South Carpathians Research Articles

Neglected and Peripheral Spaces: Challenges of Socioeconomic Marginalization in a South Carpathian Area

There has been a debate recently on how the population in traditional mining areas of Central and Eastern Europe faces precarity and marginalization. A spatial approach was employed in a Romanian context using available statistical data on a south Carpathian area (i.e., Gorj County). We also conducted surveys and in-depth interviews with residents in one of the rural communities of Gorj. Our findings highlight that a large number of rural localities in this county are technically, economically, and socially underdeveloped. Many inhabitants face a lack of financial resources and employment opportunities, which has led to the emigration of young people to larger Romanian cities or to other countries. We conclude that in order to avoid a much deeper social and spatial marginalization of local inhabitants, an integrated strategy is needed to target economic and social development, investment in infrastructure and public services, the promotion of employment and training opportunities, and to better integrate local culture and traditions into tourism.

Ursus spelaeus (Rosenmüller, 1794) during the MIS 3: new evidence from the Cioclovina Uscată Cave and radiocarbon age overview for the Carpathians*

ABSTRACT Ursus spelaeus, the Late Pleistocene a cave bear is known from numerous accumulations found in the fossil sector of caves situated in the Carpathian and Apuseni Mountains. In this study, we present new radiocarbon data along a profile of the Cioclovina Uscată Cave, which is situated in the South Carpathians. The data suggest that, during the entire Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) interval, the cave was serving as a shelter for U. spelaeus, with the oldest dated bone indicating an age of > 47,710 and the youngest one, an age of 31,820 ± 400 years cal BP. Histogram plots of 110 radiocarbon data from different caves of the Carpathian and Apuseni Mountains as Cioclovina Uscată, Peștera (Cave) cu Oase, Peștera Muierii, or Peștera Urșilor, respectively, show a maximum expansion of the cave bear population between 50,000 and 40,000, a decline between 40,000 and 35,000 and a partial recovery from 35,000–30,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon data of Homo sapiens remains, younger than 35,000 years cal BP, support the fact that H. sapiens accessed the same caves where the cave bear persisted to hibernate. Besides general cool conditions and restricted food sources, the presence of H. sapiens constituted an additional stress factor driving the cave bear to extinction.

Two chironomid-inferred mean July air temperature reconstructions in the South Carpathian Mountains over the last 2000 years

We present chironomid-based reconstructions of mean July air temperature changes over the last 2000 years from Lake Latoriței (1530 m a.s.l.) in the Southern Carpathians. A multi-proxy analysis was performed along a 58 cm long sediment core and two training sets were used for quantitative July air temperature reconstructions: the Eastern-European (EE, 212 lakes) and the Finnish-Polish-Carpathian (FPC, 273 lakes). The transfer functions had a coefficient of determination ( r2) 0.88 and 0.91 with a root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) 0.88°C and 1.02°C. Despite possible biases resulting from methodological problems and the ecological complexity of the chironomid response to both climatic and environmental changes, the agreement of the temperature reconstruction of Lake Latoriței with other alpine records suggests that the transfer function successfully reconstructed past summer temperatures between 750 and 1830 CE. Biases in the temperature reconstruction in the period before 750 and after 1830 CE were likely caused by increased abundance of rheophilic and semi-terrestrial chironomid species related to increased inflow activity before 750 CE and local land use changes after 1830 CE, which was also indicated by increasing deforestation and increasing lake productivity in the pollen and diatom records. Our results suggest that the region experienced a warm period between 750 and 1360 CE, and a cold period between 1360 and 1600 CE followed by fluctuating summer temperatures until 1830 CE. These events were associated with the so-called ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ (MWP) and the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA), respectively. The inference models reconstructed a decrease in July air temperatures by 0.7°C–1.1°C during the LIA relative to the warmer MWP. We also demonstrated that the FPC training set gives better results, supporting that local/continental training sets are efficient to detect weak amplitude summer temperature changes in the Late-Holocene.

