Late Badenian Research Articles

Environmental perturbations around the Badenian/Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) boundary in the Central Paratethys: Micropalaeontological and organic geochemical records

The boundary between the two regional Middle Miocene stages (the Badenian and Sarmatian) of the Central Paratethys is associated with the largest faunal turnover event in the Paratethys realm. A recent study performed in the northern Polish Carpathian Foredeep revealed that the Badenian/Sarmatian boundary is coeval with a major change in benthic and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages that occurs a few metres below the beginning of the Anomalinoides dividens Interval Zone in our section. The lowermost Sarmatian biozone is the Elphidium angulatum Partial Range Zone, and its lower boundary corresponds to the disappearance of almost all Badenian foraminiferal species. Detailed analysis of a fully cored borehole in southern Poland using micropalaeontological tools (foraminifera and palynology) and a range of (inorganic and organic) geochemical methods indicated that during the late Badenian and almost the entire profile of Anomalinoides dividens Zone, oxic or suboxic sedimentary conditions prevailed. In the Elphidium angulatum Zone and the lowest part of the subsequent Anomalinoides dividens Zone, suboxic and anoxic conditions dominated the sea bottom. This research indicated that the sudden disappearance of marine Badenian species in the Polish Carpathian Foredeep was caused by a rapid change in basin chemistry although not necessarily it implies open marine conditions changing to brackish water environments.

Foraminiferal and Palynological Records of an Abrupt Environmental Change at the Badenian/Sarmatian Boundary (Middle Miocene): A Case Study in Northeastern Central Paratethys

The Badenian/Sarmatian boundary in the Central Paratethyan basins is characterised by a change from open marine conditions during the late Badenian to the assumed brackish conditions during the early Sarmatian. The foraminiferal and palynological results of the Badenian/Sarmatian boundary interval in the Babczyn 2 borehole (in SE Poland) showed that the studied interval accumulated under variable, unstable sedimentary conditions. The Badenian/Sarmatian boundary, as correlated with a sudden extinction of stenohaline foraminifera, is interpreted as being due to the shallowing of the basin. The lack of foraminifera and marine palynomorphs just above the Badenian/Sarmatian boundary can reflect short-term anoxia. The composition of the euryhaline assemblages, characteristic for the lower Sarmatian part of the studied succession, indicates from marine to hypersaline conditions.

The Badenian/Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) boundary in the Central Paratethys (Kreminna, western Ukraine): Foraminiferal and palynological evidence

The Badenian/Sarmatian boundary in the Paratethys basin, that marks the transition from normal marine to restricted semi-marine conditions due to isolation of the basin from the world ocean at the onset of Sarmatian time, is still far from being fully understood. The Kreminna section is located at the northeastern margin of the Carpathian Foreland Basin (Central Paratethys) in the Medobory Hills region. The Miocene deposits that overlie here the Upper Cretaceous substratum comprise the >1 m thick upper Badenian marls and clays passing upwards into ~4 m thick Sarmatian marly limestones with intercalations of marls, clays and limestones, and >2 m thick limestones in the uppermost part of the exposure. Fifty-three species of benthic foraminifera and four species of planktonic foraminifera have been recorded. Six benthic foraminiferal assemblages are composed almost exclusively of calcareous forms; agglutinated taxa are practically lacking. Elphidium spp., miliolids, Lobatula lobatula and Ammonia spp. are the most common calcareous benthic foraminifera in the material studied. Planktonic foraminifera are represented only by species of Globigerina and occur rarely in the lowermost part of the section. A characteristic feature of palynofacies is the very low proportion of land-derived elements – sporomorphs and cuticles, which suggests a sedimentary setting without terrestrial influx, and taxonomical impoverishment of dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, which are either monospecific or consist mainly of two to three species: in a majority of samples, assemblages with Polysphaeridium zoharyi and P. subtile occur. Most δ18O values range from –1.5 to ~+0.5‰ VPDB and most δ13C values are between 0 and +2‰ VPDB. In general, the δ13C curve mirrors the δ18O changes in the section. The Badenian/Sarmatian boundary is placed at the level where the Cibicidoides ungerianus Assemblage is replaced by the Elphidium fichtelianum Assemblage. At the boundary, planktonic foraminifers and most abundant stenohaline benthic foraminifera disappeared. Bottom waters were well-oxygenated both in the latest Badenian and earliest Sarmatian in the Kreminna location.

