<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">We present evidence for a series of pre-Pleistocene landforms on hand of a new geomorphological map for the Gurktal region of the Eastern Alps. The Gurktal Alps region is the westernmost region of the Eastern Alps that escaped the glacial reshaping in the Pleistocene. Its morphology therefore preserves evidence of older landforms in closer proximity to the central part of the range than any other region in the Alps. The region is therefore useful to document aspects of the geomorphological evolution for the Eastern Alps during both, the Pleistocene glaciations and the earlier uplift history. Our mapping approach is twofold. We applied stream-power analysis outside the glacially overprinted areas to detect and classify spatially distinct quasi-stable stream segments, which we expanded to planar objects using slope analysis combined with field mapping. Our mapping results document four palaeo-surfaces located roughly at about 1500 m, 1200 m, 900 m and about 800 m above sea level. We correlate these levels with well-known palaeo-surfaces from the eastern end of the Alps and suggest that they can be interpreted in terms of more than 1000 m of surface uplift in the last six million years. Channel analysis and the distribution of Pleistocene gravel terraces suggest that the main trunk of the river Gurk was diverted from the Wimitz valley in the Rissian. Furthermore, steam-power analysis documents an ongoing activity of the Görschitztal fault and some inferred Pleistocene activity of a north-west trending fault close to the township of Gurk.</abstract>

Evidence for pre-Pleistocene landforms in the Eastern Alps: Geomorphological constraints from the Gurktal Alps

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Laurinswand section in the Rosengarten/Catinaccio Massif (Dolomites, Southern Alps, Italy) covers the Permian–Triassic boundary in a proximal marine setting. The section has been studied for palynology, ostracods and carbonate microfacies. Five microfacies types are defined for the carbonates of the Bellerophon Formation (Changhsingian) in this section. Ostracod assemblages from the upper Bellerophon Formation show a moderate to high diversity and mostly indicate normal marine conditions, with some samples from the upper Casera Razzo Member being dominated by eurytopic forms. The ostracod fauna follows transgressive-regressive trends with low diverse assemblages occurring in the regressive parts. These trends are also reflected in the microfacies and can be assigned to three sequences. Palynological assemblages are dominated by phytoclasts, which is typical for proximal marine environments. Sporomorphs are represented predominantly by bisaccate and asaccate pollen grains and are mostly minor components of the palynofacies. Other minor, but consistent components in the Bellerophon Formation are acritarchs, <italic>Reduviasporonites</italic> and unidentified possible algae or fungi. The latter are particularly abundant in samples with ostracod faunas indicating restricted conditions. The Werfen Formation (uppermost Permian to Lower Triassic) yielded quantitatively poor palynological assemblages, with one sample from the Tesero Member showing a notable increase in spores and spore tetrads. This is indicative of the so-called “spore spike”, a well-known signal from this interval. One sample from the overlying Mazzin Member demonstrated a high relative abundance of <italic>Reduviasporonites</italic>, which may be related to mass occurrences of this taxon in the Tesero Member at Tesero and at other localities near the Permian–Triassic boundary. Such a mass occurrence normally pre-dates the spore spike, whereas at the Laurinswand, the former post-dates the latter considerably.Das Profil an der Laurinswand im Rosengarten/Catinaccio-Massif (Dolomiten, Südalpen, Italien) umfasst die Perm-Trias-Grenze in einem proximalen, marinen Milieu. Das Profil wurde auf Palynologie, Ostrakodenfaunen und Karbonat-Mikrofazies untersucht. Fünf Mikrofaziestypen wurden für die Karbonate der Bellerophon-Formation (Changhsingium) definiert. Ostrakodenvergesellschaftungen aus der oberen Bellerophon-Formation weisen eine mittlere bis hohe Diver-sität auf und deuten überwiegend auf normalmarine Bedingungen hin, allerdings werden einige Proben aus dem oberen Casera-Razzo-Member von eurytopen Formen dominiert. Die Ostrakodenfauna folgt transgressiv-regressiven Trends, wobei weniger diverse Faunen in den regressiven Teilen auftreten. Diese Trends sind auch in der Mikrofazies reflektiert und können drei Sequenzen zugeordnet werden. Palynologische Rückstände werden von Phytoklasten dominiert, was typisch für ein proximales, marines Ablagerungsmilieu ist. Sporomorphe sind vor allem durch bisaccate und asaccate Pollenkörner vertreten und sind meist untergeordnete Komponenten der Palynofazies. Weitere untergeordnete, aber stetig auftretende Komponenten in der Bellerophon-Formation sind Akritarchen, <italic>Reduviasporonites</italic> und nicht identifizierte, mögliche Algen oder Pilzreste. Letztere sind besonders häufig in Proben, deren Ostrakodenfauna eingeschränkt marine Bedingungen anzeigt. Die Werfen-Formation (oberstes Perm bis Untertrias) lieferte wenige palynologische Rückstände, wobei eine Probe aus dem Tesero-Member einen bemerkenswerten Anstieg in der Häufigkeit von Sporen und Sporen-Tetraden aufwies. Dies ist ein Hinweis auf den sogenannten „spore spike“, ein bekanntes Signal aus diesem Zeitintervall. Eine Probe des darüber liegenden Mazzin-Members beinhaltete eine relativ große Menge an <italic>Reduviasporonites</italic>, was mit Massenvorkommen dieses Taxons nahe der Perm-Trias-Grenze, im Tesero-Member in Tesero und an anderen Orten, zusammenhängen könnte. Ein solches Massenvorkommen liegt normalerweise unterhalb des „spore spike“, wohingegen es an der Laurinswand deutlich darüber liegt.</abstract>

Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse - CNR

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology

SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie

Palynology, microfacies and ostracods of the Permian–Triassic boundary interval in the Rosengarten/Catinaccio Massif (Southern Alps, Italy)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Alaunian Seefeld Member of the Upper Triassic, a dark grey laminated and bituminous dolomitic limestone succession outcropping near the Wiestal-reservoir lake northeast of Hallein (Salzburg, Austria) is known for its extremely rich ‘ganoid’ fish fauna since more than a century. A privately initiated excavation that took place from 2012 to 2014 yielded far more than a thousand well-preserved fish fossils recovered largely from five mm-thin fossil horizons. The actinopterygian assemblage is dominated by several growth stages of the highly variable ginglymodian <italic>Paralepidotus ornatus</italic>, allowing for a documentation of ontogenetic transformations in cranial and postcranial morphology, dentition and squamation patterns, associated with habitat and dietary shifts. Small-sized swarm-fishes such as the macrosemiid <italic>Legnonotus</italic> and the teleost <italic>Pholidophorus</italic> are rather common members of the assemblage, while the occurrence of the ginglymodian <italic>Semiolepis</italic>, the dapediid <italic>Dandya</italic>, the dwarfish pycnodont <italic>Eomesodon</italic> and the large predatory ‘palaeopterygian’ <italic>Saurichthys</italic> is restricted to rare individuals. A single scale of a large-sized coelacanth, a well-preserved, small lobster-like decapod, plant remains and coaly gagate derived from disarticulated driftwood belong to rare associated finds. Both the perfect preservation of all fossils and the bituminous laminated dolomitic limestones barren of microfossils argue for a deposition under anoxic conditions, most probably due to salinity stratification. The occurrence of complete swarms, partly showing isoorientation of fish carcasses in distinct layers, speaks in favour of recurrent and rapid mortality events triggered by upwelling anoxic bottom water, most likely released by severe tropical storms.</abstract>

The Norian fish deposits of Wiestal („Seefeld Member“, Northern Calcareous Alps, Salzburg, Austria) – taxonomy and palaeoenvironmental implications

