<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The Grazer Bergland is a mountainous region at the eastern end of the Alps that escaped glacial erosion in the Pleistocene and thus preserves low-relief landforms that are relics of the earlier uplift history. These relic landforms may reflect a Piedmonttreppe that formed during a series of stages of a wide-reaching Pliocene uplift event that interacts with the landscape evolution, but this model is not uniquely accepted for the region. In order to test this model and for a future better correlation of the paleosurfaces with those mapped in other regions, it is important to benchmark these relic landforms. We do so by presenting a geomorphic map of the Bergland region over some 600 km2. We describe the well-known levels Stadelberg/Zahrerberg- (at 540 – 700 m a.s.l.), Kalkleiten/Hochstraden- (at 700 – 850 m a.s.l.), Trahütten- (at 950 – 1100 m a.s.l.), Hubenhalt- (at 1200 m a.s.l.), as well as Wolschenegg- and Kor- (at 1200-1720 m a.s.l.) levels and correlate their distribution in space and time. Fluvial channels between segments of the relic surfaces have knickpoints that correlate with the planation surfaces, which is in strong support of the Piedmonttreppe model. Our analysis results in a model that interprets the course of the Mur river to be the product of a river piracy event near Peggau at the time of the planation of the Trahütten level (about 4 Ma), diverting the paleo-Mur from an eastwards course along the Mürz valley in direction Vienna, towards Graz. Thereafter, the Mur remained antecedent with respect to the uplift of the surrounding massifs resulting in massive base level drop for many tributaries, like the Mixnitzbach or Rötschbach. The resulting knickpoints have since migrated upstream to cause successive minor river capture events, for example the Rötschbach capture at Kesselfall. We also show that the presence of lower levels in the Passail Basin is best interpreted in terms of the more efficient erosion of basin sediments that filled a Miocene half graben north of the Schöckl ridge and analyze the two major drainages of the region, the Raab and the Weizbach.
</abstract>

The Relic Landscapes of the Grazer Bergland: Revisiting the Piedmonttreppen Debate

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>One of the major issues in Neoproterozoic geology is the extent to which glaciations in the Cryogenian and Ediacaran periods were global in extent and synchronous or regional in extent and diachronous. A similarly outstanding concern is determining whether deposits are truly glacial, as opposed to gravitationally initiated mass flow deposits in the context of a rifting Rodinia supercontinent. In this paper, we present 115 publically available, quality-filtered chronostratigraphic constraints on the age and duration of Neoproterozoic glacial successions, and compare their palaeocontinental distribution. Depositional ages from North America (Laurentia) clearly support the idea of a substantial glacial epoch between about 720-660 Ma on this palaeocontinent but paradoxically, the majority of Australian glacial strata plot outside the previously proposed global time band for the eponymous Sturtian glaciation, with new dates from China also plotting in a time window previously thought to be an interglacial. For the early Cryogenian, the data permit either a short, sharp 2.4 Ma long global glaciation, or diachronous shifting of ice centres across the Rodinia palaeocontinent, implying regional rather than global ice covers and asynchronous glacial cycles. Thus, based on careful consideration of age constraints, we suggest that strata deposited in the ca. 720-660 Ma window in North America are better described as belonging to a Laurentian Neoproterozoic Glacial Interval (LNGI), given that use of the term Sturtian for a major Neoproterozoic glacial epoch can clearly no longer be justified. This finding is of fundamental importance for reconstructing the Neoproterozoic climate system because chronological constraints do not support the concept of a synchronous panglacial Snowball Earth. Diachroneity of the glacial record reflects underlying palaeotectonic and palaeogeographic controls on the timing of glaciation resulting from the progressive breakup of the Rodinian supercontinent.</abstract>

The Laurentian Neoproterozoic Glacial Interval: reappraising the extent and timing of glaciation

