 2002). Periodic fluctuations of inshore-derived carbonate mud have been proposed to explain high-order sequences in outer platform Upper Jurassic successions from different European basins (Pittet et al., 2000; Ba ´denas et al., 2003; Colombie ´ & Strasser, 2003; Munnecke & Wetphal, 2004). In order to evaluate and demonstrate the causal link between shallow-water carbonate productivity and export, it is necessary to analyse and compare sedimentary processes and high-order sequences that formed coevally in different settings across a platform. The analysis should include the areas dominated by in situ carbonate production (the carbonate factory) and offshore sites where the platform-derived carbonate accumulated. Sedimentology (2005) 52, 1253–1275 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2005.00740.x Ó 2005 International Association of Sedimentologists 1253