Trade, recycling and mixing in local metal management strategies of the later Bronze Age south Carpathian Basin: Lead isotope and chemical analyses of hoarded metalwork

Lead Isotope Analysis (LIA) has been applied most often as a means of provenancing copper at the macro scale. Here we use LIA at the regional scale to expose the relationship between long-distance communication and local metal management strategies. We conducted lead isotope and chemical analysis on 82 objects and ingots from Late Bronze Age hoards of the south Carpathian Basin, a node in long distance networks. From a social perspective, results indicate the presence of a community of practice of metalworkers that went beyond socio-political boundaries. Analyses of ingots demonstrate that communities imported copper from a variety of distant sources, but local circulation and specific mixing and recycling practices created a characteristic chemical signature unique to this region. Moreover, metalworkers' choices of copper sources were tailored to specific object types. From an analytical perspective, we demonstrated that the frequent mixing of copper from different sources with varying lead concentrations to make objects resulted in the masking of LIA signatures for some sources – we termed these ‘ghost fractions’ in mixtures – by others with more lead.

SEISMICITY of the CARPATHIANS in 2018–2019

The article describes seismic observations in the Carpathian region in 2018–2019, which were carried out, as before, by two organizations from two states: in Ukraine – the Seismicity department of the Carpathian region of the Institute of Geophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in Moldova – the seismology laboratory of the Institute of Geology and Seismology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. The monitoring of seismicity was carried out 21 stationary digital and 3 temporary stations of Ukraine with a processing centre in Lviv and six stations of Moldova with a processing centre in Chisinau. The consolidated catalog of earthquakes was created in Lviv. The total number of Carpathian earthquakes in 2018–2019 was NΣ=99 in the range KR=4.5–13.6 within the interval of hypocenter depths h=0.4–157.5 km, with total seismic energy ΣE=4.2·1013 J. The maximum earthquake with KR=13.6, MSH=5.3 and hрР=150.6 km was registered on October 28, 2018 in the Vrancea zone. The epicentral zone was subjected to shaking with an intensity up to Ii=V by MM (Mercally) scale. The earthquake was felt by the population of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova and other European countries. In the Precarpathian and Transcarpathian regions, all earthquakes were weaker. For Transcarpathia, their energy class was in the range of KR=5.5–7.9, and the depths was in the range of h=0.6–8.0 km. The strongest event in Precarpathian was a tangible earthquake that occurred in the Drohobych district of the Lviv region on September 27, 2018 with KR=7.3 at a depth of 1.7±0.9 km. The strongest event in Bukovina was an earthquake of March 24, 2018 with KR=9.4, МSH=2.4 and h=1 km near Novodnestrovsk city, Ukraina, which was felt by the population of the village of Lomachintsy with an intensity of 4 points. In Novodnestrovsk, the earthquake was felt only on the upper floors. In general, in 2018–2019 there was a slight decrease in the level of seismicity in seismically active areas: № 1 (North-Western), № 2 (Vrancea), № 5 (Bukovina) and № 8 (Bacau), compared with that in the previous period 2016–2017. In areas № 3 (South Carpathians), № 4 (Banat) and № 7 (Transylvania) there was no earthquakes, and in area № 6 (Krishana) only there was one earthquake with КР=10.8, MSH=3.2.

Active tectonics of the Circum-Pannonian region in the light of updated GNSS network data