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The conditions in ancient evaporative environments conducive to authigenic carbonate (especially dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2]) formation are still insufficiently understood. Insights from microfacies analysis can help to constrain the conditions in these environments. We provide a brief overview of the microfacies association and carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of dolomite beds intercalated in a claystone-rich succession from the Norian Arnstadt Formation in Thuringia and Lower Saxony (Germany) in order to gain further insight into the depositional conditions and processes leading to the formation of authigenic Mg/Ca-carbonates in the Germanic Basin. The studied intervals are ascribed to lacustrine, partially evaporitic conditions, while the sedimentary structures were not obliterated by recrystallization. The microfacies of the dolomites is diverse, showing homogeneous micrite, mudclasts, lamination, and peloidal structures, and reflects a shallow to deeper water (below wave base) and episodically evaporative environment. The dolomites exhibit oxygen isotope values (δ18O) in the range from −5.21 to −0.36‰ VPDB and, hence, only represent a weak meteoric influence, suggesting that the authigenic carbonate generally formed under evaporative conditions. Carbon isotope values (δ13C) in the range of −4.28 to 1.39‰ VPDB indicate a small contribution of remineralized organic carbon, mainly in sediments that were presumably deposited in deeper water or under brackish conditions. Sedimentary structures, such as lamination with graded silt layers, reworked mudclasts embedded in a fine dolomicrite matrix, and peloids showing plastic deformation, indicate that the sediment was still unlithified. These observations would be consistent with an authigenic formation of Mg/Ca-carbonates directly from the lake water, and their deposition under variable conditions in a large playa-lake/perennial lake system.
</abstract>

Microfacies and C/O-isotopes in lacustrine dolomites reflect variable environmental conditions in the Germanic Basin (Arnstadt Formation, Upper Triassic)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The Gosau Group (Turonian to Ypresian) of the Eastern Alps is a synorogenic wedge-top succession that accumulated in active depocenters in an oblique-convergent plate tectonic setting. Due to high morphological differentiation of depocenters by tectonism, the Gosau Group displays a wide range of facies as well as marked facies heteropy and thickness variations over short lateral distances. In the area of the locations Gosau and Russbach, the Hochmoos Formation along the SE basin margin near Gosauschmied comprises coastal to shallow-marine deposits and small rudist bioconstructions and was investigated by way of field mapping, profile descriptions, microfacies analysis, isotope measurements and assessment of fossil content.
Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) from 0.707485 (oldest) to 0.707549 (youngest) indicate a latest Santonian age, with the youngest parts of the Hochmoos Formation possibly extending into the Campanian. On the west side of the study area, the succession of lithologies and fossil content record transgression of a fan-delta to marginal-marine environment (lowstand to transgressive systems tract), followed by shallow neritic deposition (part of the transgressive systems tract) and, finally, by progradational stacking of limestone beds in the highstand systems tract, culminating in growth of rudist thickets in an inner shelf and partially protected ‘lagoonal’ milieu. Eventually, at the inception of the following falling stage systems tract, input of large clasts of Dachstein Limestone, quartz and chert record a recurrence of the subaqueous part of a fan-delta. On the east side of the study area, a preponderance of rudist-clastic limestones over a few rudist biostromes preserved <italic>in situ</italic> indicate a normal-marine environment punctuated by high-energy events, such as storms or tsunami. The scarcity of benthic foraminifera and the presence of only isolated specimens of colonial corals underscore a habitat with a calcarenitic substrate frequently shifted by currents. Several lines of evidence indicate that the western part of the study area was more proximal relative to the eastern one. With a maximum thickness of 68 m, the Hochmoos Formation at Gosauschmied is slightly thicker and more distal than outcrops located nearer to the basin margin and farther towards the SE (Schmiedsippl, Katzhofgraben), but significantly thinner than the nearly 300 m at Gosau Pass-Gschütt, or the thickness of 170 m observed in the area of Rigaus-Abtenau farther in the West. These thickness variations are interpreted as a result of extensional syndepositional tectonism. At Gosauschmied, the vertical arrangement of facies records a cycle of relative sea-level change that may have been tectonically enhanced.
</abstract>

Stratigraphic architecture of a mixed clastic-carbonate succession and 87Sr/86Sr-based chronostratigraphy along the margin of a synorogenic extensional basin (Hochmoos Formation, upper Santonian, Northern Calcareous Alps)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This study describes mineralogical and crystallochemical characteristics of metamorphic tourmalines from an Alpine shear zone in a Variscan metamorphic rock sequence from the Maramures region in the northern part of the East Carpathians. We use this mineral to unravel aspects of the evolution of the tourmaline bearing host rocks and compare the crystallo-chemical characteristics to other tourmalines from Alps. Petrographic and microstructural observations, as well as electron microprobe analyses on several zoned tourmalines and associated minerals (mica, feldspar) from mylonitic schist of the Rebra terrane (Maramureș Mountains), indicate that the pre-kinematic tourmalines belong to the alkali group (Na dominant), hydroxyl dominated on the crystallographic W-site and can be assigned to the species dravite and schorl. The tourmaline-bearing rocks have a metasedimentary protolith. The analysed porphyroblasts, rotated by simple shear, show corroded rim that are interpreted to have formed due to pressure release. Three main compositional zones were evidenced on a tourmaline porphyroblast: a core zone and two asymmetrically arranged inclusion-poor/free rims, all formed in pre-alpine prograde metamorphic conditions. Based on mineral microstructural relations and geothermobarometry (tourmaline–muscovite, tourmaline–plagioclase geothermometry and phengite geobarometry), the metamorphic peak conditions of the investigated Rebra terrane were evaluated to have been at a temperature of ca. 590 to 620 ± 22 °C and Pmin = 5.5 - 6.0 ± 0.5 kbar. By observing dynamically recrystallized microstructures in quartz and feldspar in the shear zone a temperature of 350 - 400 °C was estimated and the quartz paleopiezometry outlined a differential stress of about 1.5 kbar that implied only minor chemical change in tourmaline outer zone.
</abstract>