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Eisensteinhöhle is a 2 km long crevice cave that is significantly overprinted by hydrothermal karst processes. It was opened during quarrying in the Fischauer Vorberge, at the western margin of the Vienna Basin. This pull-apart basin cuts the eastern foothills of the Alps and is formed by a major NE-SW striking, sinistral transform fault. The western margin consists of NNE-SSW striking normal faults creating paths for thermal water to rise from the central basin. The deepest part of the cave, 73 m below the entrance, hosts a pond with 14.6 ±0.2 °C warm water that occasionally acts as a spring. The water level and temperature fluctuate and at a certain level, water visibly discharges into a nearby narrow fissure. As sporadic observations of the water level since 1992 gave no obvious connection to precipitation events, the connection to an aquifer and the origin of the water remained unknown. A pumping test, conducted on 13/7/2016, yielded a volume of the spring/pool of about 2.8 m3 that is fed by a very small inlet at the sandy bottom. At the time of the pumping test, the discharge was only 4.5 l/h but during previous overflow events, discharge values of up to 289 l/h were recorded.Water temperature and hydrochemistry hint towards a mixture of an old thermal component and a young meteoric component. During continuous monitoring of water level and temperature from October 2015 until November 2018, the water level was almost stable with few periods of high level (almost at overflow) that lasted for about 3 to 4 weeks each. The water temperature increased during most high stands and is positively correlated with the water level. Correlation of the high-resolution data on water level and temperature fluctuations with precipitation measurements at the nearest meteorological stations show a relation of water level to certain rainfall events and the sporadically taken long time records show a correlation with annual precipitation sums. Long-term observations also indicate a connection to groundwater levels in the Vienna Basin with a delay of about 8 weeks in Bad Fischau. In July 2017, the water level dropped suddenly and then recovered simultaneously in the time of several weak earthquakes in the vicinity. The data suggest that the spring in Eisensteinhöhle is influenced by precipitation. For one seismic event, there is a correlation with unusual water level changes at Eisensteinhöhle, but the rareness of earthquakes demands for a longer time series to confirm this observation.</abstract>

Department for Geodynamics and Sedimentology

Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Is hydrotectonics influencing the thermal spring in Eisensteinhöhle (Bad Fischau, Lower Austria)?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">We present our results on the fault geometry of the Alland earthquake sequence in eastern Austria (Eastern Alps) and discuss its implications for the regional stress regime and active tectonics. The series contains 71 known events with local magnitudes 0.1 ≤ <italic>M</italic><italic>L</italic> ≤ 4.2 that occurred in between 2016 and 2017. We locate the earthquakes in a regional 3D velocity model to find absolute locations. These locations are then refined by relocating all events relative to each other using a double-difference approach, based on relative travel times measured from waveform cross-correlation and catalogue data. We also invert for the moment tensor of the <italic>M</italic><italic>L</italic> = 4.2 mainshock by fitting synthetic waveforms to the recorded seismo-grams using a combination of the L1- and L2-norms of the waveform differences. Direct comparison of waveforms of the largest events in the sequence suggests that all of them ruptured with very similar mechanisms. We find that the sequence ruptured a reverse fault, that is dipping with ~30° towards ~north-northeast (NNE) at 6–7 km depth. This is supported by both the hypocentres and the mainshock source mechanism. The fault is most likely located in the buried basement of the Bohemian massif, the “Bohemian Spur”. This (reverse) fault has a nearly perpendicular orientation to the normal-fault structures of the Vienna Basin Transfer Fault System further east at a shallower depth, indicating a lateral stress decoupling that can also act as a vertical stress decoupling in some places. In the west, earthquakes (at a larger depth within the upper crust) show compressive stresses, whereas the Vienna Basin to the east shows extensional (normal-faulting) stress. This provides insight into the regional stress field and its spatial variation, and it helps to better understand earthquakes in the area, including the “1590 Ried am Riederberg” earthquake.</abstract>

Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg

The Alland earthquake sequence in Eastern Austria: Shedding light on tectonic stress geometry in a key area of seismic hazard

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The benthic foraminifer <italic>Rosalina binkhorsti</italic> Reuss, 1862, was cosmopolitan in Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene shallow-water seas. It possesses a distinctive composite wall made of a continuous, agglutinated layer discontinuously covered by secondary hyaline outer deposits. Its taxonomic position, phylogeny, morphology, wall structure, and composition have been debated for a long time. Based on abundant, well-preserved material from the Danian of the Kambühel Formation in the Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria, we identify elements in the here emended species <italic>Stomatorbina binkhorsti</italic> which support a strong affinity to the order Textulariida, within the genus <italic>Stomatorbina</italic> Dorreen, 1948. Usually regarded as free (non-fixing), <italic>S. binkhorsti</italic> is here illustrated attached to small bioclasts in high-energy carbonate settings. The attached specimens are juvenile forms with a wall covered by massive hyaline deposits. This observation suggests that secondary lamellar parts added to the wall may have served for stabilisation or fixation to the substrate.<italic>Rosalina binkhorsti</italic> Reuss, 1862, war eine in den Flachwassermeeren der Oberkreide und des frühen Paläogens kosmopolitische benthonische Foraminifere. Sie besitzt eine zusammengesetzte Wand, bestehend aus einer kontinuierlichen agglutinierten Lage welche diskontinuierlich von äusseren sekundär-hyalinen Abschnitten bedeckt ist. Ihre taxonomische Position, Phylogenie, Morphologie, Wandstruktur und –zusammensetzung ist seit langem umstritten. Basierend auf gut erhaltenem und reichhaltigem Material aus dem Danium der Kambühel Formation in den Nördlichen Kalkalpen von Österreich, werden Charakteristika identifiziert, welche nachhaltig eine Affinität zur Gattung <italic>Stomatorbina</italic> Dorreen, 1948 innerhalb der Ordnung Textulariida belegen. Diese Foraminiferenart, gewöhnlich als frei lebend (nicht fixiert) angesehen, wird illustriert fixiert an kleine Bioklasten in einem hochenergetischen karbonatischen Ablagerungsmilieu. Die fixierten Formen sind gewöhnlich juvenile Exemplare deren Wand mehr oder weniger massiv von hyalinen Ablagerungen bedeckt ist. Dies lässt vermuten, dass sekundäre lamellare Ablagerung, die der Wand hinzugefügt werden, eine Rolle in der Stabilisierung oder der Fixierung auf dem Substrat spielten.</abstract>

The benthic foraminifer <italic>Stomatorbina binkhorsti</italic> (Reuss, 1862): Taxonomic review and ecological insights

