New data on the Early - Middle Badenian transition in the NW Transylvanian Basin (Romania) revealed by the planktonic foraminifera assemblages

Abstract

The planktonic foraminifera assemblages recovered from two cores drilled in Cluj-Napoca (NW Transylvanian Basin) demonstrate connections of the basin to the open seas before the middle Badenian evaporite deposition. Assemblages suggest clear changes in the environments, with an initial transgressive trend, followed by a decrease in the rate of sea-level rise, and finally a sea-level fall. The occurrence of planktonic foraminifera (mainly Globorotalia) offers a good potential for correlation of the pre-evaporitic interval with the uppermost Langhian and can be used for tracing the early-middle Badenian boundary.