Metamorphic tourmaline and its petrogenetic significance from the Maramureș Mountains (East Carpathians, Romania)

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>In 455 AD a strong, presumably M ≥ 6.0, earthquake occurred in or near the ancient town Savaria, the present Szombathely, West Hungary. According to the certainly incomplete earthquake catalogue, since then no similar significant seismic event occurred during the last 1500 years in this area which is currently considered inactive. Conclusions of this study are: (1) According to contemporary written historical sources (<italic>Annales Ravennates</italic> and biographical information about the life of Saint Severinus), the earthquake that destroyed Savaria and occurred in 455 AD had a magnitude of M ≥ 6.0. (2) In order to support the aforementioned magnitude value calculations were necessary. As the historical seismicity of the area is not known sufficiently an independent geodynamical approach – in parallel to the Gutenberg-Richter relationship – was used to estimate the return interval of earthquakes M ≥ 6. It was found in both cases that in the Szombathely region the recurrence time of earthquakes M6 and M6.5 is 1000 and 3000 years. Consequently, the earthquake activity of the Szombathely region is significantly lower than that of the Pannonian Basin in general.</abstract>

On the magnitude and possible return period of the historical earthquake in ancient Savaria, 455 AD (Szombathely, West Hungary)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
A regional tungsten anomaly was discovered and explored in the Lienzer Schlossberg area that is part of the crystalline Austroalpine nappe complex of the Eastern Alps in the 1970/80-ties. Tungsten is present as scheelite, which occurs in steeply SSW dipping WNW-ENE oriented quartz veinlets and joints within the porphyritic dioritic to tonalitic/granodioritic host rocks of the Oligocene Lienz/Edenwald intrusion and in the exoskarn, which developed at the contact of the intrusion with Ca-rich lithologies. The skarn system is characterised by two stages: (1) a primary high-temperature calc-silicate stage characterised by grossular, diopside-hedenbergite, vesuvianite, wollastonite and Ca-plagioclase and (2) a retrograde skarn stage including scheelite-bearing massive sulphide ores (pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, tremolite-actinolite, diopside-hedenbergite) and scheelite-rich fault rocks with calcite, sericite and chlorite. The two ore stages, the mineral paragenesis and composition is like that of a reduced tungsten skarn; i.e., garnet is grossular-rich, clinopyroxene is diopside-hedenbergite. Vesuvianite contains up to 1.8 mass % fluorine. Scheelite has been studied by cathodoluminescence (CL), electron probe microanalysis and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Three types of scheelite (Scheelite 1–3) are distinguished. In short-wave UV light, all types show blue fluorescence but CL revealed internal micro-textures in scheelite grains which are dominated by oscillatory zoning. Prolonged hydrothermal activity is indicated by dissolution-replacement and overgrowth textures affecting the primary zonation and trace element composition of scheelite. The distribution of rare earth elements (REE) in Scheelite 1 in tonalite-hosted quartz veinlets shows a convex (i.e., middle REE-enriched), heavy REE-depleted pattern with negative Eu anomalies (<italic>EuA</italic>). The evolution of REE patterns from skarn-hosted Scheelite 2 and 3 illustrates a gradation of convex REE patterns with high ΣREE and distinct negative Eu anomalies to relatively flat REE patterns with small to no <italic>EuA</italic>. Scheelite at Lienzer Schlossberg has one of the highest ΣREE+Y contents of all scheelite-bearing ore settings in the Eastern Alps but incorporates minor Mo and the least Sr. High Na and Nb contents together with the positive correlation of REE+Y vs. Na+Nb+Ta suggests that the main exchange vectors for REE incorporation in scheelite is via a combined coupled substitution mechanism. Results of this study confirm the genetic similarity with reduced tungsten skarns and highlight the tungsten potential of this area.
</abstract>