The Pannonian basin is an extensional back-arc basin that has undergone neotectonic inversion and is currently shortening. The understanding and quantification of present-day deformation processes during this inversion are still incomplete. To this end, we investigate the active deformation of the Circum-Pannonian region via the interpolation of GNSS-derived velocity field and the derivation of the strain rate fields. For the interpolation of the velocity field, we use ordinary kriging, a strochastic interpolation method. Our results show that estimating a strain rate field that is virtually free of short-wavelength noise requires the scaling of the velocity uncertainties, i.e. assuming a minimum standard deviation of 1 mm/yr in our case. The deformation of the Circum-Pannonian region is defined by the 2–3 mm/yr, NNE-directed motion of the Dinarides, and by the 0.5–1.5 mm/yr, WSW to SSW directed motion of the eastern areas (European foreland, East Carpathians, South Carpathians, Transylvanian basin). These opposite-sense motions define a large-scale, on average NE-SW shortening and transpression-type deformation in the Dinarides as well as in the Pannonian basin, while the East and South Carpathians undergo regional N–S extension. Neotectonic structures generally show good agreement with the strain rate field, for example in the Dinarides, Eastern Alps, or in the western Pannonian basin. However, the presence of fault-parallel shortening or biaxial shortening along sinistral neotectonic structures in the central and eastern Pannonian basin show some discrepancy between current geodetic and observed neotectonic deformation. The vertical velocity field shows dominantly 100 and 1000 km wavelength signals, the former is probably related to the response of the Pannonian lithosphere-asthenosphere system to neotectonic basin inversion, while latter can possibly be explained by far-field subsidence patterns induced by the mantle response to melting of the Fennoscandian ice sheet during the current interglacial period.

The East Serbian Carpathians: Toward Its Definition, Delineation, and Relation to The South Carpathians

The East Serbian Carpathians (Karpati istočne Srbije) represents the southern segment of the South Carpathians. The South Carpathians are consisting of three main segments: the Banat Mts., the Transylvanian Alps and the East Serbian Carpathians. The East Serbian Carpathians defined by the Alpine kinematics. In the terms of East Serbian orography we can be described as in between the Danube on the north, Velika Morava River in the west, in the east it terminates till the Moesian Plain and the Stara Planina, while the fault line in the Timok and the Nišava rivers valley manifested as its south boundary. The East Serbian Carpathians represent the mountains system which encompasses the Homolje Mts. system, the Beljanica, the Kučaj Mts. system, the Rtanj group, the Ozren group and the Deli Jovan group. Its denomination has been changed to the East Serbian Carpathians of previous term Serbian Carpathians. It was useful because the Vršac Mts. which is in Serbia and belongs to the Banat Mts. are an integral part of the South Carpathians also. In purpose to have more accurate term we create a regional geographic term (East Serbian Carpathians) from the more-less political term (Serbian Carpathians) in case of its denomination.

New records of late Berriasian and late Valanginian Orbitolinidae (Foraminifera) from the eastern Getic Carbonate Platform (South Carpathians, Romania)

Orbitolinids with simple embryo and a reduced exoskeletal complexity are reported for the first time from upper Berriasian and upper Valanginian strata of the eastern part of the Getic Carbonate Platform system (Southern Carpathians, Romania). Most of the described taxa belong to the genera Cribellopsis Arnaud-Vanneau and Orbitolinopsis Henson. Other taxa are treated in open nomenclature due to the scarcity of available material and/or poor preservation. Some of them are already well known from the Berriasian of eastern Serbia, and some species have been occasionally found in other places along the northern margin of the Neotethys. The upper Berriasian and upper Valanginian occurrences of dictyoconids in the Southern Carpathians widen the paleogeographic distribution of the earliest record of this group of larger benthic foraminifera.

The Banat Plain and the Banat Mountains: Toward Its Definition

The Banat region consist of two landscape units the Banat Plain and the Banat Mountains. The Banat Plain encompasses the lowland area in between the Maros/Moriš/Mureş river on the north, the Tisza River in the west, in the east it terminates till the Banat Mountains, while the Danube is its south boundary. The Banat Plain is the southeastern segment of the Alföld, while in the wider frame it is in the SE part of the Pannonian Plain. However we can include also in the Middle Danube Region, the Pannonian realm and the Carpathian Basin. The Banat Mountains encompass the mountain area in between the Maros/Moriš/Mureş river on the north, the Banat Plain bordered in the west, in the east its boundary is the Cerna River, while the Danube is its south boundary. The south Banat mountains are the Semenic Mountains, the Locva Mountains, the Anina Mountains, the Dognecea Mountains, the Almăj Mountains and the Vršac Mountains, while Poiana Rusca represents the north Banat Mountains. To avoid further confusion, the study recommends the use of the term Banat-Rusca Mts. than the simplest term Banat Mts. Banat Mountains are part of the South Carpathians which eastwards continues to the Transylvanian Alps, and southwards to the (East) Serbian Carpathians.

