ANDPARATETHYS NEOGENE

fill C l INS

REGIONAL COM M ITTEE ON MEDITERRANEAN NEOGENE STRATIGRAPH Y

111

AND

PARATETHYS NEOGENE

..

. ; !

Report on Activity

fth eR C M N S Working Groups and

ibliography 1 9 7 9 -1 9 8 4

edited by

F. Rögl

Naturhistorisches Museum, W ien

HUNGARIAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BUDAPEST, 1985

1985 Y

MEDITERRANEAN AND

PARATETHYS NEOGENE

Report on Activity of the R C M N S Working Groups and

Bibliography 1 9 7 9 -1 9 8 4

edited by

F. Rögl

Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien

HUNGARIAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

BUDAPEST, 1985

International Union of Geological Sciences, the

Austrian Ministery for Science and Research and

the Hungarian Central Office of Geology.

3

C O N T E N T S

Preface ... ... 5 Introduction . . . . ... 7 Part I. Report on Activity of the RCMNS Working Groups 13

1. Ch ro no st ra ti gra ph y and Ge oc hronology

by M. D. Dermitzakis and ,F . F. S t e i n i n g e r ... 15 2. Radiometric Ages and Pa le omagnetism

by D. Vass ... 20 3. Vertebrate Migration and Biostrat ig ra phy

by P. Mein ... 25 4. Non-marine Pale oe nv ir on men ts and Bio-

stratigraphy. - Aquatic Paleoenv ir on men ts

by E. Kojumdgieva ... 29 5. Non-marine Paleoenv ir on men ts and Bio-

stratigraphy. - Continental Data

by 3. P. Sue ... 33 6. Me di terranean Marine Megafaunal P a l e o e n v i r o n ­

ments and Biostratigraphy. - Interim Colloquium Athens, 1984, Final Report

by G. Demarcq ... 38 7. Paleog eo gr ap hy and Geodynamics. - Western

Me di terranean

by M. Boccaletti ... 41 8. Pa le ogeography and Geodynamics. - Pannonian

Basin, with a report on the Basic Features of Geodynamic Development of the Western C a r p a t h i ­

ans in the Neogene by M. Kovac ... 44 9. Western and Central Paratethys

by I . Cicha ... 50 10. Eastern Paratethys

by L. A. Nevesskaya and M. F. N o s o v s k y ... 55

rt II. Biblio gr ap hy of the Medite rr an ea n and Paratethys

Neogene for the years 1979--1984 ... 59

1. Ch ro no st ra ti gr ap hy and Geoc hr on ol og y ... 61

1.1. Bios tr at ig ra phy - C hr ono st ra ti gra ph y ... 61

1.2. Absolute ages - P a l e o m a g n e t i c s ... 74

2 . Vertebrat e s ... 78

2.1. M a m m a l s ... 78

2.2. N o n - M a m m a l s ... 104

3. Non-marine Pale oe nv ir on men ts ... Ill 3-1. Continental Evertebrates - P a l e o b o t a n y ... Ill 3.2. Endemic Paratethys Fauna and Flora ... 126

4. Marine Megafauna ... 136

5. Marine F l o r a ... ... 147

6. Marine Mi crofossils ... 148

7. P a l e o g e o g r a p h y ... ... 157

8. Geodynamics, Tectonics and G e o p h y s i c s ... 170

9. G e o c he mi st ry - Stable Isotopes ... 185

10. Magm at is m and V o l c a n i s m ... ... 189

11. S e di me nt ol og y... 193

12. Paleoe co lo gy and C l i m a t e ... 203

13. Energy and Mineral Resources ... 217

14. M e s s i n i a n ... 221

15. Regional M e d i t e r r a n e a n ... ... ... 229

15.1. Western M edi te rr an ea n /Iberian Peninsula - Italy - N. A f r i c a / ... 229

15.2. Eastern M ed it err an ea n /Balcan - Greece - Egypt - Mi ddle East/ ... 248

16. Re gional P a r a t e t h y s ... ... 256

16.1. West er n Paratethys and Upper Rh inegraben ... 256

16.2. Central Paratethys / A l p i n e / Carpathian Arc - W of Black S e a / ... 263

16.3. Eastern Paratethys /Southern US SR/... . 281

5

PREFACE

Many years have passed since a group of st ra ti gr ap he rs and pale on to lo gi sts met in Aix-en-P ro ve nce in 1958 to discuss problems of the Me di terranean Neogene. This m e e t ­ ing may be regarded as the beginning of a deve lo pm en t which ultimately led to today’s detailed bi os tr at ig ra ph ic and c h ro n os tra ti gra ph ic scales; a result that only could obtained by the active co ll aboration of a large number of scientists involved in various aspects of Neogene problems.

