A Gameboard from Gerulata (Bratislava-Rusovce) in the Context of Roman-Period Gaming Finds in the North of the Carpathian Basin

This article presents a detailed analysis of the taxonomic composition of the Pliocene (Kimmerian, Kujalnikian) and Eopleistocene (Gurian) ostracods in the northern part of the Black Sea. It presents the patterns of the stratigraphic position of the fossil ostracods in the Miocene - Quaternary and their geographic distribution in Western and Eastern Europe (the Pannonian Basin, the Dacian Basin, the Euxinian basin of the Paratethys) and the Mediterranean region.Wedetermined the characteristic species for the Kimmerian, Kujalnikian and Gurian in the northern part of the Black Sea. We established a change in the taxonomic composition of ostracods at the Pliocene (Kujalnikian)/Eopleistocene (Gurian) boundary, namely the disappearance of a large number of Pliocene species and the appearance of new species. Ten species disappeared in the Kujalnikian Cyprideis pontica, Euxinocythere (M.) crebra, Amnicythere mironovi, Camptocypria lobata, Loxoconcha subcrassula, Loxoconcha verticalitercostata, Xestoleberis (X.) cellulocus, Xestoleberis (P.) communis, Candona (C.) expressa, Ilyocypris caspiensis; one species Amnicythere postbissinuata appeared in the Gurian. The brackish water species Cyprideis pontica is the Kujalnikian index species. The stratigraphic position of Cyprideis pontica in the Mediterranean Basin, Pannonian Basin, Dacian Basin, Euxinian Basin (Black Sea) in the Miocene-Quaternary is analyzed. The time of the disappearance of Cyprideis pontica in the Mediterranean, Pannonian and Dacian basins (Messinian, Pontian/Zanclean, Dacian, Kimmerian boundary) and in the Black Sea (Kujalnikian/Gurian boundary) is established. The diagnostic morphological features of the shell Cyprideis pontica (morphology of the surface pore canals) are established and described, which allows us to place this species in the Neogene deposits. Surface pore canals are different shape, sievetyped, deepened in relation to the surface of the valve. Sieve-shaped lamella contains 110-270 internal pores. The internal pores have a staggered shape, the diameter of the osculum of the internal pore is 302-994 nm; diameter of the central pore is 977 nm-1.8 μm). The evolution of Cyprideis pontica, which was separated from the parent species Cyprideis torosa in the Late Miocene, was reconstructed. In the occupation of a new ecological niche with a reduced oxygen content in deeper water biotopes, in the process of adapting to the conditions of hypoxia and necessity of increasing the volume of water filtration, there was a restructuring of the morphology of the surface pore canals of the shell Cyprideis torosa. This involved an increase in the size of the sieve-shaped lamella, the number of internal pores in the sieve-shaped lamella and the size of the osculum of the inner pore. A new morphotype Cyprideis pontica was thus formed within the existing Parathetys-Mediterranean basins. It had a mosaic, ecologically isolated range that coincided geographically or overlapped with the range of the species Cyprideis torosa (sympatric evolutionary speciation). The range of Cyprideis pontica and the dynamics of its populations in the Euxinian Basin during the Sarmatian-Kujalnikian have been reconstructed.

The evolution of the Danube gateway between Central and Eastern Paratethys (SE Europe): Insight from numerical modelling of the causes and effects of connectivity between basins and its expression in the sedimentary record

A critical reevaluation of palaeoclimate proxy records from loess in the Carpathian Basin

In this mini-review, we present evidence from the vast literature that one essential part of the coupled atmosphere–ocean system that makes life on Earth possible, the water cycle, is exhibiting changes along with many attributes of the global climate. Our starting point is the 6th Assessment Report of the IPCC, which appeared in 2021, where the almost monograph-size Chapter 8, with over 1800 references, is devoted entirely to the water cycle. In addition to listing the main observations on the Earth globally, we focus on Europe, particularly on the Carpathian (Pannonian) Basin. We collect plausible explanations of the possible causes behind an observably accelerating and intensifying water cycle. Some authors still suggest that changes in the natural boundary conditions, such as solar irradiance or Earth’s orbital parameters, explain the observations. In contrast, most authors attribute such changes to the increasing greenhouse gas concentrations since the industrial revolution. The hypothesis being tested, and which has already yielded convincing affirmative answers, is that the hydrological cycle intensifies due to anthropogenic impacts. The Carpathian Basin, a part of the Danube watershed, including the sub-basin of the Tisza River, is no exception to these changes. The region is experiencing multiple drivers contributing to alterations in the water cycle, including increasing temperatures, shifting precipitation regimes, and various human impacts.

