Marine gateway vs. fluvial stream within the Balkans from 6 to 5Ma

Abstract

Since the discovery of calcareous nannofossils, dinoflagellate cysts and planktonic foraminifers in deposits from the Dacic Basin, intensive research has been performed in order to evidence which gateway this microplankton used to connect Paratethys and the Mediterranean prior and after the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Such a gateway is also to be regarded at the origin of successive influxes of Paratethyan organisms (molluscs, ostracods, dinoflagellates) into the Mediterranean Basin ("Lago Mare" events). Observing that the İ stanbul area, usually proposed for this purpose, was inefficient, we examine the succession of marine well-dated pre-MSC and post-MSC deltaic deposits through the Balkans, from northern Greece to southern Romania, that constitutes a reliable candidate for such a marine corridor, the origin of which was caused by the regional tectonic extension. The reconstructed palaeogeography for high sea level episodes that encompassed the MSC clarifies the context of the so-called North Aegean Lake. This marine gateway probably evolved as a powerful river during the peak of the MSC, contributing to the deposition of clastics in the hydrocarbon Prinos Field. A tectonically controlled subsidence to the north and south of the Skopje region caused the closure of such a gateway.

Fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Neogene locality of Maramena (Greece), the most diverse European herpetofauna at the Miocene/Pliocene transition boundary

“…The latest Miocene/earliest Pliocene transition in Europe is characterized by important climatic changes, geographic alterations, and faunal turnovers, which affected the palaeoenvironments of the continent (Cerling et al, 1997;Snel et al, 2006;Carnevale et al, 2008;Harzhauser et al, 2015;Suc et al, 2015;Carnevale et al, 2017;Karakitsios et al, 2017). One of the major dramatic events of the Cenozoic Era, the Messinian Salinity Crisis (hereafter MSC), took place at the latest Miocene (Messinian), a period during which the Mediterranean Sea became isolated from the Atlantic Ocean through a closure of the Strait of Gibraltar, resulting in a significant amount of drying and severe environmental perturbations (Hsü, 1972;Krijgsman et al, 1999;Snel et al, 2006;Carnevale et al, 2008;Ivanovic et al, 2014;Harzhauser et al, 2015;Suc et al, 2015;Carnevale et al, 2017;Karakitsios et al, 2017;Carnevale et al, 2019).…”

Core Complex Segmentation in North Aegean, A Dynamic View

“…Present‐day strain rates calculated from Global Positioning System measurements (Pérouse et al, ) indicate that the Rhodope is still deforming but at very low strain rates. In addition, a 600‐km‐long profile, trending roughly NS, from the SE of Pannonian Basin and W of Dacic Basin, to the north, and Strymon Basin to the south indicates that the envelope of paleo‐sea levels recorded by deltaic systems of Zanclean age (i.e., 3.5 Ma) has undergone a large wavelength undulation with altitudes ranging between 220 and 390 m (see Figures 13 and 14 in Suc et al, ). This indicates that, since Pliocene, the region is still deforming at very low strain rate, in agreement with Global Positioning System data, and has undergone a general uplift of 305 ± 85 m, in agreement with the positive dynamic topography induced by mantle flow that affects the North Aegean domain (see Figure 11 in Faccenna et al, ).…”

“…This was completed by the structural analysis of fault patterns and décollement zones related to basin development in the metamorphic basement. We benefited from the expertise of G. Clauson and J‐P Suc for the identification in the field of Messinian incisions and deposition of Pliocene Gilbert deltas of Akropotamos (between Pangeon and Symvolon) and Serres (between Vrondou and Menikion; Figure b; for details see Bache et al, ; Suc et al, ).…”

Crustal Strain in the Marmara Pull‐Apart Region Associated With the Propagation Process of the North Anatolian Fault

“…Their topmost part is marked by an abandonment surface. Such paleogeographical entities have been identified on this basis and dated by calcareous nannofossils in the Dardanelles by Melinte-Dobrinescu et al [2009] and Suc et al [2015].…”