Upper Cretaceous volcanoclastic-sedimentary formations in the Timok Eruptive Area (eastern Serbia): new biostratigraphic data from planktonic foraminifera

The biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous volcanoclastic-sedimentary formations cropping out in the Timok Eruptive Area of the eastern Serbian Carpatho-Balkanides is presented. Four lithostratigraphic units of formation rank are recognized in the Timok area: Stublica Clastics (Upper Albian/Cenomanian), Ostrelj (Lower Turonian/Santonian), Bor Clastics (Campanian/Maastrichtian) and Bukovo (Campanian/?Maastrichtian). Forty two species of planktonic foraminifera have been determined in the studied area. Eight planktonic foraminiferal zones of Middle Cenomanian through Middle Campanian age have been recognized. These are: Thahnanninella reicheli Interval Zone (Middle Cenomanian), Rotalipora cushmani Taxon Range Zone (Upper Cenomanian), Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica Taxon Range Zone (Lower Turonian), Marginotruncana sigali-Dicarinella primitiva Interval Zone (Upper Turonian to lowermost Coniacian), Dicarinella concavata Interval Zone (Lower Coniacian to lowermost Santonian), Dicarinella asymetrica Taxon Range Zone (Santonian), Globotruncanita elevata Interval Zone (Lower Campanian) and the Globotruncana ventricosa Interval Zone (Middle Campanian). The scarcity or lack of zonal species in the Lower Cenomanian and Upper Campanian/Maastrichtian strata prevents recognition of the nominal zones. The Upper Cretaceous planktonic foraminiferal zones from the Timok Eruptive Area are correlated with coeval zones from adjacent regions of Bulgaria and Romania and from other Tethyan regions

Urgonski krečnjaci gornjeg barema i donjeg apta Rakove bare (Karpato-balkanidi, SI Srbija) - analiza i poređenje sa susednim oblastima

The Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian succession is recorded from a limestone sequence that crops out in the surrounding of Rakova Bara in the Carpatho-Balkanides range in northeastern Serbia. The micropalaeontological and sedimentological studies lead to recognition of the two types of microfacies. The benthic foraminiferal association consists of Vercorsella laurentii, Rumanoloculina robusta, Praechrysalidina infracretaceae, Dictyoconus gr. arabicus, Debarina hahounerensis, Charentia cuvilieri and Pseudocyclammina lituus that confirm the stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental connection of the microfossil assemblages with the classical Urgonian-type, shallow-water carbonate sedimentation. The association documented for the first time in the study area is considered typical of the Tethyan Realm. The stratigraphical position of the benthic foraminifera species within the Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian interval is discussed. The Urgonian Limestone's of the studied section are comparable with adjacent areas of eastern Serbia and Romanian South Carpathians.U radu je prikazana gornjobaremsko-donjoaptska sukcesija sedimenata otkrivenih u okolini sela Rakova bara u severoistočnoj Srbiji. Mikropaleontološkim i sedimentološkim istraživanjima su izdvojena dva tipa mikrofacija. U okviru bentoske foraminiferske asocijacije su utvrđene sledeće vrste: Vercorsella laurentii, Rumanoloculina robusta, Praechrysalidina infracretaceae, Dictyoconus gr. arabicus, Debarina hahounerensis, Charentia cuvilieri i Pseudocyclammina lituus čije stratigrafsko rasprostranjenje u okviru definisanih depozicionih sredina ukazuje na klasično urgonsko razviće ovih sedimenata. Determinisana mikroasocijacija je tipična za Tetis i dokumentovana je po prvi put u ovom delu Karpato-balkanida severoistočne Srbije. Stratigrafska pozicija determinisanih vrsta je diskutovana i izvršeno je poređenje ovih tvorevina sa susednim oblastima istočne Srbije i Južnih Karpata Rumunije sa kojima pokazuju veliku sličnost

Urgonski krečnjaci gornjeg barema i donjeg apta Rakove bare (Karpato-balkanidi, SI Srbija) - analiza i poređenje sa susednim oblastima

The Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian succession is recorded from a limestone sequence that crops out in the surrounding of Rakova Bara in the Carpatho-Balkanides range in northeastern Serbia. The micropalaeontological and sedimentological studies lead to recognition of the two types of microfacies. The benthic foraminiferal association consists of Vercorsella laurentii, Rumanoloculina robusta, Praechrysalidina infracretaceae, Dictyoconus gr. arabicus, Debarina hahounerensis, Charentia cuvilieri and Pseudocyclammina lituus that confirm the stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental connection of the microfossil assemblages with the classical Urgonian-type, shallow-water carbonate sedimentation. The association documented for the first time in the study area is considered typical of the Tethyan Realm. The stratigraphical position of the benthic foraminifera species within the Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian interval is discussed. The Urgonian Limestone's of the studied section are comparable with adjacent areas of eastern Serbia and Romanian South Carpathians.U radu je prikazana gornjobaremsko-donjoaptska sukcesija sedimenata otkrivenih u okolini sela Rakova bara u severoistočnoj Srbiji. Mikropaleontološkim i sedimentološkim istraživanjima su izdvojena dva tipa mikrofacija. U okviru bentoske foraminiferske asocijacije su utvrđene sledeće vrste: Vercorsella laurentii, Rumanoloculina robusta, Praechrysalidina infracretaceae, Dictyoconus gr. arabicus, Debarina hahounerensis, Charentia cuvilieri i Pseudocyclammina lituus čije stratigrafsko rasprostranjenje u okviru definisanih depozicionih sredina ukazuje na klasično urgonsko razviće ovih sedimenata. Determinisana mikroasocijacija je tipična za Tetis i dokumentovana je po prvi put u ovom delu Karpato-balkanida severoistočne Srbije. Stratigrafska pozicija determinisanih vrsta je diskutovana i izvršeno je poređenje ovih tvorevina sa susednim oblastima istočne Srbije i Južnih Karpata Rumunije sa kojima pokazuju veliku sličnost

Coptocampylodon pantici n. morpho sp. from the Turonian of NW Serbia

This note describes Coptocampylodon pantici, a new morpho species from Upper Cretaceous outcrops of the Poćuta region (NW Serbia). Based on the rudists in superincumbent calcarenites and planktonic foraminifers of the D. concavata Zone overlying the calcarenites, the shallow water “Poćuta limestone” is dated Turonian. The genus Coptocampylodon Elliott is emended

Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian Urgonian limestone's in the Rakova bara section (Carpatho-balkanides, NE Serbia): Analysis and comparison with adjacent areas

The Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian succession is recorded from a limestone sequence that crops out in the surrounding of Rakova Bara in the Carpatho-Balkanides range in northeastern Serbia. The micropalaeontological and sedimentological studies lead to recognition of the two types of microfacies. The benthic foraminiferal association consists of Vercorsella laurentii, Rumanoloculina robusta, Praechrysalidina infracretaceae, Dictyoconus gr. arabicus, Debarina hahounerensis, Charentia cuvilieri and Pseudocyclammina lituus that confirm the stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental connection of the microfossil assemblages with the classical Urgonian-type, shallow-water carbonate sedimentation. The association documented for the first time in the study area is considered typical of the Tethyan Realm. The stratigraphical position of the benthic foraminifera species within the Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian interval is discussed. The Urgonian Limestone's of the studied section are comparable with adjacent areas of eastern Serbia and Romanian South Carpathians.

First record of a Middle Jurassic macrofauna from the Brnjica (NE Serbia): stratigraphy, palaeoecology and correlation with adjacent regions

The Middle Jurassic sediments of the Getic of Carpatho-Balkanides in the trans-border area of Serbia and Romania are insufficiently studied. This zone is composed mainly of pre-Jurassic metamorphic rocks and the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous limestones. The palaeontological and sedimentological study of the Middle Jurassic deposits of the Brnjica River (Carpatho-Balkanides), which is one of the rare well-exposed outcrops, is being carried out for the first time. The dominant lithologies are grey and yellow sandy limestones and marly limestones with intercalations of reddish shales characterized by low-diversity fossil assemblages dominated by molluscs. Eleven bivalve taxa are determined for the first time in the studied area. Litho-and biofacies analysis in the marine Jurassic strata are reported based on bivalve assemblages with additional data from brachiopods, ammonites and microfossils. The age of the fossil association is determined as the Upper Bajocian and Bathonian based on two brachiopod species Cymathorhynchia quadriplicata and Torquirhynchia asymmetrica. The first is reported from the Middle and the Upper Bajocian sediments and has a wider palaeobiogeographical distribution, while the latter is exclusively described from the Upper Bajocian and Bathonian of the Serbian Carpatho-Balkanides. Most of the collected bivalves have a wider stratigraphic extent. Retroceramus cf. obliquus and Plagiostoma rigidula have up to now been known from the Bajocian stage. The determined macrofauna is compared with the Middle Jurassic fauna of adjacent regions of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and show strong affinity to those of the northern margins of Tethys. By the end of the Bathonian, the depositional environment has changed from shallow-marine to deep-marine, suggesting a drowning of the carbonate platform

Understanding fossil fore-arc basins : Inferences from the Cretaceous Adria-Europe convergence in the NE Dinarides

The evolution of relict fore-arc basins and their kinematic relationships with sedimentation is often less well understood due their fragmentation or amalgamation of individual basins and continental units by the subsequent collision or other post-orogenic deformation. One example is the Cretaceous-Paleogene closure and associated sedimentation of the Neotethys Ocean that was located between the European and Adriatic continental units. Our combined structural, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological study in the NE Dinarides of Serbia demonstrates a variable Cretaceous fore-arc deposition on the European plate that correlates with the shallow- to deep-water sedimentation over the subducting Adriatic margin. The fore-arc was affected by an initial Early Cretaceous-Cenomanian period of contraction, followed by Turonian-Santonian extension, the basin being exhumed by contraction during the latest Cretaceous-Early Paleogene collision. The collisional geometry was subsequently fragmented by structures associated with the Neogene evolution of the Pannonian Basin. The correlation with the preserved amount and depositional character of Cretaceous trench sediments documents an interplay between subduction accretion and subduction erosion associated with external tectonic forcing, slab retreat and back arc extension