The Lexical Database of South Carpathian Dialects Based on Ivan Pankevych᾽s Materials made available

The Lexical Database of South Carpathian Dialects Based on Ivan Pankevych᾽s Materials made available

Structural inheritance and style within the Getic Depression, South Carpathians, Romania

The Carpathians are part of the Alpine orogen, and the Getic Depression (or Getic fold belt) is located to the south of the South Carpathian. Underthrust beneath the fold belt is the Moesian Platform lower plate. This foreland depocenter can reach a depth of up to 10 km and evolved in an oblique convergent setting from latest Cretaceous-Paleogene and was shortened during the Badenian-middle Sarmatian (middle to late Miocene, 16–8 Ma) and Pliocene to recent. Thus far, in previous publications, the role of the structural grain of the lower plate was poorly constrained. For the fold belt, contrasting interpretations implied a range of shortening magnitudes and contrasting fault pattern. This contribution shows seven balanced cross sections that rely on seismic reflection and well data. One section, just outside and to the south of the fold belt, gives insights into the fault network of the Moesian Platform. In that section we see 35 km of north westward directed normal sense extension that creates a set of rotated fault blocks. Growth strata within the half grabens attest to Permo-Lower Triassic extension age. The individual normal faults merge at depth into a common detachment that rises monotonously towards the east and forms a domal-shaped, arched detachment. This is the structural grain that we project down plunge towards the north beneath the fold belt. The interpreted six sections that lie in the tectonic transport direction show that structures in the western part of the Getic fold belt are compatible with the inversion on the underlying Permo-Lower Triassic extensional fault. Ubiquitous truncation of Oligocene strata by overlying units suggest inversion started during late Oligocene (intra-Burdigalian). The Badenian-Sarmatian shortening further deforms the pre-existing contractional features and the shortening increases from 5 km on the west to at least 17 km on the east. NW-SE oriented transfer zones with normal faults separate the fold belt domains with diverging displacement vectors and eastward increasing shortening. Two main salt levels within the fold belts’ sediment pile are laterally discontinuous hence they only have local significance in the deformation. The frontal part of the fold belt consists predominantly of Badenian-Sarmatian synkinematic units as the fold belt propagated into the foredeep units, this interpretation requires less shortening in the frontal structures compared to earlier solutions. Due to the lack of characteristic features on the studied sections, we infer that the Getic fold belt did not evolve as a transtensional depocenter during the lower Miocene as suggested by earlier publications.

Swords and daggers of early nomads from Transylvania and Southern Carpathians: Local varieties and continental trends

Transylvania and Wallachia, like the Caucasus and the Middle Dnieper, can be considered the centres of the genesis of Scythian bladed weapons, especially in the Early Scythian period. Furthermore, the early Scythian time was the period of the creative reinvention of the Gudermes and Kelermes traditions, which led to the appearance in Transylvania of the Posmuș and Deleni types of akinakai, and in Wallachia – of the Ferigile type of the second half of the 7th – the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. The distribution of the early Scythian swords and daggers allows us to conclude that their penetration into the Carpathian-Danube region took place on two main routes: along the northern border of the forest-steppe to Transylvania at the initial stage, and later – along the southern border between steppe and forest-steppe, through the Bărăgan plain to the South Carpathians. Moreover, one of the earliest finds of an akinakes with an antenna pommel (Frata type of the second half of the 7th century BC) was also found in Transylvania. The Carpathian-Danube region is also characterized by an isolated series of single-edged swords of the Nograd type, which area does not extend beyond the Middle Danube, Transylvania and South Carpathians. The ground of this type, apparently, was the Shumeyko type of the Early and Middle Scythian period and some Illyrian traditions. At the end of the Middle Scythian time, Scythian swords and daggers were characteristic only of the periphery of the region, which may indicate the gradual withdrawal of Transylvania and the Southern Carpathian region from under the Scythian influence. And the absence of akinakai in the region of interest for the Classical period allows us to attribute the final phase of this process to the framework no later than the last quarter of the 5th century BC.

