Paratethys was a large
epicontinental sea, stretching from Germany to China at the beginning of
the Oligocene, that progressively retreated by a complex combination of
basin infill, glacio-eustatic sea-level lowering and tectonic uplift to
its present-day remnants: Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Lake.
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This project
will use high-resolution geochronology together with integrated stratigraphy
and paleomagnetism to unravel internal (geodynamics, tectonic uplift) from
external (climate, glacio-eustatic sea-level change) forcing factors and
to resolve the effects of Paratethys restriction (regional climate perturbations,
biotic crises, aridification).
Creating a reliable magnetostratigraphy
for key sections in Azerbaijan, was a first step.We found there that the
boundary between uppermost Productive Series and the Akchagylian regional
stages, as observed in the Lokbatan section, has in the most likely scenario
an age of 2.5 Ma, which is radically different from the existing age. The
younger regional stages, the Apsheronian and the Bakunian, yield ages for
their lower boundaries of older than 1.8 Ma, and 0.88 Ma, respectively.
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Some
time scales in the Paratethys ... click for more. |
In this project, we will
focus on the late Miocene to Pleistocene when progressive sea retreat and
variations in interbasinal connectivity generated extreme environmental
changes in the Paratethys domain:
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Marine flooding at the
Maeotian-Pontian boundary (6 Ma), resulting in increased Mediterranean-Paratethys
connectivity, followed by desiccation features during the Messinian Salinity
Crisis (MSC) interval (5.6-5.3 Ma)
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The isolation of the Caspian
basin, transforming open marine environments into lacustrine deltaic systems,
and leading to alternating phases of desiccation and flooding.
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Glacio-marine transgressions
in the Pleistocene, suggesting temporary connections between Paratethys
and Arctic Ocean.
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Late
Miocene Paratethys and planned transects to be studied in this project |
We will first establish
a detailed chronologic framework for the Mio-Pliocene successions of the
Black Sea and Caspian basins, which will consequently be used to unravel
the tectonic and climatic changes that seriously affected the Eastern Paratethys
region. Such multi-disciplinary approach is the only way to attain a comprehensive
system view on Paratethys evolution.
Lokbatan
section (Azerbaijan, near Baku)
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