Middle Miocene (Late Badenian) microvertebrates from Hidas, SW Hungary

Up to the present, no terrestrial vertebrate fauna has been published from the pre-Pannonian Miocene of SW Hungary. In 2022 a microvertebrate assemblage was unearthed from a lime mud bed of the Middle Miocene Hidas Formation, in an abandoned coal mining field close to Hidas in the Mecsek Mts. The herpetofauna and the rodent material are described here. Fossil findings point to the Late Badenian MN 7+8 Zone, which, together with the earlier results based on the marine mollusc fauna, narrows the age of the unit to ~13.5–13.3 Ma. The amphibians and reptiles are aquatic, semiaquatic or periaquatic forms. Sedimentary features and the accompanying freshwater gastropod fauna are indicative of a shallow pond or a paludal depositional environment. Crocodylian finds reported earlier from the Hidas Formation indicate a subtropical climate, just before the end of the Miocene warm period in Central Europe. Among the rodents, glirids and flying squirrels as well as Democricetodon and Megacricetodon indicate the presence of humid arboreal vegetation around the site. The rodent taxa are well known from the Middle Miocene faunas of northern Hungary, western Romania and from the Upper Freshwater Molasse of southern Germany and Switzerland. The rodent material does not show characteristics of an insular fauna, e.g. gigantism or endemism. Consequently, although the coeval palaeogeography of the region has been described as an archipelago in the Central Paratethys, with the Mecsek Mts. being one of the islands, the area must have had ecological connections towards the northern and eastern parts of the Pannonian Basin, and the marine areas within the archipelago did not form a barrier against the distribution of microvertebrates. The corridor could have been located towards the NE from the Mecsek Mts., across the elevated basement blocks of central Hungary.

On the status of Pecten burdigalensis Lamarck var. polonica Pusch, 1837 (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

The well-known Pleuronectia badensis Fontannes, 1882 (currently classified as Cristatopecten cristatus badense) is declared as a n omen protectum against the older synonym Pecten burdigalensis var. polonica Pusch, 1837 considered a nomen oblitum. It ranges from the early to the late Miocene (Burdigalian–Messinian) of the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. In the Central Paratethys it appeared in the early Miocene (Karpatian, correlating with the latest Burdigalian) and became extinct in the middle Miocene (Late Badenian, correlating with the early Serravallian). In Poland – the northernmost part of Central Paratethys – the occurrence of this taxon is limited to the late Early Badenian (late Langhian).

On the status of Pecten burdigalensis Lamarck var. polonica Pusch, 1837 (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

The well-known Pleuronectia badensis Fontannes, 1882 (currently classified as Cristatopecten cristatus badense) is declared as a n omen protectum against the older synonym Pecten burdigalensis var. polonica Pusch, 1837 considered a nomen oblitum. It ranges from the early to the late Miocene (Burdigalian–Messinian) of the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. In the Central Paratethys it appeared in the early Miocene (Karpatian, correlating with the latest Burdigalian) and became extinct in the middle Miocene (Late Badenian, correlating with the early Serravallian). In Poland – the northernmost part of Central Paratethys – the occurrence of this taxon is limited to the late Early Badenian (late Langhian).

The middle miocene (Badenian) holoplanktonic mollusks (Euthecosomata - Pteropoda) from Serbia, central paratethys

The present paper deals with holoplanktonic gastropods (Pteropoda) from the Middle Miocene (Badenian) deposits of Serbia. The material for the present study comes from three localities at the southern margin of the Pannonian Basin (Central Paratethys): Konjarnik (greater center of Belgra de), Sumijevac stream near Koceljeva (western Serbia), and Radljevo (Kolubara Basin, central Serbia). A total of four taxa were recorded and their stratigraphic value is discussed. Two taxa were identified to species level: Vaginella austriaca KITTL, 1886, belonging to the family Cavoliniidae GRAY, 1850 (1815), and Limacina valvatina (REUSS, 1867)?, from the family Limacinidae GRAY, 1847. Four specimens could only be identified to genus level (Vaginella sp. indet. and Clio? sp. indet.). The specimen of Clio? sp. indet. is possibly the first find of the genus Clio in Serbia. Here presented records of the genera Vaginella and Clio? from the late Badenian (NN6 nannozone) modify the insight into their paleogeographical distribution in the Middle Miocene of the Central Paratethys.