Single-edged akinakai of Transylvania and Great Hungarian Plain. Reflection of a Balkan tradition

In the Scythian time in the territory of the Middle Danube, Transylvanian and the Southern Carpathian regions, the original group of single-edged akinakai is distributed. By the time the Scythians penetrated Carpathian region, a part of the population of Basarabi culture (bearers of the Illyrian tradition of single-edged weaponry) moved to the north, to the South Carpathians and Transylvania. Perhaps it is the circumstance that can explain the appearance of single-edged akinakai with a T-shaped handle of the Nógrád type in the foothills of the Southern Carpathians and the Apuseni Mountains in the south-west of Transylvania. The basis for the Nógrád akinakai, apparently, was the akinakai of the Shumeyko type (or Piliny type according to A. Vulpe), which spread at the turn of the Early and Middle Scythian periods. This is indicated by the features of Nógrád akinakai, characteristic of the Shumeyko type like a narrow elongated blade (often triangular), a massive kidney-shaped crosshair, a two-part handle and decoration with its transverse notches, a narrow elongated rhombic pommel. Like Shumeyko akinakai, the single-edged swords of the Nógrád type appear at the turn of the 7th – 6th centuries BC and exist until the end of the 6th century. At the same time, the bulk of the complexes with akinakai of the Nógrád type belongs to the second half or even to the late 6th century BC.

Fruits of Sloanea L. (Elaeocarpaceae) from the Oligocene of Petroșani Basin, Romania

Well-preserved fruit remains of the genus Sloanea Linné 1753 (Elaeocarpaceae) are reported for the first time in Romania, from the Oligocene Dâlja-Uricani Formation of the Petroșani Basin, South Carpathians. Six fructifications, collected from a sterile dump of the Paroșeni coal mine, are associated on four hand specimens. The fossils are assigned to Sloanea eocenica (Rásky) Kvaček, Hably & Manchester, the comparative morphological and morphometrical analysis demonstrating similarities with Sloanea eocenica reported from the Oligocene Tard Clay Formation, Hungary. First described as Sloaneacarpum eocenicum from the Oligocene of Hungary by Rásky (1962), the distinctive spiny capsules rarely occur in the continental Cenozoic deposits of Europe. Furthermore, this represents the second record of the species overall.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY OF THE EARLY JURASSIC PETRIFIED FOREST OF HOLBAV AND CRISTIAN AREAS (BRAȘOV REGION, SOUTH CARPATHIANS, ROMANIA), 2nd PART

The present paper represents the second part of the palaeoxylotomical study on the “Grădinaru Collection” that is housed by the National Museum of Geology, Bucharest. By the study of a new material collected from the Getic domain of the South Carpathians, Romania, the following taxa were identified and discussed in detail: Protocupressinoxylon dragastanii, Protojuniperoxylon holbavicum (sp. nov.), Brachyoxylon holbavicum, B. cristianicum, Palaeoginkgoxylon sp., Bucklandia sp. A, and Bucklandia sp. B. All the studied specimens suggest to a tropical Early Jurassic petrified forest. Thus, the new data have not only palaeobotanical importance, but they also contribute to the palaeobiogeographic, palaeoecologic and palaeoclimatologic knowledge of the Mesophytic

A tale of two signals: Global and local influences on the Late Pleistocene loess sequences in Bulgarian Lower Danube

