A new preparation method of microfauna from gypsum: Micropaleontological association from the middle miocene badenian gypsum deposits of paratethys

Abstract

Evaporitic gypsum deposits represent an important paleoenvironmental record of the Miocene Badenian of the Carpathian Mountains belt. In this study, we developed a nontoxic method to concentrate calcareous microfossils from gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O), by treating the sulfate with ammonium acetate. We applied the newly developed method to gypsum collected from the Evaporitic Formation outcropping northward of Slănic-Prahova in the Eastern Carpathians. For the first time for this formation, we describe a calcareous microfossil assemblage characterized by the presence of planktonic foraminifera as well as cysts and fragments of calcareous algae.