Marine facies differentiation along complex paleotopography: an example from the Middle Miocene (Serravallian) of Lower Austria

In the area of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg (Hainburg Mountains, Lower Austria) a Middle Miocene transgression over Mesozoic basement was explored in the course of the Danube power plant project “Hainburg”. The Mesozoic basement forms a narrow ridge dipping to the northeast towards the Vienna Basin, covered by various Miocene sediments. The ridge represents a specific paleotopography that required a detailed study with 78 shallow, fully cored drill holes in an area of c. 0.5 km2. Ten drillings were selected for this study based on sedimentary composition and position relative to the Mesozoic ridge. These 10 cores, ranging in drilling depth from 26.5 to 96.4 m, were studied in respect to sedimentology, corallinacean algae, calcareous nannoplankton, foraminifers and ostracodes to reconstruct sediment distribution and paleoenvironment. Sediment distribution clearly shows that the Mesozoic ridge formed a physical barrier with siliciclastics dominating in the SW of the ridge and carbonate sediments prevailing in the NE. Based on biostratigraphy (calcareous nannoplankton, foraminifera, ostracodes, dinoflagellates) the majority of the sediments can be dated to the late Badenian (early Serravallian) only in some drillholes lower Sarmatian (upper Serravallian) sediments were detected. In terms of sequence stratigraphy, the Badenian sediments represent the transgressive and highstand systems tract of 3rd order sequence TB 2.5 (bound by the lowstands Ser 2 and Ser 3), the lower Sarmatian sediments can be correlated to sequence TB 2.6. Carbonate sediments show a wide spectrum of 13 facies which are mostly dominated by coralline algae. According to the relative positions of the drill holes a water depth between 0 and about 50 m can be reconstructed what is supported by the occurrence of the benthic biota. This biota indicates that the sedimentary succession started from the very beginning under full marine conditions. Except of basal conglomerates/breccias water energy conditions were low and turbidity high. Close to the Sarmatian boundary a reduction in salinity and depth may have occurred which is also observed in the Sarmatian sediments. Carbonate sediments and, in particular, larger benthic foraminifers indicate tropical to warm-temperate conditions for the late Badenian of the studied sections. The siliciclastic sediments NW of the Mesozoic ridge reflect riverine input indicated by the occurrence of freshwater ostracodes and characean oogonias. Calcareous nannoplankton and dinoflagellates show a high share of reworking from Upper Cretaceaous and Paleogene sediments.

A rare window into a back-reef fish community from the middle Miocene (late Badenian) Medobory Hills barrier reef in western Ukraine, reconstructed mostly by means of otoliths

The Medobory Hills barrier reef in western Ukraine represents a unique environment during the late Badenian that existed for a relatively brief time. Here, we describe 170 specimens of otoliths and scarce skeletal elements that were collected in the back-reef environment of the central part of the barrier reef in the city of Horodok. They represent a rare window into a reef-associated bony fish fauna. The otolith assemblage is very diverse and differs in several aspects from time-equivalent otolith associations described from other regions and environments within the former Paratethys. The Medobory back-reef otolith assemblage is dominated by a highly diverse gobioid community, several of which are believed to reflect specific reef adaptations that have not been identified elsewhere. A total of 26 species have been identified, of which eight are described as new, including two new genera. In the order in which they are described, the new taxa are as follows: Gobiidae: Gobius bratishkoi n. sp., Gobius ukrainicus n. sp., Parenypnias n. gen. inauditus n. sp., Parenypnias n. gen. kiselevi n. sp., Medoborichthys n. gen. podolicus n. sp., and Medoborichthys n. gen. renesulcis n. sp.; Blenniidae: Blennius vernyhorovae n. sp.; and Labridae: Coris medoboryensis n. sp. The environmental implications of the otolith-based fish fauna are discussed, and a supraregional correlation of late Badenian otolith associations throughout the Paratethys is presented.

