Paleogeography of the Early Badenian connection between the Vienna Basin and the Carpathian Foredeep

Abstract

The paleogeographic reconstruction for an early Badenian connection of the Vienna Basin and the Carpathian Foredeep in the Mikulov area (Mikulov Gate) based on paleontological (otoliths) and geological (regional geology, tectonics) data has been provided. The ecologically homogenous deep water associations of otoliths in the most NW tip of the Vienna Basin (Sedlec HJ-2 Borehole) links up bathymetrically with nearly adequate otolith assemblages in the southernmost Moravian part of the foredeep. Ten meso- and bathypelagic teleost species have been identified in the Vienna Basin for the first time. Geological analyses proved inversion processes of recurrent nature along old faults of the NW-SE direction in the Dyje (Thaya) Depression. In the early Badenian the Mikulov Gate resulted from the sagging block of the Waschberg Zone. This marine channel was relatively deep (> 200m, as indicated by otoliths) and in all probability flooded an entire front of the nappes in this area. © 2012 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Wien.