D. C. Jipa / C. Olariu Dan C. Jipa, Cornel Olariu DACIAN BASIN DEPOSITIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENTARY HISTORY DACIAN BASIN DACIAN OF A PARATETHYS SEA ISBN 978-973-0-07021-7 DACIAN BASIN DEPOSITIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENTARY HISTORY OF A PARATETHYS SEA Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Gheorghe Murgeanu, teacher, adviser and mentor, whose guidance essentially contributed to the birth and rise of sedimentology in Romania DAN C. JIPA CORNEL OLARIU DACIAN BASIN DEPOSITIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENTARY HISTORY OF A PARATETHYS SEA Geo-Eco-Marina. Special Publication no. 3 GeoEcoMar, 2009 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEO-ECOLOGY (GeoEcoMar) - ROMANIA 23-25, Dimitrie Onciul St, 024053, P.O.Box 34-51, Bucharest Tel./Fax: +40-021-252 25 94 contact: [email protected] We gratefully acknowledge support for printing provided by the National Authority for Scientific Research of Romania Desktop Publishing: Carmen Biriş ISBN 978-973-0-07021-7 © 2009 GeoEcoMar All rights reserved Printed by Artix & Smart Print Authors and contributors Authors Dan C. JIPA National Institute of Marine Geology and Geo-Ecology – GeoEcoMar, Bucharest Marine Geology and Sedimentology Laboratory [email protected] Cornel OLARIU University of Texas at Austin, Texas, US Geology Science Department [email protected] Contributors Liviu MAŢENCO VU University, Amsterdam Radu OLTEANU Geological Institute of Romania, Bucharest Cristina POENARU National Institute of Marine Geology and Geoecology – GeoEcoMar, Bucharest Sorin-Corneliu RĂDAN Geological Institute of Romania, Bucharest 7 Contents Foreword and Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1. Dacian Basin. General Background ......................................................................................... 17 1.1. Present-day and paleogeographic setting .............................................................. 17 1.2. Stratigraphy ................................................................................................................................. 19 1.2.1. Biostratigraphic scale ............................................................................................ 19 1.2.2. Toward a reliable chronostratigraphic and geochronologic framework of the Dacian Basin ....................................................................... 23 1.3. Outline of the Dacian Basin biostratigraphy ........................................................... 27 1.4. Dacian Basin structural framework .............................................................................. 31 1.5. Overview of the Dacian Basin cyclic development ............................................ 33 1.6. Nomenclature ............................................................................................................................ 37 Chapter 2. Dacian Basin paleogeography. Sedimentological Interpretation ........................ 40 2.1. Dacian Basin paleogeographic evolution: its beginnings, develop- ment and filling ....................................................................................................................... 40 2.1.1. Paleogeographic maps ........................................................................................ 40 2.1.2. Paleogeography before the existence of the Dacian Basin ........... 42 2.1.3. Dacian Basin formation ......................................................................................... 45 2.1.4. The open sea Dacian Basin (Middle-Late Sarmatian s.l.) .................. 47 2.1.5. The semi-enclosed Dacian Basin (Maeotian-Early Dacian) ............. 48 2.1.6. The closed Dacian Basin (Late Dacian-Romanian) ............................... 50 2.2. Dacian Basin paleogeographic changes ................................................................. 51 2.2.1. Sarmatian (s.l.) areal decrease ........................................................................... 51 2.2.2. Dacian Basin extent during Maeotian-Pontian ...................................... 52 2.2.3. Nature of the southward extension process ........................................... 54 2.2.4. Northern extent of the Dacian Basin ............................................................ 57 2.3. Was the Dacian Basin a lake or a sea ? ........................................................................ 59 2.3.1. Modern lakes and seas. How are they dissimilar ? ............................... 59 2.3.2. A paleogeographic approach to the lake and sea classification ..... 60 2.3.3. Applying the lake - sea classification criteria to the Dacian Basin ................................................................................................................................. 62 2.3.4. The Dacian Basin: lake or sea? ........................................................................... 64 2.4. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 65 9 Contents Chapter 3. Sediment Thickness Distribution in the Dacian Basin................................................. 67 3.1. Data sources ............................................................................................................................... 67 3.1.1. Lithofacies Atlas of Romania ............................................................................. 67 3.1.2. The Lithologic-Paleogeographic Atlas of Romania ............................. 68 3.1.3. Recently published isopach maps ................................................................. 69 3.2. Dacian Basin sediment thickness distribution ..................................................... 69 3.2.1. Thickness of the Middle-Late Sarmatian (s.l.) sediments ................ 69 3.2.2. Thickness of the Maeotian deposits ............................................................ 70 3.2.3. Thickness of the Early Pontian deposits .................................................... 71 3.2.4. Thickness of the Late Pontian-Dacian deposits .................................... 73 3.2.5. Thickness of the Romanian deposits .......................................................... 74 3.3. Sediment thickness in the Eastern Dacian Basin depocenter ..................... 75 3.4. Sediment thinning-out at the southern edge of the Dacian Basin.......... 80 3.5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 80 Chapter 4. Dacian Basin Physiography .......................................................................................................... 82 4.1. Tectonic effects on the Dacian Basin physiography .......................................... 82 4.2. Dacian Basin shelf and trough ......................................................................................... 85 4.3. Dacian Basin sedimentation depth .............................................................................. 88 4.4. Subsidence and basin morphology ............................................................................. 92 4.5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 92 Chapter 5. Littoral Sedimentary Environment in the Dacian Basin ............................................. 93 5.1. Criteria for the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Dacian Basin littoral deposits ......................................................................................................................... 93 5.2. Shoreline sedimentation environment in the Dacian Basin ......................... 94 5.2.1. Wave-controlled shoreline environment................................................... 95 5.2.2. Storm-controlled shoreline environment ...............................................103 5.2.3. Shell beds in the Dacian Basin shoreline environment ..................111 5.2.4. Biological features of the Bizdidel River littoral deposits ...............113 5.3. Deltaic environment in the Dacian Basin ...............................................................115 5.3.1. Delta front sedimentation.................................................................................115 5.3.2. Delta plain sedimentation ................................................................................122 5.4. Soft sediment deformation in the littoral deposits ..........................................127 5.5. Dacian Basin sedimentary environment below the fairweather wave base ...............................................................................................................................................128 5.5.1. Deeper-water sediment accumulation in the Dacian Basin ........129 5.5.2. Littoral clay deposits: offshore or sediment-starved facies ..........132 5.6. Conclusions ..............................................................................................................................132 Chapter 6. Upper Neogene Fluvial Sedimentation in the Dacian Basin ................................134 6.1. Sedimentary characteristics of the fluvial deposits in the Dacian Basin ....134 6.1.1. Litho-facies aspects ...............................................................................................134 6.1.2. Graded bedding ......................................................................................................141 6.1.3. Sedimentary structures ......................................................................................143