Polymetallic tungsten skarn mineralisation related to the Periadriatic intrusion at Lienzer Schlossberg, East Tyrol, Austria

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The Carnic Alps (eastern Southern Alps) provide a classical area to study polyphase very-low- to low-grade metamorphism within the Variscan belt of Europe. Temperature indicators collected during the past three decades map the general metamorphic structure of a mountain chain affected by three major tectonic events (Variscan and Alpine thrusting, Oligocene transpression). Thermometric data obtained by Raman Spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) described in this study extend the already published database, provide a map of metamorphic isotherms, and are interpreted in the view of current tectonic concepts. The RSCM temperatures of this study describe a gradient between ca. 460 °C in the tectonically deepest segments, bordered by the Periadriatic Fault System, and temperatures of ca. 200 °C in Permian- Triassic boundary strata of the Gartnerkofel-1 core. Mapped isotherms indicate three domains with different thermal histories, characterized by Variscan imbrication of an accretionary wedge, Permo-Mesozoic burial, and Oligocene contact metamorphism.
</abstract>

Raman Spectroscopy of carbonaceous material thermometry in the Carnic Alps (Austria, Italy)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Low-relief surfaces at high elevations are peculiar features of the Eastern Alps that are best explained as relicts of morphological base levels that escaped erosive decay during uplift. To expand our knowledge of such surfaces in the Eastern Alps, the Fischbach Alps at the eastern end of the range are investigated. There, a large number of these elevated low-relief surfaces have been known for some time, but modern mapping is absent and their genesis is not well understood. A combined approach of field mapping, morphometric analysis of a digital elevation model and downstream projection of geomorphic equilibrium sections in river profiles was employed to: (i) create a geomorphological map of the region and (ii) to extract quantitative data from river profiles to infer the amount of uplift and incision. Six discrete levels of low-relief surfaces and relict landscapes are recognized at elevations between ~500 m and ~1600 m. Some of the lower levels are interpreted to relate to the well-known <italic>Trahutten, Landscha</italic> and <italic>Stadelberg</italic> levels, known from other parts of Styria, respectively. Mapped low-relief surface levels follow the northward directed topographic gradient in the mountainous region of the Fischbach Alps. The formation of elevated low-relief surfaces is consistent with a Piedmonttreppen model, where successive phases of tectonic uplift and tectonic quiescence led to a succession of incised landscapes and low-relief surfaces. However, the entire region south of the Murztal was also then tilted towards the Styrian Basin by about ~1–2°. Swath profile analysis for the Raab and Weizbach Klamm suggests a minimum of ~400–450 m incision since the formation of the so called <italic>Hubenhalt</italic> level. This implies that the geomorphic response to tectonic uplift after the formation of the higher <italic>Wolscheneck</italic> and <italic>Koralm</italic> relict landscapes led to an estimated incision of up to 1000 m (868±101 m), relative to the base level of today’s Styrian Basin at ~380 m. By comparing published age data to the presented mapping results, the onset for much of the uplift at the eastern end of the Alps is suggested to lie between ~4–7 Ma, before the formation of the <italic>Hubenhalt</italic> and <italic>Trahutten</italic> levels. Because the mapped levels correlate well with those in many other regions at similar elevations, a growing body of work now suggests that the underlying uplift event has a large wavelength.
</abstract>

The Fischbach Alps: A Geomorphological Record of late Neogene Uplift at the Eastern Margin of the European Alps

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Recently, samples of natrochalcite, NaCu2(SO4)2∙H3O2, were discovered from the Esperanza Mine, Lavrion Mining District, Greece. In the present study this material is characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction at ambient and LT conditions. Natrochalcite is monoclinic, space group <italic>C</italic>2/<italic>m</italic>, with <italic>a</italic> = 8.809(2), <italic>b</italic> = 6.196(1), <italic>c</italic> = 7.504(2) Å, <italic>β</italic> = 118.56(3)°, <italic>V</italic> = 359.7(1) Å3, <italic>Z</italic> = 2, <italic>R</italic>1 = 0.0195 at room temperature. No symmetry change was observed down to 100K.
</abstract>

Natrochalcite NaCu2(SO4)2∙H3O2 from the Lavrion Mining District – a brief characterisation

