17 research outputs found
Paleogeographic evolution of the Southern Pannonian Basin: 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the Miocene continental series of notthern Croatia
The Pannonian Basin, originating during the
Early Miocene, is a large extensional basin incorporated
between Alpine, Carpathian and Dinaride fold-thrust belts.
Back-arc extensional tectonics triggered deposition of up to
500-m-thick continental fluvio-lacustrine deposits distributed
in numerous sub-basins of the Southern Pannonian
Basin. Extensive andesitic and dacitic volcanism accompanied
the syn-rift deposition and caused a number of
pyroclastic intercalations. Here, we analyze two volcanic
ash layers located at the base and top of the continental
series. The lowermost ash from Mt. Kalnik yielded an
40Ar/39Ar age of 18.07 ± 0.07 Ma. This indicates that the
marine-continental transition in the Slovenia-Zagorje
Basin, coinciding with the onset of rifting tectonics in the
Southern Pannonian Basin, occurs roughly at the Eggenburgian/
Ottnangian boundary of the regional Paratethys
time scale. This age proves the synchronicity of initial
rifting in the Southern Pannonian Basin with the beginning
of sedimentation in the Dinaride Lake System. Beside
geodynamic evolution, the two regions also share a biotic
evolutionary history: both belong to the same ecoregion,
which we designate here as the Illyrian Bioprovince. The
youngest volcanic ash level is sampled at the Glina and
Karlovac sub-depressions, and both sites yield the same
40Ar/39Ar age of 15.91 ± 0.06 and 16.03 ± 0.06 Ma,
respectively. This indicates that lacustrine sedimentation in
the Southern Pannonian Basin continued at least until the
earliest Badenian. The present results provide not only
important bench marks on duration of initial synrift in the
Pannonian Basin System, but also deliver substantial
backbone data for paleogeographic reconstructions in
Central and Southeastern Europe around the Early–Middle
Miocene transition
The link between tectonics and sedimentation in back-arc basins: New genetic constraints from the analysis of the Pannonian Basin
Identification of Disulfides from the Biodegradation of Dibenzothiophene
Several investigations have identified benzothiophene-2,3-dione in the organic solvent extracts of acidified cultures degrading dibenzothiophene via the Kodama pathway. In solution at neutral pH, the 2,3-dione exists as 2-mercaptophenylglyoxylate, which cyclizes upon acidification and is extracted as the 2,3-dione. The fate of these compounds in microbial cultures has never been determined. This study investigated the abiotic reactions of 2-mercaptophenylglyoxylate incubated aerobically in mineral salts medium at neutral pH. Oxidation led to the formation of 2-oxo-2-(2-thiophenyl)ethanoic acid disulfide, formed from two molecules of 2-mercaptophenylglyoxylate. Two sequential abiotic, net losses of both a carbon and an oxygen atom produced two additional disulfides, 2-oxo-2-(2-thiophenyl)ethanoic acid 2-benzoic acid disulfide and 2,2′-dithiosalicylic acid. The methods developed to extract and detect these three disulfides were then used for the analysis of a culture of Pseudomonas sp. strain BT1d grown on dibenzothiophene as its sole carbon and energy source. All three of the disulfides were detected, indicating that 2-mercaptophenylglyoxylate is an important, short-lived intermediate in the breakdown of dibenzothiophene via the Kodama pathway. The disulfides eluded previous investigations because of (i) their high polarity, being dicarboxylic acids; (ii) the need to lower the pH of the aqueous medium to <1 to extract them into an organic solvent such as dichloromethane; (iii) their poor solubility in organic solvents, (iv) their removal from organic extracts of cultures during filtration through the commonly used drying agent anhydrous sodium sulfate; and (v) their high molecular masses (362, 334, and 306 Da) compared to that of dibenzothiophene (184 Da)