Miocene vegetation and climate dynamics in Eastern and Central Paratethys (Southeastern Europe)

Miocene palynoflora of the Kocaçay and Cumaovası basins: a contribution to the synthesis of Miocene palynology, palaeoclimate, and palaeovegetation in western Turkey

“…There are many palynological studies of the early Middle Miocene (Langhian) in Europe (e.g., Germany (Hochuli, 1978;Mosbrugger, 1995, 1996;Bruch et al, 2004), Bulgaria (Ivanov et al, 2002(Ivanov et al, , 2007(Ivanov et al, , 2011, Greece (Reigel et al, 1989;Ioakim et al, 2005), Spain (Jiménez-Moreno and , France , the Slovak Republic, Poland, and Hungary (Planderová, 1990;Wazynska, 1998;Stuchlik et al, 2001Stuchlik et al, , 2002Jiménez-Moreno, 2006;Kvaček et al, 2006;Kováčová and Sitár, 2007;Doláková and Kováčová, 2008;Doláková et al, 2011;Kováčová et al, 2011). In addition, sediments of the Langhian-Serravallian are widespread in Turkey.…”

Relationships among Cedrus libani, C. brevifolia and C. atlantica as revealed by the morphological and anatomical needle characters

“…All these taxa are examples of Tertiary relicts and their ancestors were much widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa before the Quaternary (Gaussen 1964;Ferguson 1967;Pons 1998;Magri and Parra 2002;Postigo-Mijarra et al 2010;Manzi et al 2011). The reduction of the area of distribution of the genus and formation of disjunctions in its range took place during the late Tertiary as result of climate cooling (Thompson 2005;Utescher et al 2007;Ivanov et al 2011). The increasing isolation between the west-, east-Mediterranean and central-Asiatic populations of the cedars was probably a reason for formation of remnant taxa (Gaussen 1964;Pons and Quézel 1985;Pons 1998;Qiao et al 2007).…”

Observing the past to better understand thefuture: a synthesis of the Neogene climate inEurope and its perspectives on present climatechange

“…The MAT in Austria had values above 20 ∘ C during the early Langhian [59], with thermophilic mollusc taxa, like the bivalve Plicatula (found today in subtropical to tropical ocean waters) present in the Central Paratethys [62]. The conditions of Central Paratethys were tropical to subtropi- Black dashed line over an orange area refers to the possibility of this region to be submersed by the beginning of this age(adapted from [145,146]). …”

“…The oldest Neogene epoch, the Miocene (23.030 -5.332 Ma) is considered the most critical interval in ice mass formation on land. Several sea level transgressions and regressions took place, which gave rise to the appearance and disappearance of lakes and swamps in Europe, respectively [1]. The North Alpine Foreland Basin, that extends from the Rhone basin (west) to Lower Austria (east), passing through Switzerland and south of Germany [2], was under intense tectonic activity during the Miocene, forcing the elevation of the Carpathians, Balkans, Caucasus, Dinaric Alps and Rhodope Mountains [1], and exerting a strong influence on the European and Mediterranean climate [3].…”

“…Several sea level transgressions and regressions took place, which gave rise to the appearance and disappearance of lakes and swamps in Europe, respectively [1]. The North Alpine Foreland Basin, that extends from the Rhone basin (west) to Lower Austria (east), passing through Switzerland and south of Germany [2], was under intense tectonic activity during the Miocene, forcing the elevation of the Carpathians, Balkans, Caucasus, Dinaric Alps and Rhodope Mountains [1], and exerting a strong influence on the European and Mediterranean climate [3]. The present day climate of Western Eurasia, characterized by maritime conditions along the coast influenced by the Gulf Stream, with continentality increasing with distance from shore, exhibits a great seasonality both in temperature and precipitation [4].…”