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In the 1980s, large parts of the Bohemian Massif in Austria were explored for the occurrence of raw materials (Göd, 1988), and a trace content of topaz was discovered in channels draining the eastern slope of the Ostrong (Lower Austria). Orthogneiss bodies in the Ostrong Nappe System are shown to be the source of these topaz occurrences, and Raman spectroscopy indicates that topaz is fluorine rich. So far, this is the only occurrence of topaz-bearing orthogneiss within the entire Moldanubian Superunit. The orthogneiss shows a tectonic overprint and exhibits a weak to well-developed foliation, as well as local folding. Samples taken near the tectonic boundary of the Ostrong to the Drosendorf Nappe Systems show stronger shear deformation with a pronounced mylonitic foliation and stretching lineation. Detailed geo-chemical investigations of the major and trace elements indicate a classification as S-type granite with a high degree of differentiation and a peraluminous character. The orthogneiss has a high SiO2 content of 72.8–77.3 wt%, as well as a noteworthy high fluorine content of up to 2760 ppm. Mineral compositions show zoned plagioclase with an albite component of about 87–99 mol%, increasing towards the grain margin. Garnet occurs rarely, but consistently in those samples near the tectonic boundary of the Ostrong- to the Drosendorf Nappe Systems. Garnet is almandine-dominated, shows no zoning and is single-phased. Sillimanite is common and samples near the tectonic boundary also contain kyanite. To determine the previously unknown protolith age of the orthogneiss, U-Pb zircon dating was applied. Three zircon fractions from two samples yield concordia ages of 475.3 ± 1.0 Ma, 474.8 ± 2.9 Ma, and 473.5 ± 1.5 Ma, identical in assigned uncertainties, reflecting magmatic zircon growth. Furthermore, the short prismatic habit of zircon grains indicates a plutonic rather than volcanic origin of the protolith. Dating results also provide a minimum sedimentation age for the rocks of the Ostrong Nappe System within Austria. In comparison with other metagranitoids and orthogneisses of the Moldanubian Nappes, the investigated orthogneiss shows strong similarities with the Gföhl Gneiss and the Moldanubian Granulite. The orthogneiss therefore is considered as a more fractionated equivalent of the Gföhl Gneiss. In conclusion we suggest to name the studied orthogneiss <italic>Laimbach Orthogneiss</italic> in the rank of a lithodeme (NACSN, 2005), after the locality Laimbach am Ostrong (48°19′01″N; 15°07′19″E), which is located centrally with respect to the occurrences of this gneiss.
</abstract>

Topaz-bearing Lower Ordovician orthogneiss within the Ostrong Nappe System – The Laimbach Orthogneiss (Bohemian Massif, Lower Austria)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Ophiolites are remnants of oceanic crust and mantle, now typically found within continental mountain ranges like the Alps. Particularly in areas once part of the Tethys Ocean, ophiolites are often accompanied by narrow stripes of metamorphic rocks, commonly referred to as metamorphic soles. These metamorphic soles typically exhibit peak metamorphic conditions characteristic of either granulite or amphibolite facies. Geochronological studies of Tethyan ophiolites indicate that the development of these metamorphic soles occurred almost simultaneously with the crystallization of the ophiolite’s crustal sequence. Geological evidence also suggests that the metamorphism of the sole rocks took place concurrently with deformation, likely at the same time as the ophiolite’s obduction. In our research, we explore the metamorphic effects of shearing in an ophiolite sequence overlying a crustal sequence. Our findings reveal that strong lithologies like ophiolites can produce additional heat through the dissipation of mechanical energy, which can potentially explain the high temperatures found in metamorphic-sole rocks. In addition, heating-driven softening of the footwall rocks eventually leads to the migration of the active shear zone from the mantle sequence into the upper crustal domain. This migration may be responsible for the metamorphic sole incorporation at the base of the ophiolite. Finally, we demonstrate that stopping the shearing process rapidly cools these rocks, corresponding with the findings from thermochronological studies from Oman ophiolite.
</abstract>

A thermo-mechanical model of the thermal evolution and incorporation of metamorphic soles in Tethyan ophiolites: a case study from Oman