Middle Miocene (Serravallian; upper Badenian–lower Sarmatian) dinoflagellate cysts from Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Vienna Basin, Austria

Middle Miocene (Serravallian; upper Badenian–lower Sarmatian) strata recovered in 10 cored boreholes (83 samples) from Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Vienna Basin, Austria, were analysed palynologically for the first time. The strata belong to the Rabensburg Formation of the Baden Group. The lateral distribution of the boreholes in reference to a Mesozoic ridge makes this area interesting for studying various aspects such as distribution of deposits, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. A diverse and well-preserved in situ dinoflagellate cyst association has been identified. Middle Miocene age-diagnostic species including Cannosphaeropsis passio, Cerebrocysta poulsenii, Habibacysta tectata, Labyrinthodinium truncatum, Operculodinium? borgerholtense and Unipontidinium aquaeductum are recorded. Their occurrences allow correlation with dinoflagellate cyst biozonations on a regional scale. Based on the identified dinoflagellate cysts and by correlation with calcareous nannoplankton and ostracods, from the same set of samples, a Serravallian age – corresponding to a late Badenian and early Sarmatian age (regional Paratethys stages) – is confirmed. Reworked (Cretaceous and Paleogene) dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, also well preserved, were recorded abundantly from boreholes HA 521 and HA 573 (south-west of the Mesozoic ridge). In accordance with ostracods, the Badenian–Sarmatian boundary can be traced in the upper part of borehole HA 66 based on an abrupt change in the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. The upper Badenian strata were deposited in a coastal to inner shelf environment with terrigenous (siliceous sand and clay) and carbonate sediments. The recorded dinoflagellate cysts reflect marine, tropical to warm-temperate climatic conditions. The composition of the recorded dinoflagellate cyst assemblages is very close to that of the Middle Miocene assemblages of the Mediterranean, indicating water exchanges between the Central Paratethys and the Mediterranean during the late Badenian (early Serravallian).

Multiproxy constraints on Central Paratethys Sea and Lake Pannon paleoclimate and paleoenvironment transitions during the Middle-Late Miocene (Danube Basin, Slovakia)

The Danube Basin represents a northwestern depocenter of the Middle Miocene Central Paratethys Sea, which was succeed by the Late Miocene Lake Pannon. Although this is an extensively examined area, the application of multidisciplinary studies has proven capable of drawing attention to novel information concerning the depositional environment. Thus, this study aims to reveal climatic and paleoenvironmental changes by using both archive and fresh data drawn from biomarkers, palynology, sedimentology, and geochemistry. The article also addresses the quality, quantity, and thermal maturity of organic matter in relation to hydrocarbon potential. In general, the beginning of Serravallian stage relates to a regression forced by the development of the Antarctic icesheet followed by a pronounced transgression. The results presented here show that the Central Paratethys Sea reacted to the late Badenian (Serravallian) flooding, by an event which triggered a dysoxic, but not euxinic, bottom waters. The climate remained warm and humid, with paratropical to subtropical forests on the continent. Several new depocenters developed during the Sarmatian and divided the depositional environments into a shelf-brake slope in the central part of the Danube Basin, and into deltaic and swamp environments on the basin margins. The climate changed to temperate, leading to the disappearance of subtropical taxa. A shallow lake and swamp environment developed at the beginning of the Pannonian (Tortonian), forcing a salinity decrease connected to the increase in humidity. The degree of hydrocarbon richness of the mudstones is generally fair to good, and the kerogen is of mixed marine-terrestrial origin (II and III). Nonetheless, sediments at the basin margin are clearly immature due to insufficient burial.

New data on fish otoliths from the late Badenian (Langhian, Middle Miocene) back reef environment in the Carpathian Foredeep (Horodok, western Ukraine)

New data on fish otoliths from the late Badenian (Langhian, Middle Miocene) back reef environment in the Carpathian Foredeep (Horodok, western Ukraine)

Various marginal marine environments in the Central Paratethys: Late Badenian and Sarmatian (middle Miocene) marine and non-marine microfossils from Pécs-Danitzpuszta, southern Hungary

