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

Facies analysis of gravity flow deposits of an ancient foreland basin (Magura Nappe, Western Carpathians)

Published: Dec 2022

Pages: 545 - 559

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/GeolCarp.73.6.5

Authors: FRANTIŠEK TEŤÁK

Abstract: Sedimentary logging at outcrops remains a basic method of sediment description in the field. The area of sedimentological study in this work was the Slovak western part of the Magura Nappe, which is the largest tectonic unit of the Outer Western Carpathians. Sediments were deposited by gravity flows in the predominantly deep-sea environment of the foreland Magura Basin. The stratigraphic extent of the studied deposits is Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) to ­Oligocene/early Miocene. Up to 113 sedimentological logs have been documented in detail with a total thickness of 2022 m. Simplified logging and interpretation of the depositional environment was additionally developed for 15 of the most interesting logs. Sedimentation by debris-flows, turbidity currents, slides, and slumps in the environment of the distributary channel, levee, inter-channel, and basin plain was also interpreted. An important element of the study was the inclusion of paleocurrent directions in the analysis of logs. The purpose of the study was to record the most important outcrops in the region and thus preserve them and make them accessible to the greater public, as well as supplement the characteristics of lithostratigraphic units and knowledge on the sedimentary evolution of the Magura Basin.

Keywords: outcrop documentation, gravity flow, turbidity currents, debris-flows

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