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>A first consistent and homogenized polygon-based inventory of rock glaciers of the Austrian Alps is presented. Compiling previous inventories and updating them by using digital elevation models (1 m grid resolution) derived from airborne laser scanning yield a dataset of 5769 rock glaciers in a ca. 48400 km2 large area. A consistent methodological approach for assigning attributes, stored in a detailed attribute table, was developed and applied here to improve comparability and reproducibility. The majority (60 %) of the studied landforms is considered to be relict (no permafrost); the remaining 40 % may still contain permafrost ice and are thus classified as intact. Rock glaciers range in elevation from 476 to 3312 m a.s.l. and cover a total area of 303 km2. The distribution of rock glaciers is mainly related to the topography of the Austrian Alps and related effects such as past glaciation history.In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the hydrological catchment areas of all individual rock glaciers was carried out. A hydrological catchment analysis in rock glacier areas is of great interest for sustainable water management issues in alpine catchments as these landforms represent shallow aquifer systems with a relatively high storage and thus buffer capability, especially in crystalline bedrock areas. A total area of almost 1280 km2 is drained through rock glaciers.The presented rock glacier and rock glacier catchment inventories provide an important basis for further research, particularly for a better understanding of the hydrogeology and geomorphology of alpine catchments and their potential alteration in the light of climate change, but also in terms of paleoglaciation and deglaciation in the Alpine Lateglacial to Holocene period. As such, the inventories are seen as an important base to stimulate further research.</abstract>

The first consistent inventory of rock glaciers and their hydrological catchments of the Austrian Alps

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>For the first time, a concise lithostratigraphic scheme for the lower and middle Miocene (Ottnangian – Badenian) of the northern and central Vienna Basin is proposed, which is based on the integration of core-material, well-log data and seismic information from OMV. For all formations and members type sections are proposed, geographic distribution and thickness are provided, typical depositional environments and fossils are described and age constraints are discussed. This time frame allows for a more reliable calculation of sedimentation rates. This in turn might be important for the reconstruction of the tectonic history of the Vienna Basin as we do not see fundamental differences between the piggy-back stage and the subsequent pull-apart regime. Following lithostratigraphic units are formalized herein and/or are newly introduced: Bockfließ Formation (Ottnangian), Aderklaa Formation, Gänserndorf Member and Schönkirchen Member (Karpatian), Baden Group, Rothneusiedl Formation and Mannsdorf Formation (lower Badenian), Auersthal Formation, Matzen Formation, Baden Formation, Leitha Formation (middle Badenian) and Rabensburg Formation (upper Badenian).</abstract>

Miocene lithostratigraphy of the northern and central Vienna Basin (Austria)

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper presents a revised sequence stratigraphy for the lower, middle and upper Badenian depositional systems of the Austrian Vienna Basin based on the integration of 3D seismic surveys and well data. The study area in the central and northern part of the Austrian Vienna Basin is covered with 3D seismic data. According to a new sequence stratigraphic framework established in the southern part of the Vienna Basin, the Badenian is subdivided into three 3rd order depositional sequences. For each sequence, paleogeographic maps are created, representing coeval depositional systems within a chronostrati-graphic interval. Lower Badenian sediments of the 1st sequence (Ba1) represent fillings of the pre-Badenian sub-basins with a major change of sediment transport direction. The early stage of the 1st sequence is dominated by subaerial braided river deposits which use two pronounced canyon systems (Mistelbach Canyon and Reinthal Canyon) on the northwestern margin of the Vienna Basin as a bypass zone towards the marine depositional system of the North Alpine-Carpathian Foredeep. The late stage of the 1st sequence reflects the change from subaerial to marine depositional environments with main sediment influx from the west, creating two major eastwards prograding delta systems (Zistersdorf Delta and Mühlberg Delta). Depositional systems of the middle Badenian 2nd sequence (Ba2) reflect the interplay between ongoing extensional fault tectonics and major sea-level changes. Lower Badenian paleo-highs in the northern part are drowned during the 3rd sequence (Ba3), thus the Mühlberg Delta and the Zistersdorf Delta merge into one delta system. During the Ba3 the drowning of the Spannberg Ridge initiates a clockwise rotation of the Zistersdorf Delta. Thus, the former Zistersdorf Delta transforms into the Matzen Delta covering the Spannberg Ridge. Together with the Mühlberg Delta, they represent the last full marine depositional system of the eastward prograding paleo-Danube Delta in the Austrian Vienna Basin.</abstract>

Revised Badenian (middle Miocene) depositional systems of the Austrian Vienna Basin based on a new sequence stratigraphic framework

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 AUSTRIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES is the official journal of the Austrian Geological (ÖGG), Mineralogical (ÖMG), Palaeontological (ÖPG) and Hydrogeological (ÖVH) Societies, hosted by a country...

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 AUSTRIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES is the official journal of the Austrian Geological (ÖGG), Mineralogical (ÖMG), Palaeontological (ÖPG) and...