Towards better correlation of the Central Paratethys regional time scale with the standard geological time scale of the Miocene Epoch

Abstract

Depositional sequences originating in semi-enclosed basins with endemic biota, partly or completely isolated from the open ocean, frequently do not allow biostratigraphic correlations with the standard geological time scale (GTS). The Miocene stages of the Central Paratethys represent regional chronostratigraphic units that were defined in type sections mostly on the basis of biostratigraphic criteria. The lack of accurate dating makes correlation within and between basins of this area and at global scales difficult. Although new geochronological estimates increasingly constrain the age of stage boundaries in the Paratethys, such estimates can be misleading if they do not account for diachronous boundaries between lithostratigraphic formations and for forward smearing of first appearances of index species (Signor-Lipps effect), and if they are extrapolated to whole basins. Here, we argue that (1) geochronological estimates of stage boundaries need to be based on sections with high completeness and high sediment accumulation rates, and (2) that the boundaries should preferentially correspond to conditions with sufficient marine connectivity between the Paratethys and the open ocean. The differences between the timing of origination of a given species in the source area and timing of its immigration to the Paratethys basins should be minimized during such intervals. Here, we draw attention to the definition of the Central Paratethys regional time scale, its modifications, and its present-day validity. We suggest that the regional time scale should be adjusted so that stage boundaries reflect local and regional geodynamic processes as well as the opening and closing of marine gateways. The role of eustatic sea level changes and geodynamic processes in determining the gateway formation needs to be rigorously evaluated with geochronological data and spatially-explicit biostratigraphic data so that their effects can be disentangled.

A journey on plate tectonics sheds light on European crayfish phylogeography

“…The overall topography of the Apuseni Mountains and the Dinarides was established from that moment (Kováč et al, ; Mațenco, ; Tari & Pamić, ). The Apuseni Mountains are probably a relic of a much wider and continuous mountain chain that occupied the space between the Dinarides and the Carpathians at the end of Paleogene times (Kováč et al, ; Mațenco, ). Around 20 Ma as a consequence of the Carpathians and Dinaridic slab rollback, the activity of the extensional subbasins and associated detachments started near or in the Dinarides and migrated NE and E‐wards in space and time forming the Pannonian basin (Balázs et al, ; Matenco et al, ).…”

“…The geological event used as calibration point was selected considering the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Alpine-Carpathian-Dinaric (ACD) orogenic system. The ACD orogenic system evolved during the Paleogene-Neogene and is a consequence of several tectonic events (Balázs et al, 2016;Kováč et al, 2018;Ustaszewski et al, 2008) show that before the onset of Miocene, both the Apuseni Mountains and the Dinarides belonged to the same tectonic unit, which had been formed in Oligocene (ca.…”

The mid-Langhian flooding in the eastern Central Paratethys: integrated stratigraphic data from the Transylvanian Basin and SE Carpathian Foredeep

“…5). Kováč et al (2018) defined most of this period as a relative sea-level lowstand . The paleoenvironmental evolution of this phase is poorly understood compared to that of the widespread Badenian Sea but it deserves some attention.…”

“…In addition, the use of ambiguous formation names and/or regional fossil assemblages may result in a variable and contradictory correlations (Melinte-Dobrinescu and Stoica 2014;Săndulescu 1988;Mărunţeanu 1999;Beldean et al 2012;de Leeuw et al 2013;). All of the factors above complicate correlation of the stratigraphy from different regions to each other, and to the global time scale (Paucă 1976;Krézsek and Bally 2006 and references therein;Beldean et al 2013;Gozhyk et al 2015;Holcová et al 2018;Kováč et al 2018) hampering paleogeographic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the whole Central Paratethys system.…”

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“…Today, the middle Miocene (Badenian and overlying Sarmatian), which forms a more or less continuous sedimentary belt around the mountain core ( Fig. 1A), the lateral shift of the sedimentary facies (ecological habitats, KOVÁČ et al, 2018).…”