Foraminifera in slump deposits of the Badenian (Middle Miocene) Green Stratified Salt in Wieliczka, Poland

Authors

  • Małgorzata Gonera Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Nature Conservation
  • Krzysztof Bukowski AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection
  • Kajetan d'Obyrn Wieliczka Salt Mine
  • Janusz Wiewiórka Wieliczka Salt Mine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1060

Keywords:

Middle Miocene, Paratethys, salinity crisis, foraminifera, slump processes

Abstract

Taxonomic, quantitative and isotopic study of foraminifera from mudstone and claystone xenoliths incorporated into slump facies of the Stratified Salt Member of the Wieliczka deposit shows that the majority of xenoliths represent the CPN 8 biozone (Wielician substage, Badenian, Middle Miocene). The share of the CPN 7 biozone is minor; it was recorded in two of 26 samples analysed. The source area of xenoliths was the basinal part of the Carpathian Foredeep, located far off the shoreline (shallow-water taxa are not present in the samples); it represents the upper bathyal zone, in oxygenated conditions. Inbenthic, eutrophic and opportunistic foraminifers dominate the benthic environment of the CPN 8 span of time. Increased d18O values of the Globigerina bulloides tests (from +1.7‰ in CPN 7 to +2.3‰ in CPN 8 sediments) was due to the change from the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum to the Middle Miocene Climate Transition at the CPN 7/CPN 8 boundary. This palaeoclimate event is the marker of the Moravian/Wielician chronostratigraphic boundary in the Central Paratethys. The Wielician shows the distinct taxonomic reduction of the Moravian planktonic foraminifera and includes the Globigerina bulloides Acme. 

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2012-12-05

Issue

Vol. 56 No. 4 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and more frequent citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).