Understanding fossil fore-arc basins : Inferences from the Cretaceous Adria-Europe convergence in the NE Dinarides

The evolution of relict fore-arc basins and their kinematic relationships with sedimentation is often less well understood due their fragmentation or amalgamation of individual basins and continental units by the subsequent collision or other post-orogenic deformation. One example is the Cretaceous-Paleogene closure and associated sedimentation of the Neotethys Ocean that was located between the European and Adriatic continental units. Our combined structural, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological study in the NE Dinarides of Serbia demonstrates a variable Cretaceous fore-arc deposition on the European plate that correlates with the shallow- to deep-water sedimentation over the subducting Adriatic margin. The fore-arc was affected by an initial Early Cretaceous-Cenomanian period of contraction, followed by Turonian-Santonian extension, the basin being exhumed by contraction during the latest Cretaceous-Early Paleogene collision. The collisional geometry was subsequently fragmented by structures associated with the Neogene evolution of the Pannonian Basin. The correlation with the preserved amount and depositional character of Cretaceous trench sediments documents an interplay between subduction accretion and subduction erosion associated with external tectonic forcing, slab retreat and back arc extension

New Constraints on the Main Mineralization Event Inferred from the Latest Discoveries in the Bor Metallogenetic Zone (BMZ, East Serbia)

This study aims at better constraining the link between magmatism and metallogeny in the south-easternmost sector of the Bor Metallogenetic Zone (BMZ), where the world-class copper and gold deposit of Čukaru Peki was recently discovered. The obtained U/Pb zircon ages confirm the earlier knowledge that the major Cu–Au porphyry and epithermal mineralization in the BMZ is genetically related to the first volcanic phase (‘Timok andesite’; 85–90 Ma). However, the data also suggest that during this phase, two subgroups of andesite porphyry were formed; they are named volcanic phase 1A (V1A) and volcanic phase 1B (V1B). The V1A andesite (89–90 Ma) is plagioclase-hornblende phyric, holocrystalline and ubiquitously hydrothermally altered and/or mineralized, whereas the V1B (85–86 Ma) is hornblende-plagioclase phyric, holo- to hypocrystalline, fresh, and non-mineralized. According to our simplified model, the contrasting productivity of the V1A and V1B is explained by fluctuations during AFC (assimilation-fractional crystallization) processes of water-rich parental magma, which have controlled the order of crystallization of hornblende and plagioclase in the V1A and V1B andesite

Comparisons between the Urgonian platform carbonates from eastern Serbia (Carpatho-Balkanides) and northeast Iran (Kopet-Dagh Basin): Depositional facies, microfacies, biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology

In the Getic of the Carpatho-Balcanides (eastern Serbia) and the Tirgan Formation of the Kopet-Dagh Basin (northeast Iran), platform carbonates were deposited during the Barremian/Early Aptian in environments in the domain of the northern Alpine Tethys and deformed during the Alpine orogeny. In this study, Urgonian carbonate platform deposits are discussed in detail with regard to depositional facies, microfacies, biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and palaeoecology. Detailed sedimentological and palaeontological investigations have been carried out on five sections in eastern Serbia and three sections in northeast Iran supported by an analysis of 392 thin-sections. Petrographic analysis of thin-sections led to the recognition of eight microfacies types grouped into four facies zones. A supratidal-intertidal (restricted)-intertidal (open-lagoon)-platform-margin sand-shoal transition was recorded in both areas. Supratidal facies are characterized by bioclastic mudstones and fenestral and peloidal wackestones and packstones; intertidal (restricted) facies are represented by bioclastic wackestones, whereas intertidal (open-lagoon) facies are indicated by bioclastic packstones/grainstones and oncoid grainstones. High-energy sand-shoal fades are dominated by ooid grainstones/rudstones followed by orbitolinid packstones. Benthic foraminifera are especially abundant and along with calcareous algae are the most important fossils used for age determination of shallow-marine carbonate deposits. Thirty-two benthic foraminiferal genera were identified from eastern Serbia with an additional 38 genera from northeast Iran dominated by agglutinated forms. Identified calcareous algae provide significant data for depositional environments and palaeoecology. The microfossil associations in the two regions are very similar and share a number of common characteristics, but also some differences and show a strong affinity to those of the northern margins of Tethys. In both study areas shallow-marine environments of the Barremian/Early Aptian were replaced by deep-marine conditions during the Late Cretaceous. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved