A putative upupiform bird from the Early Oligocene of the Central Western Carpathians and a review of fossil birds unearthed in Slovakia

2013 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kundrát ◽  
Ján Soták ◽  
Per E. Ahlberg
2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrej Čerňanský ◽  
Nicole Klein ◽  
Ján Soták ◽  
Mário Olšavský ◽  
Juraj Šurka ◽  
...  

AbstractAn eosauropterygian skeleton found in the Middle Triassic (upper Anisian) Gutenstein Formation of the Fatric Unit (Demänovská dolina Valley, Low Tatra Mountains, Slovakia) represents the earliest known occurrence of marine tetrapods in the Western Carpathians. The specimen represents a partly articulated portion of the postcranial skeleton (nine dorsal vertebrae, coracoid, ribs, gastral ribs, pelvic girdle, femur and one zeugopodial element). It is assigned to the Pachypleurosauria, more precisely to theSerpianosaurus–Neusticosaurusclade based on the following combination of features: (1) small body size; (2) morphology of vertebrae, ribs and femur; (3) tripartite gastral ribs; and (4) microanatomy of the femur as revealed by μCT. Members of this clade were described from the epicontinental Germanic Basin and the Alpine Triassic (now southern Germany, Switzerland, Italy), and possibly from Spain. This finding shows that pachypleurosaur reptiles attained a broader geographical distribution during the Middle Triassic, with their geographical range reaching to the Central Western Carpathians. Pachypleurosaurs are often found in sediments formed in shallow, hypersaline carbonate-platform environments. The specimen found here occurs in a succession with vermicular limestones in a shallow subtidal zone and stromatolitic limestones in a peritidal zone, indicating that pachypleurosaurs inhabited hypersaline, restricted carbonate ramps in the Western Carpathians.


2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Prokešová ◽  
Dušan Plašienka ◽  
Rastislav Milovský

Structural pattern and emplacement mechanisms of the Krížna cover nappe (Central Western Carpathians)The Central Western Carpathians are characterized by both the thick- and thin-skinned thrust tectonics that originated during the Cretaceous. The Krížna Unit (Fatric Superunit) with a thickness of only a few km is the most widespread cover nappe system that completely overthrusts the Tatric basement/cover superunit over an area of about 12 thousands square km. In searching for a reliable model of its origin and emplacement, we have collected structural data throughout the nappe body from its hinterland backstop (Veporic Superunit) to its frontal parts. Fluid inclusion (FI) data from carbonate cataclastic rocks occurring at the nappe sole provided useful information about the p-T conditions during the nappe transport. The crucial phenomena considered for formulation of our evolutionary model are: (1) the nappe was derived from a broad rifted basinal area bounded by elevated domains; (2) the nappe body is composed of alternating, rheologically very variable sedimentary rock complexes, hence creating a mechanically stratified multilayer; (3) presence of soft strata serving as décollement horizons; (4) stress and strain gradients increasing towards the backstop; (5) progressive internal deformation at very low-grade conditions partitioned into several deformation stages reflecting varying external constraints for the nappe movement; (6) a very weak nappe sole formed by cataclasites indicating fluid-assisted nappe transport during all stages; (7) injection of hot overpressured fluids from external sources (deformed basement units) facilitating frontal ramp overthrusting under supralithostatic conditions. It was found that no simple mechanical model can be applied, but that all known principal emplacement mechanisms and driving forces temporarily participated in progressive structural evolution of the nappe. The rear compression operated during the early stages, when the sedimentary succession was detached, shortened and transported over the frontal ramp. Subsequently, gravity spreading and gliding governed the final nappe emplacement over the unconstrained basinal foreland.


Biologia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Bernátová ◽  
Jozef Májovský ◽  
Ján Kliment ◽  
Ján Topercer

AbstractWe examined the taxonomic status and distribution of Poa populations from supramontane and subalpine belt of the central Western Carpathians, so far classified as P. nemoralis subsp. carpatica and P. nemoralis subsp. montana. Significant morphological differences from P. nemoralis s. str. as well as combination of shared vs distinct characters allow us to attribute the populations under study to the species P. carpatica (V. Jirásek) Chopyk with two subspecies: P. carpatica subsp. carpatica a P. carpatica subsp. supramontana subsp. nova.