In Central and Eastern Europe, research has been focused on loess associated with a plateau-setting, which preserves distinct and well-developed loess and palaeosol units linked to orbital scale changes. This has led to the view that during the last glacial period the Middle and Lower Danube predominantly experienced dry continental climates and supported steppic environments. However outside of the typical plateau setting, some authors have reported a presence of embryonic palaeosols within loess units suggesting sufficient moisture for short-term pedogenesis, and therefore either large scale moisture delivery systems and/or influence of local climatic and/geomorphic factors. Here the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic history is reconstructed based on two loess-palaeosol profiles in Slivata, North Bulgaria. The site is located in proximity to both the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains and rest on the Danube river terrace. To understand the timing of sediment deposition and dust fluxes chronological approaches combining quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), feldspar post infrared-infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IRSL), and tephra correlation were applied. The results are coupled with high-resolution particle size and magnetic susceptibility analysis to provide an overview of past environmental conditions at the site. Finally, zircon U–Pb ages are used to understand potential changes to sediment delivery patterns, in the context of the site development.The investigated profile at Slivata 2 preserves a loess-palaeosol record spanning 52–30 ka, with a very complex sedimentary sequence that switches between periods of enhanced dust flux and sediment accumulation, and palaeosol development. The Slivata 2 sequence is also punctuated by multiple thin “palaeosol” like units that are interpreted as colluvial “soil” deposits on the basis of sedimentology, provenance, and geochronology, indicating a highly variable and dynamic landscape responding to the surrounding environment. The chronology shows very rapid sediment accumulation at Slivata 1 during LGM, with mass accumulation rates similar to sites in the Carpathian Basin, suggesting strong winds and high sediment supply rates. Yet LGM loess is punctuated by a thin palaeosol, which developed between 20–19 ka. This coincides with a temporary glacial retreat in the Carpathian Mountains and higher moisture availability in Eastern Carpathians, and therefore points to localised influences on loess-palaeosol development. Moreover data from Slivata 1 shows soil development and by extension landscape and climate stabilisation shortly prior to 14 ka. The pre-Holocene onset of pedogenesis at Slivata supports ecological and glacial evidence of weak Younger Dryas from the South Carpathian Mountains.Lastly this paper provides a geochemical analysis of the thin tephra horizon preserved in the Slivata 2 profile, which was correlated to the Cape Riva/Y-2 tephra. Consequently Slivata is the most northerly terrestrial site found to contain this tephra horizon, which has implications for the understanding of the size of the Santorini's Cape-Riva/Y-2 explosion. The identification of the Cape Riva (Y-2) tephra horizon and new remodelled age of 21.92 ± 0.56 cal ka BP provides a new tephrostratigraphic marker for eastern European LGM loess.

Carpathian‐Pannonian Magmatism Database

AbstractA database containing previously published geochronologic, geochemical, and isotopic data on Mesozoic to Quaternary igneous rocks from the Carpathian‐Pannonian region is presented. Georeferenced data making up this database belong mostly to rocks sampled from five magmatic arcs: (a) the South Apuseni Jurassic island arc/backarc province, (b) a small volume mid‐Cretaceous arc of the northernmost South Carpathians, (c) a late Cretaceous arc, locally known as “banatitic,” marking the closure of the Neotethys, (d) a regionally extensive Miocene ignimbrite flare‐up, and (e) the Miocene‐Quaternary collisional arc and associated extension‐related basalts of the Pannonian and Transylvanian basins. The database is anchored by location and ages of various igneous rocks, as well as geochemical and isotopic data, where available. The database is publicly available online (https://osf.io/23kdg/), as well as a Supporting Information S1 attached to this manuscript. We exemplify the utility of the database by calculating paleo crustal thicknesses in the Carpathians as a function of time using well‐calibrated geochemical paleo‐mohometers.

Approval of the Constitution of Czechoslovakia in 1920 and the evolution of the constitutional and legal status of Podkarpatska Rus as part of the republic