The middle Miocene foraminifera and ostracod record of the Central Paratethys usually reflects stable normal marine epositional environments for the Badenian and more patchy, less stable restricted marine environments for the Sarmatian. A 17 m thick outcrop at Pécs-Danitzpuszta, Mecsek Mts, SW Hungary exposed an upper Badenian to Pannonian succession where foraminifers and ostracods document significant environmental changes. The basal layers of the section contain micro- and macrofossils indicating normal marine, shallow, warm, well-oxygenated habitat with relatively high-energy conditions and algal vegetation on the bottom, and represent the upper Badenian (13.82 to 12.65 Ma). The marine deposits are followed by coarse sandstone, breccia and siltstone layers barren of microfossils but containing rhizoliths. The sediments were probably subaerially exposed for some time. The following marine inundation, marked by the appearance of clays and limestones as well as fossils, was dated to the late Sarmatian (ca. 12 to 11.6 Ma) on the basis of the restricted marine microfossil assemblages from the upper part of the succession (Porosononion granosum Zone, Aurila notata Zone). This community is characterized by exclusively eurytopic forms indicating an unstable and vegetated marginal marine environment with fluctuations in salinity, as well as oxygen and food availability. Within the 5 m thick upper Sarmatian marine interval, a unique fresh- to oligohaline fauna characterizes a few layers in less than 1 m thickness. This fauna consists of highly euryhaline foraminifera and freshwater to oligohaline ostracod assemblages, indicating a temporary salinity reduction to 5–10 ‰. No similar freshwater fauna has been reported from the Sarmatian of the Central Partethys so far. The eventual disappearance of the foraminifera from the paleontological record coupled with a complete turnover in the ostracod fauna indicates the transition from the marginal marine Sarmatian Sea to the brackish Lake Pannon, marking the Sarmatian/Pannonian boundary (11.6 Ma).

Early and middle Miocene paleobathymetry of the Vienna Basin (Austria)

The Vienna Basin (VB) originated during the early Miocene and represents one of the largest onshore oil and gas field in Europe. The VB is composed of several horst and graben structures forming different subbasins, each with its own geodynamic evolution and deviating paleobathymetric developments during the Miocene. We present an analysis of water depth evolution along a NE-SW transect by applying a transfer function for benthic foraminifers. We document dramatic changes in the depth profile through time, which coincide with shifts of prevailing tectonic regimes. Bathyal conditions were established during the early Miocene piggy-back stage and the early middle Miocene extensional phase. A clear shallowing trend from upper bathyal to inner neritic conditions occurred during the middle Miocene extensional tectonic phase.All lowstand systems of relative sea level in the VB coincide with global Mi-events. The observed maxima of the relative sea level in the VB are vaguely in phase with the global record from the Ottnangian (late early Miocene) to the middle Badenian (middle Miocene) but exceed the range of global sea level rise by three to four times, suggesting a strong tectonic amplification. Fluctuations of the relative sea level during the late Badenian and Sarmatian (Serravallian, middle Miocene) range well within the global signal, documenting ceasing influence of tectonics.

Badenian (middle Miocene) continental paleoenvironment in the Novohrad–Nógrád Basin (Central Paratethys): a volcano-sedimentary record from the Páris-patak Valley in Hungary

Two levels of volcaniclastics, comprising conglomerates, sandstones and mudstones, are interbedded with upper middle Miocene (upper Badenian) andesite pyroclastics near the Hungarian-Slovakian border in the distal region of the Central Slovakian Neogene Volcanic Field. Based on the field sedimentological investigations, the facies of the volcaniclastics (e.g., lateral and vertical grain size changes, sedimentary structures, textures, clast composition), their geometry and field relationships are documented herein with the aim of reconstructing the depositional environment. The silica-cemented volcaniclastics are mostly andesite clasts with only ~ 5% being granitoid, quarzitic, and tuff clasts as well as charred fossil wood fragments. The coarse-grained facies association includes crudely stratified, tabular or lenticular, clast-supported pebble-cobble conglomerates with erosive basal surfaces, b-axis imbrication, alternating with sets of cross-bedding. The fine-grained facies association comprises cross-bedded pebbly to medium-grained sandstone and lenses of tuffaceous clayey siltstone with rare horizontal lamination and water-escape structures. Rip-up mudstone clasts, with diametre up to 1 m, are present in both facies associations, revealing the co-existence of abandoned silty palaeo-channel plugs. Facies associations are arranged in several 0.5-4-m-thick, fining-upwards successions that likely formed in shallow channels as downstream- to laterally accreting longitudinal bars, extensive gravel sheets and bars that migrated in peak flow during floods. Palaeocurrent indicators (i.e., clast imbrication, direction of planar cross-bedding, orientation of petrified wood logs) show bedload transport by traction currents, initially towards ~S, and later towards ~W. Intermittently debris flows also occurred. Cross-bedded sandstones formed as in-channel transverse bars during medium/low discharge. Variation of grain size shows frequent discharge fluctuations during permanently wet conditions in the late Badenian. The 4-5-m-deep, low-sinuosity channels were part of a high-energy, gravel-bed braided-river system on the south-eastern foothills of the Lysec palaeo-volcano. Here, pyroclastics were reworked and redeposited as volcaniclastics during inter-eruption, high-discharge episodes.

