International Geological Journal - Official Journal of the Carpathian-Balkan Geological Association

Volume 69 no. 6 / December 2018

Volume 69 no. 6 / December 2018

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Articles in this issue

  • Multiphase carbonate cementation in the Miocene Pétervására Sandstone (North Hungary): implications for basinal fluid flow and burial history

    Abstract: The paper focuses on the reservoir heterogeneity of a sandstone formation in which the main issue is the evaluation of diagenetic features. Integrated data from field observations as well as petrographic and geochemical analyses from surface and core sections from different structural settings were applied. In the shallow marine Pétervására Sandstone, eogenetic minerals are comprised of calcite, pyrite and siderite; mesogenetic minerals are albite, ankerite, calcite, quartz, mixed layer clays and kaolinite. Dissolution occurred during mesogenetic and telogenetic phases. Ankerite is only present in the core setting, where the sandstone is at ca. 900 m depth and diagenetic calcite predates quartz cementation. Based on stable isotopic values (δ13 CV-PDB −18.3 to −11.4 ‰ and δ18 OV-PDB −9.5 to −7.2 ‰), diagenetic calcite is of mesogenetic origin and was precipitated from fluids migrated along fault zones from the underlying, organic matter-rich formation. In outcrop setting, on the other hand, calcite is present in a larger quantity and postdates quartz cementation. Carbon isotope data (δ13 CV-PDB = −9.9 to −5.1 ‰) indicate less contribution of light isotope, whereas more negative oxygen isotopic values (OV-PDB = −13.1 to −9.9 ‰) likely imply higher temperature of mesogenetic fluids. However, carbon–oxygen isotope covariation can indicate precipitation from meteoric fluid. In this case, further analyses are required to delineate the final model.
  • Miocene paleogeography and biostratigraphy of the Slovenj Gradec Basin: a marine corridor between the Mediterranean and Central Paratethys

    Abstract: The Miocene evolution of the area transitional from the Eastern Alps to the Pannonian Basin System was studied through the paleogeographic evolution of the Slovenj Gradec Basin in northern Slovenia. It is based on mapping, section logging, nannoplankton biostratigraphy, and petrography. The results are correlated with the lithological column of the borehole MD-1/05. The evolution of the basin is connected with the development of the Pannonian Basin System, and the global 3rd order cycles, which influenced the connection with the Mediterranean Sea. Sedimentation started in the Karpatian in a fluvial to lacustrine environment and terminated at the end of the Early Badenian. During this period, three transgression–regression cycles were recorded. The first transgression occurred in the Karpatian and corresponds to the TB 2.2. cycle. The sediments reflect proximity of the hinterland. After a short break in sedimentation, the Early Badenian deposition followed. It marks the second transgression into the SGB, the first Badenian, correlated with the TB 2.3 cycle. There are signs of a transitional environment, which evolved to marine in advanced stages. At the highstand system tract, the sea flooded the entire Slovenj Gradec Basin. Subsequent reduced quantity and diversity of the microfossils marks the onset of the second regression stage. It is followed by the third transgression, the second in the Badenian, correlated with the TB 2.4 cycle. The late Early Badenian deposition continued in the lower-energy, though occasionally still turbulent environment. Silty sediments with upward increasing content of organic matter indicate shallowing of the basin, until its final diminishing. Layers of fresh-water coal already bear witness to the existence of restricted swamps. After the Early Badenian, the area of the Slovenj Gradec Basin became dry land, exposed to erosion.
  • Deep contact of the Bohemian Massif and Western Carpathians as seen from density modelling

    Abstract: Density modelling was carried out along five profiles oriented across the expected deep contact between the Bohemian Massif and the Internal Western Carpathians in western Slovakia. The density models reveal the continuation of the Bohemian Massif beneath the External and Internal Western Carpathians tectonic units. The eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif is situated at depth south-east of the surface outcrops of the Pieniny Klippen Belt and changes its position in the surveyed area. The contact of the Internal Western Carpathians with the Bohemian Massif and External Western Carpathians is subvertical. This sharp contact is manifested as the transtension to extension zone towards the surface.
  • In-situ U–Th–Pb geochronometry with submicron-scale resolution: low-voltage electron-beam dating of complexly zoned polygenetic uraninite microcrystals

    Abstract: Complexly zoned microcrystals of uraninite were encountered in orthogneiss from the central Tauern Window in Austria (K1 gneiss, Felbertal scheelite mine) and analysed in-situ for U, Th and Pb with state-of-the-art FE-SEM/EDX techniques. A three times finer spatial resolution was achieved using an acceleration voltage of 8 kV, compared to the classic 15–20 kV set-up of U–Th–total Pb electron microprobe dating. The lower voltage allows a spheroid of material with a diameter of only 0.3 µm to be selectively analysed. Careful tests on three uraninite reference materials show that the low-voltage method yields sufficient precision and accuracy for U–Th–total Pb uraninite dating, with errors on individual spot ages in the order of 10–30 Ma. By means of this innovative analysis technique, small-scale age zoning patterns could be resolved and dated in the uraninite microcrystals from the orthogneiss. Based on microstructures observed in backscattered electron images we interpret that an older uraninite generation in the rock, with a late Permian formation age (~260 Ma), was recycled two times through a coupled dissolution–reprecipitation process at ~210 Ma and at ~30 Ma. The younger dissolution–reprecipitation phase at ~30 Ma coincides with the Alpine regional metamorphism (lower amphibolite facies). The two older ages (~210 Ma and ~260 Ma) have been previously recognized in rocks from the Tauern Window by uraninite dating, but it is the first time here that both are recorded in the same rock and even the same uraninite grain. The present study shows that recrystallized accessory uraninite can provide a sensitive geological “hard disk” where several discrete thermal events of an area are stored. In addition, our work attests that the mineral uraninite has an unexpected geochronological robustness, even on the microcrystal scale.
  • Palaeoenvironmental analysis of the Miocene barnacle facies: case studies from Europe and South America

    Abstract: Acorn barnacles are sessile crustaceans common in shallow-water settings, both in modern oceans and in the Miocene geological record. Barnacle-rich facies occur from polar to equatorial latitudes, generally associated with shallow-water, high-energy, hard substrates. The aim of this work is to investigate this type of facies by analysing, from the palaeontological, sedimentological and petrographical points of view, early Miocene examples from Northern Italy, Southern France and South-western Peru. Our results are then compared with the existing information on both modern and fossil barnacle-rich deposits. The studied facies can be divided into two groups. The first one consists of very shallow, nearshore assemblages where barnacles are associated with an abundant hard-substrate biota (e.g., barnamol). The second one includes a barnacle-coralline algae association, here named “barnalgal” (= barnacle / red algal dominated), related to a deeper setting. The same pattern occurs in the distribution of both fossil and recent barnacle facies. The majority of them are related to very shallow, high-energy, hard-substrate, a setting that represents the environmental optimum for the development of barnacle facies, but exceptions do occur. These atypical facies can be identified through a complete analysis of both the skeletal assemblage and the barnacle association, showing that barnacle palaeontology can be a powerful tool for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.