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">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 xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Neogene Transylvanian Basin (TB), enclosed between the eastern and southern Carpathians and the Apuseni Mountains in Romania, is a significant natural gas province with a long production history. In order to improve the (bio) stratigraphic resolution, correlations and dating in the several 100-m-thick upper Miocene (Pannonian) succession of the basin, the largest and most fossiliferous outcrop at Guşteriţa (northeastern part of Sibiu) was investigated and set as a reference section for the <italic>Congeria banatica</italic> zone in the entire TB. Grey, laminated and massive silty marl, deposited in the deep-water environment of Lake Pannon, was exposed in the ~55-m-high outcrop. The uppermost 25 m of the section was sampled in high resolution (sampling per metres) for macro- and microfossils, including palynology; for authigenic 10Be/9Be dating and for magnetostratigraphy; in addition, macrofossils and samples for authigenic 10Be/9Be isotopic measurements were collected from the lower part of the section as well. The studied sedimentary record belongs to the profundal <italic>C. banatica</italic> mollusc assemblage zone. The upper 25 m can be correlated to the <italic>Hemicytheria tenuistriata</italic> and <italic>Propontoniella candeo</italic> ostracod biozones, the uppermost part of the <italic>Spiniferites oblongus</italic>, the entire <italic>Pontiadinium pecsvaradense</italic> and the lowermost part of the <italic>Spiniferites hennersdorfensis</italic> organic-walled microplankton zones. All samples contained endemic Pannonian calcareous nannofossils, representing the <italic>Noelaerhabdus bozinovicae</italic> zone. Nine samples were analysed for authigenic 10Be/9Be isotopic measurements. The calculated age data of six samples provided a weighted mean value of 10.42 ± 0.39 Ma. However, three samples within the section exhibited higher isotopic ratios and yielded younger apparent ages. A nearly twofold change in the initial 10Be/9Be ratio is a possible reason for the higher measured isotopic ratios of these samples. Magnetostratigraphic samples showed normal polarity for the entire upper part of the outcrop and can be correlated with the C5n.2n polarity chron (11.056–9.984 Ma, ATNTS2012), which is in agreement with the biostratigraphic data. Based on these newly obtained data and correlation of the biozones with other parts of the Pannonian Basin System, the Guşteriţa section represents the ~ 11.0–10.5 Ma interval, and it is a key section for correlation of mollusc, ostracod, dinoflagellate and calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphic records within this time interval.</abstract>

Integrated stratigraphy of the Guşteriţa clay pit: a key section for the early Pannonian (late Miocene) of the Transylvanian Basin (Romania)

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 117 (2024): Issue 1 (January 2024)

Volume 116 (2023): Issue 1 (January 2023)

Volume 115 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Volume 114 (2021): Issue 1 (January 2021)

Volume 113 (2020): Issue 2 (June 2020)

Volume 113 (2020): Issue 1 (January 2020)

Volume 112 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 112 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 111 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 111 (2018): Issue 1 (September 2018)

Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences

 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 that is famous for its spectacular mountains, sedimentary basins and classical fossil sites that were and are the birthplace for many geoscientific concepts in modern Earth science. Further information on the journal may also be obtained from the local website at: www.ajes.at     AUSTRIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCE focuses on all aspects relevant to the geosciences of the Alpine realm including the Bohemian Massif, the surrounding sedimentary basins and related regions in Central Europe, for example the Tethyan and Paratethyan realms. As such, we invite contributions from the fields of mineralogy, geology, geophysics, petrology or hydrogeology, as well as all aspects of palaeontology, palaeobiogeography and biostratigraphy that are of relevance to the greater Alpine orogen and its surrounding oceans. Contributions on other regions are welcome if they embed their findings into a conceptual framework that relates the contribution to Alpine-type orogens and Alpine regions in general and are thus relevant to an international audience. Contributions are subject to peer review and editorial control according to SCI guidelines to ensure that the required standard of scientific excellence is maintained.     AUSTRIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES is a peer reviewed journal.   Why subscribe and read   The journal of the Austrian Geological Society is published for more than 100 years, starting in 1908 as ‘Mitteilungen der Geologischen Gesellschaft in Wien’. Traditionally, the main focus of the journal is on Alpine and Austrian geology and applied geosciences but contributions to all aspects of Earth Sciences are welcome. Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences is an Open Access Journal hosted as of 2018 by SCIENDO. For earlier back issues go to the Archive section at: ajes.at/index.php/archive   Why submit   The journal of the Austrian Geological Society is published for more than 100 years, starting in 1908 as ‘Mitteilungen der Geologischen Gesellschaft in Wien’. Traditionally, the main focus of the journal is on Alpine and Austrian geology and applied geosciences but contributions to all aspects of Earth Sciences are welcome. Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences is an Open Access Journal hosted as of 2018 by SCIENDO. As of 2021, AJES represents all Austrian Earth Science societies. For earlier back issues go to the Archive section at: ajes.at/index.php/archive     Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 