2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Kohút ◽  
Holly Stein ◽  
Pavel Uher ◽  
Aaron Aimmerman ◽  
L’ubomír Hraško

Abstract The subsurface Rochovce granite intrusion was emplaced into the contact zone between two principal tectonic units (the Veporic Unit and the Gemeric Unit) of the Central Western Carpathians (CWC), Slovakia. The Cretaceous age of this granite and its Mo-W mineralization is shown using two independent methods: U-Pb on zircon and Re-Os on molybdenite. The studied zircons have a typical homogeneous character with oscillatory zoning and scarce restite cores. SHRIMP U-Pb data provide an age of 81.5 ± 0.7 Ma, whereas restite cores suggest a latest Neoproterozoic-Ediacaran age (~565 Ma) source. Zircon εHf(81) values -5.2 to + 0.2 suggest a lower crustal source, whereas one from the Neoproterozoic core εHf(565)= + 7.4 call for the mantle influenced old precursor. Two molybdenite- bearing samples of very different character affirm a genetic relation between W-Mo mineralization and the Rochovce granite. One sample, a quartz-molybdenite vein from the exocontact (altered quartz-sericite schist of the Ochtiná Formation), provides a Re-Os age of 81.4 ± 0.3 Ma. The second molybdenite occurs as 1-2 mm disseminations in finegrained granite, and provides an age of 81.6 ± 0.3 Ma. Both Re-Os ages are identical within their 2-sigma analytical uncertainty and suggest rapid exhumation as a consequence of post-collisional, orogen-parallel extension and unroofing. The Rochovce granite represents the northernmost occurrence of Cretaceous calc-alkaline magmatism with Mo-W mineralization associated with the Alpine-Balkan-Carpathian-Dinaride metallogenic belt.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-310
Author(s):  
Anna Vozárová ◽  
Nickolay Rodionov ◽  
Katarína Šarinová

Abstract U–Pb (SHRIMP) detrital zircon ages from the Early Paleozoic meta-sedimentary rocks of the Northern Gemericum Unit (the Smrečinka Formation) were used to characterize their provenance. The aim was to compare and reconcile new analyses with previously published data. The detrital zircon age spectrum demonstrates two prominent populations, the first, Late Neoproterozoic (545–640 Ma) and the second, Paleoproterozoic (1.8–2.1 Ga), with a minor Archean population (2.5–3.4 Ga). The documented zircon ages reflect derivation of the studied metasedimentary rocks from the Cadomian arc, which was located along the West African Craton. The acquired data supports close relations of the Northern Gemericum basement with the Armorican terranes during Neoproterozoic and Ordovician times and also a close palinspastic relation with the other crystalline basements of the Central Western Carpathians. In comparison, the detrital zircons from the Southern Gemericum basement and its Permian envelope indicate derivation from the Pan-African Belt–Saharan Metacraton provenance.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Danišík ◽  
Milan Kohút ◽  
Igor Broska ◽  
Wolfgang Frisch

Thermal evolution of the Malá Fatra Mountains (Central Western Carpathians): insights from zircon and apatite fission track thermochronologyWe apply zircon and apatite fission track thermochronology (ZFT and AFT, respectively) to the Variscan crystal-line basement of the Malá Fatra Mts (Central Western Carpathians) in order to constrain the thermal history. The samples yielded three Early Cretaceous ZFT ages (143.7±9.6, 143.7±8.3, 135.3±6.9 Ma) and one Eocene age (45.2±2.1 Ma), proving that the basement was affected by a very low-grade Alpine metamorphic overprint. Although the precise timing and mechanisms of the overprint cannot be unequivocally resolved, we propose and discuss three alternative explanations: (i) a Jurassic/Cretaceous thermal event related to elevated heat flow associated with extensional tectonics, (ii) early Late Cretaceous thrusting and/or (iii) an Eocene orogeny. Thermal modelling of the AFT cooling ages (13.8±1.4 to 9.6±0.6 Ma) revealed fast cooling through the apatite partial annealing zone. The cooling is interpreted in terms of exhumation of the basement and creation of topographic relief, as corroborated by the sedimentary record in the surrounding Neogene depressions. Our AFT results significantly refine a general exhumation pattern of basement complexes in the Central Western Carpathians. A younging of AFT ages towards the orogenic front is evident, where all the external massifs located closest to the orogenic front (including Malá Fatra Mts) were exhumed after ~13 Ma from temperatures above ~120 °C.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Plašienka