In the upper Miocene-Pliocene post-rift phase of the evolution of the Pannonian basin, several interconnected interior sags developed accompanying the thermal cooling of the lithosphere. In the Hungarian part of the these interior sags, commercial scale oil and gas production began in 1937. More than 6,500 wells were drilled, equivalent to a total of 13 million m combined footage. In the last few years, several areas in the Pannonian basin were subjected to more detailed and modern exploration than in previous years. Both up-to-date seismic reflection profiling and detailed sedimentological and geochemical analysis guided the drilling of several deep (more than 4,000 m) holes. Geochemical modeling of source rock maturation indicates that the Paleozoic-Mesozoic rocks reached the oil window in the Neogene, and these add to the already known Neogene-age hydrocarbon resource potential of the Pannonian basin. Furthermore, seismic stratigraphic interpretations revealed the characteristics of prodelta-delta plain sequences in the Neogene fill, that also have source rocks associated with them. The presentation, using seismic profiles and paleogeographic maps, will introduce and discuss the Neogene structural-stratigraphic evolution of the Pannonian Basin in regard to source rocks reservoirs, seals, and traps. Modeling generation and migration of hydrocarbons was used to rank themore » seismically identified structural and stratigraphic prospects. Using these new approaches and models, new exploration targets have emerged in the Pannonian basin that may be explored for many more years.« less

Research and development of geothermal energy production in Hungary

The Pannonian basin provides a very good opportunity to study extensional tectonics. The image of narrow continental rifts, which represent one of the modes of continental extensional tectonics, was studied in detail in the Békés basin. In order to constrain the lithosphere structure beneath the narrow rifts in the Pannonian basin, density models and interpretation of magnetotelluric measurements along the Pannonian Geotraverse are presented. The results obtained agree with the most recent deep seismic data. Most of the narrow rifts in the Pannonian basin are characterized not only by thinner crust but also by thinner lithosphere. A typical phenomenon of the gravity field over the central part of the narrow rifts in the Pannonian basin is the existence of a relative local gravity high. These gravity highs are probably due to intrusions of high-density masses into the lower crust and lower part of the upper crust beneath the narrow rifts, which are related to the extension of the basins (subbasins).

The well-understood Neogene Pannonian Basin was superimposed on an earlier, mostly Cretaceous compressional realm. Based on the interpretation of subsurface data sets, such as academic and industry reflection seismic and well data, the Eoalpine units of the Eastern Alps can and should be correlated beneath the northwest Pannonian Basin with corresponding tectonic units of the Western Carpathians. Similarly, the Eoalpine folded belt beneath the southeast Pannonian Basin has a structural style very similar to that of the internal part of the Eastern and Southern Carpathians. The level of understanding of these folded belts subcropping at the base of the Pannonian Basin system is poor compared to those of the existing models of the classical folded belt of the Carpathians. This mismatch is primarily caused by the subsurface nature of the problem and the pronounced overprint by Neogene extensional tectonics. In the Pannonian Basin, several well-established and a few emerging exploration plays can be outlined. The key elements of the most important plays include Neogene compactional anticlines; structures related to neotectonic inversion and tectonic reactivation; stratigraphic traps in the deepest part of Neogene subbasins; Paleogene sandstones in structural traps; Senonian–Triassic carbonates in complex structural traps; and Mesozoic reservoirs in the Eoalpine (Cretaceous) and Mesoalpine (Paleogene) folded belts. The future of hydrocarbon exploration in the Pannonian Basin is largely the function of better geophysical imaging and advanced geological understanding of what lies beneath the mature Neogene extensional basin.

The Sarmatian sedimentary record of the Borod Depression (eastern Pannonian Basin) consists of a marine sequence with continental influence. The investigated section, located near Vârciorog, was biostratigraphically and paleoenvironmentally analysed. The micro- and macrofossil assemblages include dasycladaceans, characeans, foraminifera, molluscs, polychaetes, ostracods, crabs, bryozoans, fish and vertebrate remains, which are characteristic for a shallow marine setting with local transitions to continental facies. The microfossil assemblages are characteristic for the Elphidium reginum Zone and Mohrensternia Zone of the early Sarmatian (Serravallian). The succession of populations correlates with the sedimentological trend, allowing the separation of several genetic units. The relative sea-level changes and the progradational trend from the top of the section suggest active tectonics in the hinterland (Apuseni Mountains). The shallow seas surrounding the emerging islands (Apuseni Mountains) provided the connections between the Pannonian and Transylvanian basins during the early Sarmatian

