Conference:
AAPG European Regional Conference, Tbilisi, Georgia, 26-27 September 2013.
Author:
Speranta-Maria Popescu.
Abstract:
Connections between Mediterranean and Paratethys during the Late Miocene and Pliocene are still intensely debated. Such exchanges occurred during phases of high sea level and are supported by the occurrence of: (1), marine organisms in the Paratethys, mainly calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellate cysts; (2), brackish Paratethysian organisms in the Mediterranean as constituents of Lago Mare biofacies: dinoflagellate cysts, molluscs (dreissenids, lymnocardiids) and ostracods (Cyprideis pannonica group). Previous discussion concerned a potential gateway at the Istanbul Sill or through the Balkans. We discarded a gateway at the Istanbuk Sill because of the delayed arrival of calcareous nannofossils, marine dinoflagellate cysts, and diatoms at in the Black Sea (DSDP Site 380) despite they arrived a little before (accompanied by planktonic foraminifers) in the Dacic Basin (Popescu, 2006). Paleontological and sedimentological data show that the exchange corridor crossed the Balkans (Clauzon et al., 2005; Popescu et al., 2009; Suc et al., 2011; Bache et al., 2012), that provide new information on clastics deposited in the Prinos field (Northern Aegean). Several paleontological data suggest that another branch of this corridor linked the Aegean Sea with the Pannonian Basin before the Messinian Salinity Crisis (Popescu et al., 2009).