Abstract The paper deals with the structure and evolution of the Pieniny Klippen Belt in its classic area in western Slovakia. The so-called Peri-Klippen Zone provides a transition from the Pieniny Klippen Belt s.s. built up by Jurassic to Eocene Oravic units (Šariš, Subpieniny and Pieniny from bottom to top) to the outer margin of the Central Western Carpathians composed of Triassic to mid-Cretaceous successions of the Fatric and Hronic cover nappe systems. The Peri-Klippen Zone attains a considerable width of 15 km in the Middle Váh River Valley, where it is composed of the supposedly Fatric Manín, Klape and Drietoma units, as well as their post-emplacement, Gosau-type sedimentary cover. All these units are tightly folded and imbricated. The complex sedimentary and structural rock records indicate the late Turonian emplacement of the frontal Fatric nappes in a position adjacent to or above the inner Oravic elements, whereby they became constituents of an accretionary wedge developing in response of subduction of the South Penninic– Vahic oceanic realm separating the Central Western Carpathians and the Oravic domain. Evolution of the wedge-top Gosau depressions and the trench-foredeep basins of the foreland Oravic area exhibit close mutual relationships controlled by the wedge dynamics. The kinematic and palaeostress analyses of fold and fault structures revealed only one dominating stress system coeval with development of the accretionary wedge, which is characterized by the generally NW–SE oriented main compression axis operating in a pure compressional to dextral transpressional regime, interrupted by short-term extensional events related to the wedge collapse stages. Younger, Miocene to Quaternary palaeostress fields correspond to those widely recorded in the entire Western Carpathians. Relying on the regional tectonostratigraphic and structural data, the problematic issues of the palaeogeographic settings of the Manín and Klape units, presumably affiliated with the Fatric cover nappe system, and of the provenance of numerous olistoliths occurring at different stratigraphic levels are then discussed in a broader context.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Szczygieł ◽  
Helena Hercman ◽  
Gregory Hoke ◽  
Michał Gąsiorowski ◽  
Marcin Błaszczyk ◽  
...  

<p>The Tatra mountains, the northernmost portion of the Central Western Carpathians, host a stunning alpine landscape despite an average elevation that rises 1.4 km above the surrounding lowlands. Regional geomorphology studies on both sides of the range correlate various landforms interpreted to be glacial in origin with all each of the eight major Alpine glacial  events based largely landscape position, and in some cases geochronologic constraints. This regional relative chronology assumes that wet-based mountain glaciers are efficient agents of erosion and each successive glaciation lowered the valleys within the Tatra. While the tendency of subsequent glaciations to obscure evidence of previous events makes it difficult to study the work done by past glacial episodes, the cave networks on the northern side of the Tatra offer a way to evaluate the amount and timing of valley lowering with U-series dating of speleothems. Epiphreatic and paleophreatic caves that developed near the water table and dried out as valley deepening occurred can serve as excellent recorders of the valley incision history.</p><p>Speleothems were collected from a number of cave levels present throughout the northern Tatra, of which only a subset were suitable for U-series geochronology. The oldest speleothems collected in active epiphreatic passages on the valley bottom level from each valley are consistently between 284-325 ka (MIS 8-9). This shows that the modern karst drainage system of the Tatra was established prior to the late Middle Pleistocene, and the cave conduits changed to epiphreatic or vadose conditions between 280 and 330 ka. Since the lowest cave level is at or below the modern valley floor, we can conclude that no valley incision occurred after ~330 ka, which includes both the penultimate and last glaciations periods. Clearly, the regional glacial chronologies in the Tatra must be reassessed. The implications of our findings demonstrate that the assumption of successive valley lowering should not be assumed and that even the extensive MIS2 glaciation did not result in valley lowering despite its size.</p>


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