Lateral variations in lithosphere strength in the Romanian Carpathians: constraints on basin evolution

Temperate inland salt marshes, formerly used as meadows or pastures, are priority habitats in Europe and are threatened by intensifying anthropogenic activites. They are particularly important because of their biogeographical location on the North German Plain, which is the westernmost hotspot of continental halophytic vegetation in Eurasia. In spite of their remarkably long history of floristic research, there are disproportionately few studies dealing with plant communities. They are traditionally included in the Puccinellion maritimae and Armerion maritimae alliances with a typical distribution along the North and Baltic Sea coasts. The similarity with other inland salt marshes has been overlooked. We surveyed natural and secondary sites with euhalophytic vegetation in central Germany (Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia) in 2018 and 2020 and analysed 105 phytosociological relevés. This resulted in the identification of three main groups (alliances) containing seven associations: annual hypersaline succulent communities of the alliance Therosalicornion (Salicornietum europaeae, Halimioni pedunculatae-Puccinellietum distantis, Suaedetum maritimae), wet saline meadows of the alliance Juncion gerardi (Triglochino maritimae-Glaucetum maritimae, Scorzonero parviflorae-Juncetum gerardi variant with Glaux maritima) and saline short-grass swards of the alliance Puccinellion limosae (Puccinellietum limosae, Atriplex prostrata community). For each association we defined the typical species composition and calculated Ellenberg indicator values depending on the ecological gradients of soil salinity, nutrients and moisture. To determine possible floristic similarities between the inland and coastal salt marshes, we compared our data with data from other areas of saline vegetation: the southern Baltic Sea coast, Kujawy (Poland), Pannonian Basin (Hungary) and Transylvanian Basin (Romania). We concluded that the salt marshes in inland Germany showed a stronger relation with salt marshes of the remote Pannonian and Transylvanian Basins, and they were well separated from the Baltic salt marshes. Thus, we suggest including inland salt marshes on the North German Plain into the syntaxonomical class of continental halophytic vegetation of Festuco-Puccinellietea.

The Pannonian region (the Pannonian or Carpathian Basin and the surrounding mountain ranges) is part of the Mediterranean Mountain System, which was formed during the last plate-tectonic cycle since the latest Paleozoic times. In Europe it is an about 300–800 km wide belt (Neo-Europe) accreted to the previously consolidated parts of Europe (Hercynian/Variscan Europe or Meso-Europe) as a result of the Alpine orogeny caused by convergence of the European (Eurasian) and African Plates. The present-day geological structure of the region is mostly determined by the evolution of the Tethys and Atlantic Ocean systems, i.e. the dismembering of the European and African continental plate margins during the early evolutionary stages and their tectonic deformation and uplifting as consequences of plate and microplate collisions. Plate-tectonic processes led to the formation of the large Pannonian Basin in the Late Cenozoic times. Hungary lies in the central part of the Pannonian Basin that is actually a system of several basins separated by isolated ranges of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic, sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic formations and Cenozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks.

Present-day stress field and tectonic inversion in the Pannonian basin

A three‐dimensional quantitative stratigraphic forward model is employed to investigate the controls leading to the Messinian events in the lacustrine Pannonian Basin of Central Paratethys, and the link between the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean and the late Miocene‐Pliocene stratigraphy of the Pannonian Basin. Subsurface geological data show that a prominent unconformity surface formed during Messinian time in the Pannonian Basin associated with a sudden forced regression, abrupt basinward shift of facies and a subsequent, prolonged lowstand normal regression. The lowstand prograding series filled up the shallow basin fast, while, at the same time, the marginal areas of the basin were subject to tectonic inversion. The Dionisos program used in this research is built on a nonlinear water‐driven sediment diffusion process, and it employs multiple sediment classes, basin flexure and compaction. Four different scenarios were built in the experiments to test possible basin histories with different rates and timing of tectonic inversion. Each scenario was modelled in two versions: including and not including a lake‐level fall in the Messinian. The results confirm that the Pannonian Basin in the study area has undergone a tectonic inversion since the Messinian, although the exact rates of uplift at different locations remain uncertain. The unconformity and the observed stratigraphic architecture and facies pattern could be modelled adequately only in the versions that applied a Messinian lake‐level fall. Our research concludes that the Messinian unconformity in the Pannonian Basin was caused by an absolute lake‐level drop, likely linked to the desiccation of the Mediterranean, followed by subsidence and normal regression in the basin centre and concomitant tectonic inversion and uplift along the basin margins.

Geochemistry and tectonic development of Cenozoic magmatism in the Carpathian–Pannonian region