The article considers the constitutional and legal status of Subcarpathian Russia under the Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic of February 29, 1920. Special attention is paid to the legal regulation of the highest state authorities of Czechoslovakia, as well as the position of national minorities in the country. Certainly, the First World War destroyed the political system and borders in Europe, which led to the creation of independent states, including Czechoslovakia. The newly created state faced a number of important tasks. The issues of state building, political system and establishing harmonious interethnic interaction between citizens were of paramount importance. Stabilization of the internal situation and success in the international arena were ensured by the adoption of a basic law - the constitution. After all, the constitution is the highest law of the country, which regulates the most important political and legal relations in it, establishes the basic provisions of law and order.
 It was established that the problem of Subcarpathian Russia was properly and in detail covered in the Constitution, although the terms of the Small Saint-Germain Peace Treaty on the "territory of the South Carpathian Ruthenians" did not require it. Nevertheless, both Czechoslovak specialists in state and legal issues and politicians of the republic considered it not only necessary but also necessary, primarily for state reasons, to fix the problem of the eastern province of the republic, Subcarpathian Russia, in the Constitution. Such a fixation, they believed, would demonstrate the sovereign right of the Czechoslovak Republic to the territory of Subcarpathian Russia, the constitutional legality of the region's membership in the Czechoslovak state. Demonstration of this right only by a separate law on the autonomy of Subcarpathian Russia would be insufficient, it would even feel some temporary solution to the problem.

Analogue modelling of strain partitioning along a curved strike-slip fault system during backarc-convex orocline formation: Implications for the Cerna-Timok fault system of the Carpatho-Balkanides

Large-scale strike-slip faults are associated with significant strain partitioning in releasing/restraining bends and often display map-view curvatures ending in horse-tail geometries. Such faults are commonly associated with indentation tectonics, where shortening in front of indenters is transferred laterally to transpression, strike-slip and the formation of transtensional/extensional basins. We investigate how these structurally distinct domains are kinematically linked by the means of a crustal-scale analogue modelling approach where a deformable crust is moved against a stable and rigid indenter. The modelling demonstrates that the geometry of the indenter is the major controlling parameter driving strain partitioning and deformation transfer from thrusting and transpression to strike-slip and transtension, whereas the rotation of the mobile plate controls the opening of triangular shaped transtensional basins. Flow of the ductile crust leads to the distribution of deformation over a wider area, facilitating strike-slip splaying into transtension/extension behind the indenter. Our results show a very good correlation with the Moesian indentation in the Carpatho-Balkanides system of South-Eastern Europe, where strain is partitioned around the dextral Cerna and Timok strike-slip faults and transferred to thrusting in the Balkanides part of the Moesian indenter and to transtension/extension in the neighbouring South Carpathians.

Selliporella johnsonii (Praturlon) nov.comb. and Selliporella neocomiensis (Radoičić) (green algae, Dasycladales), taxonomic reconsideration and chronostratigraphic calibration

Diplopora johnsoni and Selliporella neocomiensis are often considered synonymous. The two taxa share the same pattern consisting in a cylindrical, articulated biomineralised skeleton bearing whorls of short primary laterals followed by numerous long, trichophorous, secondary laterals. An exhaustive study, entailing a review of Praturlon's type-material of Diplopora johnsoni, displays the different framework and biometry between them. Therefore, the two species are considered separate taxa.Moreover, a controversial generic attribution of the two taxa is highlighted in literature: Selliporella neocomiensis has been attributed to both the genus Pseudoclypeina and to the genus Selliporella, while Diplopora johnsoni has been assigned to the genus Pseudoclypeina. Regarding the comparison between the genera Selliporella and Pseudoclypeina, and their respective type species, there is no doubt that Diplopora johnsoni and Selliporella neocomiensis display the closest affinity with Selliporella (short primary laterals and trichophorous secondary laterals) and not with Pseudoclypeina (long phloiophorous primary laterals and phloiophorous secondary laterals). Thus, the two taxa are ascribed to the genus Selliporella. The former species is named Selliporella johnsonii n.comb.Further relevant results show that Selliporella johnsonii and Selliporella neocomiensis display a different chronostratigraphic distribution. In the Apennine Carbonate Platform (southern Apennines, Italy), Selli-porella johnsonii has been well calibrated through high-resolution C-isotope stratigraphy and biostratigraphy as revealed in previous studies. This taxon constitutes a peculiar bioevent set between the end of the Weissert event and the Valanginian−Hauterivian boundary, thus may serve as a possible instrument in locating the Weissert event in the field. On the other hand, Selliporella neocomiensis found in the Getic Carbonate Platform (South Carpathians, Romania), appears to characterise the Berriasian stage.