This
multidisciplinary
study, based on borehole cores from the Hluchov
area in Czech Republic,
docu-
ments
an early
Badenian
marine transgression on the outer flank of the Western Carpathian
Foredeep
. The
shallow-marine deposits represent coastal transgression over a terrestrial topography of weathered pre-Cenozoic
bedrock. The lower facies association (FA1) consists of
siliciclastic
sediment derived from local substrate erosion.
Facies indicate a wave-dominated environment with unstable bottom, variable rate of sediment supply and an
incremental rise of relative sea level. The upper facies association (FA2) consists of carbonates indicating a major
landward shift of shoreline, decline in
siliciclastic
input and further sea-level rise. The succession represents a
transgressive
to
highstand
systems tract.
The maximum flooding surface,
ca
. 1 m above the FA1/FA2 boundary, is signified by an anomalous decrease
in K and Th, an increased Th/K ratio and highest U concentration. The heavy-mineral assemblages in FA1 confirm
local sediment provenance, whereas those in FA2 indicate broader sediment derivation, including volcanic
component from contemporaneous
rhyolitic to
rhyodacitic
eruptions. The deposits contain a wide range of marine
fauna, with the foraminifers and molluscs indicating an early Badenian age. Molluscs, bryozoans and echinoderms
indicate a normal-salinity environment with a decreasing hydraulic energy. Foraminifers
indicate salinity
fluctua-
tions
in the lowest part of the succession. The isotopic composition of mollusc shells shows marked inter-species
differences and a general negative shift in the
d
13
C and
d
18
O values, indicating diagenetic
alteration. The impact
of diagenetic
processes appears to have been controlled by sedimentary facies. The highly negative
d
13
C and
d
18
O
values correspond to sediment layers with the highest Th/K ratios and hence low clay content. Sediment
permea-
bility
was thus probably crucial in controlling the differential circulation and impact of diagenetic
fluids