A middle Miocene vertebrate assemblage from the Czech part of the Vienna Basin: Implications for the paleoenvironments of the Central Paratethys

Czujan's sandpit is an abandoned quarry in the Vienna Basin (Mikulov, Czech Republic) that has yielded an important middle Miocene vertebrate assemblage. Here we re-describe the site from the perspective of sedimentology, taphonomy, and paleoenvironments, and further review the biochronology of the fauna to clarify the age. The updated faunal list includes two testudines (one trionychid and one medium-sized testudinid), and 12 species of terrestrial mammals (three proboscideans, four perissodactyls, four artiodactyls, and one carnivoran), consistent with an early Astaracian (MN6) age. The position of the Wielician/Kosovian boundary just below the floor of Czujan's sandpit, and our new biostratigraphic data, further allow us to constrain the fossil assemblage to the latest MN6 (late Badenian, ⁓13.6 Ma) and resolves a longstanding controversy about the age of the site. The site exposes a coarsening-upward succession deposited in a braid delta environment, and comprises three facies association: from bottom to top, pelagic sediments (FA1); prodelta and delta slope sediments (FA2); and distributory channel infills of the delta front and delta plain (FA3), the latter containing all the studied terrestrial vertebrates. We propose two taphonomic explanations for the genesis of the vertebrate assemblage: (1) a time-averaged assemblage generated by riverine transport, or (2) a transported assemblage from a mass death site(s), with mass death episode(s) caused by seasonal droughts in the river catchment. Our new findings allow the more precise reconstruction of late Badenian terrestrial paleoenvironments in the northwest area of the Vienna Basin and adjacent Carpathian Foredeep Basin. This region comprised a mosaic of continental habitats dominated by woodlands but also including forest patches and more open environments.

UPPER BURDIGALIAN-MIDDLE SARMATIAN CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSILS FROM TOTEA-VĂLENI AREA (GETIC DEPRESSION, ROMANIA)

This work presents the calcareous nannofossils identified in samples recovered from 7 boreholes drilled on the western side of the Olt River, in the Totea, Colibasi, Radinesti and Valeni areas, within the central-southern part of the Getic Depression. These boreholes crossed upper Burdigalian–middle Sarmatian sediments. The identified assemblages are typical for the following calcareous nannofossil biozones: upper part of NN 3 – lower part of NN 4, corresponding to the late Burdigalian time interval, upper part of NN 4, corresponding to the early Badenian, NN 5, spanning the middle Badenian, and, respectively, NN 6-NN 8, covering the late Badenian – middle Sarmatian interval. The diversity and abundance of the identified nannofossil assemblages allow palaeoenvironmental reconstructions

Middle Miocene otoliths of freshwater fishes from the Vracevic Lake (Serbian Lake System)

The Serbian Lake System (SLS) is a key area for early to middle Miocene freshwater environments in southeastern Europe. Here, we describe a rich fossil association of freshwater fish otoliths of late Badenian to early Sarmatian (Serravallian, MN 7+8 zone) age. The studied material was collected from several small outcrops along the Grabovac stream near Vracevic. The Vracevic locations are part of the Valjevo?Mionica Basin (VMB). We identified nine different species, including two in open nomenclature and three new to science: Aphanius jeani, Aphanolebias bettinae n.sp., Klincigobius andjelkovicae, Klincigobus haraldahnelti n. sp., Klincigobius serbiensis, Klincigobius sp., Ponticola sp., Toxopyge campylus, Toxopyge vracevicensis n.sp. We found that the composition of this fish fauna correlates well with the slightly older fauna from the early to middle Miocene of Klinci. Both localities were most likely part of a continuous environment during the existence of the Valjevo?Mionica Basin. The composition of the community of freshwater gobies from the early to early middle Miocene of southeastern Europe indicates the presence of a ?lost? Miocene freshwater goby fish fauna that existed prior to and was unrelated to the Ponto-Caspian fish fauna that prevails today. The new data may prove to be helpful in reconstructing the paleogeographical evolution of the Valjevo?Mionica Basin in detail.

The evolution of the Carpathian Foredeep Basin during the latest Badenian and Sarmatian (Middle Miocene): inferences from micropalaeontological data

Seven Middle Miocene (Upper Badenian to Lower Sarmatian) sedimentary sections of the Central Paratethys, two from the Polish Carpathian Foredeep Basin (PCFB) and five from the Eastern Carpathian Foreland Basin (ECFB) of Romania and the Republic of Moldova have been analysed micropalaeontologically to better constrain the Badenian-Sarmatian Extinction Event, characterized by significant taxonomic impoverishment of both foraminifers and ostracods. Our studies show significant palaeoenvironmental changes in the basin including depth, salinity, oxygenation, and organic matter flux. The occurrence of moderately diverse planktonic foraminifera (Globigerina, Globigerinita, Globorotalia, Trilobatus, Orbulina, Velapertina) in the Upper Badenian deposits of the PCFB as well as in the ECFB and their rarity in the lowermost Sarmatian indicate an almost fully marine environment during the latest Badenian, followed by a significant regression and possible appearance of much more restricted marine conditions across the boundary. The taxonomic composition of the Sarmatian foraminifera, ostracoda and calcareous nannofossils indicate that during this interval the salinity fluctuated strongly, with the water regime varying from brackish to normal marine. In addition, the identified micropalaeontological assemblages identified show palaeoenvironmental similarity across different basins of the Central Paratethys. This supports a hypothesis of possible connections during the latest Badenian between different areas of the Central Paratethys, as well as of the existence of a gateway between the Central Paratethys and the Mediterranean realm

The polyphase rifting and inversion of the Danube Basin revised

Abstract To track the evolution and formation of one of the major sub-basins of the Pannonian back-arc basin system, we re-evaluate pre-rift, syn-rift, post-rift, and inversion stages of the Danube Basin. This synthesis builds upon a new compilation of (i) geophysical measurements, (ii) current data about the substratum of the basin, (iii) recent advances in stratigraphic architecture of the basin fill, (iv) subsidence history, (v) geomorphological evolution, and (vi) new biostratigraphic and geochronological data.The history of the basin begins with the pre-rift stage represented by the pre-Neogene basement, which belongs to an Eo-Alpine mountain range uplifted at the end of the Cretaceous. The core of the mountain range was formed by pre-Alpine high-grade metamorphic complexes, with a dome-like structure. The crystalline complexes were overlain by late Paleozoic and Mesozoic cover and nappes, which were later eroded during the early Cenozoic. These pre-rift processes were triggered by (i) the late Cenozoic collision of the Alpine-Carpathian orogenic wedge with the European platform, (ii) the crustal extension resulting from the northeastward lateral extrusion of the Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian lithospheric microplate, and (iii) the subsequent updoming of the lithospheric mantle. This stage was followed by the polyphase rifting of the basin associated with extensive volcanic activity. This syn-rift stage consists of four phases. The first syn-rift phase dated to the early Badenian (~15.2–13.8 Ma), with subsidence documented in the Blatne and Želiezovce depressions, was characterized by accommodation rates up to ~900 m·Ma-1. The second syn-rift phase dated to the late Badenian (~13.8–12.6 Ma), exhibited accelerated subsidence with accommodation rates up to ~2300 m·Ma-1, and mainly affected the Blatne depression. The third and fourth syn-rift phases took place during the Sarmatian (~12.6–11.6 Ma) and early Pannonian (~11.6–9.5 Ma) and the accommodation rates reached ~900 m·Ma-1 and ~1000 m·Ma-1, respectively. They were documented in the Risňovce, Komjatice and Gabcikovo-Győr depressions, confirming the eastward subsidence migration, up to the external zone of the middle Miocene mantle upheaval. The late Miocene post-rift stage, commonly refered to as a thermal subsidence stage (~9.5–6.0 Ma), was associated with formation of a widespread planation surface called the “Mid-mountain level” on the margins of the basin. The history of the Danube Basin terminates with the inversion stage which began after ~6.0 Ma and is still ongoing. It includes the continuous uplift of the basin margins and the subsidence of the central depocenters. The fluvial depositional systems did not behave steadily, because (i) lateral channel mobility and area of deposition increased progressively until ~4–3 Ma and caused onlaps on the base of the succession, followed by (ii) gradual confinement of the streams to the central part of the basin by uplifting basin margins, recorded by formation of river terrace staircases.