No doubt, however, there are still questions co nc er ni ng the co rrelation between sequences of various parts of the Me di te rr a ne a n proper and the Paratethys and cont ro ve rs ia l opinions do exist on the definition and co rr el at io n of stages: the improvement of co rrelation tables and the solution of remaining major correlation problems should continue to be one of the major goals of the RCMNS.

In addition, the RCMNS can do more and it should continue to play a pronounced part in the development of s t r a t i ­ graphic concepts. The existing bi os tr at ig ra phi c and ch ro n os t ra t ig ra ph ic scales may provide the basis for studies aimed at the u nde rs ta nd in g of the factors that co nt ro ll ed the di st ri bu ti on of faunal and floral elements in time and space. To achieve this goal results of research on the pa le og eo gr ap hi c and geodynamic ev olution of the Me di t er r an e an are needed; the same holds for detailed se di me nt ol og ica l and geochemical analysis.

The RCMNS does not intend to extend its fields of interest just because of a "fashion": the additional re search items are highly needed for the development of st ra ti gr ap hy itself. In this respect, the RCMNS can provide a s u b s t a n ­ tial contribution.

Johan E. Me ul en ka mp

President of the RCMNS

7

INTRODUCTION

The last congress of the RCMNS took place in Athens in 1979, with 320 pa rticipants from 31 countries. The c o n t ­ ributions were published in 3 volumes containing 1461 p a ­ ges and the results and proceedings in a fourth volume with 368 pages: Annales GeoTogiques des Pays Helleniques, hors serie, fasc. I — I I I , 1979, fasc. IV, T98T. At the occasion of the congress a new board of the RCMNS was elected and new working groups were constituted. This renewal should give a new impetus to the future of the organisation.

The goals of the future work within the RCMNS and the o ut ­ line of the V U I t h congress in Budapest were defined at the Ex ecutive Council Meeting at Harmaskut, Hungary T98T. The main focus of research will continue to be the Neogene stratigraphy, but with new concepts. A distinct d i f f e r e n ­ tiation between Titho- and biostrat ig ra phy should be d e ­ veloped, the different bi os tr at ig ra phi c scales must be calibrated and correlated to stratotype sections, and a well calibrated c hr ono st ra ti gra ph y must be sought by mag- n e to s tr ati gr aph ic and radiometric methods.

The mutual re lationship between paleobiology, paleoecology p a le o en v ir on men ta l control, paleogeo gr ap hic and geodynamic evolution lead to e c o s t r a t i g r a p h y . An unde rs ta nd in g of the me ch an is ms influencing the Medi te rr an ea n and Circum -M ed i- terranean Neogene enable a further approach in the r ec o n ­ struction of the geohistory of the M edi te rr an ea n and Pa- ratethys. The overall effect is the continued exploration of fossil energy and mineral resources in Neogene formations for the profit of the human community.

These new goals of the RCMNS were addressed by the topics

of the different working groups, some meeting in small

groups, others organizing i n t e r i m - c o l l o q u i a s . The working group on ve rt ebrates had a meeting in Utrecht /March 1981/

organized by P. Mein on the evolution and mi gr at io n of Miocene Cricetidae. For the marine megafaunal group two meetings spon se re d by the Pa leontological As so ci at io n were held in London /October 1979 and February 1981/ on "Facies and fauna of the Tethyan Tertiary", organized by E. P. F.

Rose and supple me nt ed by a "Field Meeting on M id -Te rt ia ry ca rbonate facies and faunes of Malta" in January 1981, o r ­ ganized by E. P. F. Rose and D. W. J. Bosence.

For the group on stable isotopes, C .V erg na ud -G ra zzi ni o r ­ ganized a meet in g on "Pliocene pa le o- en vi ro nm en ts in the Me di te rr an ea n" /Paris, July 1980/ and a round table on

"Relations Me di te rr an ée - Atlantique du Miocene a l ' a c t u ­ el" /Paris, October 1982/.

For the working group on the Paratethys two field meetings were organized in co operation with the IGCP Project no. 25 /Tethys - Paratethys Neogene/, one in Austria "Ö sterreichi­

sche Neogen ge bi et e" in June, 1980, organized by F. Rögl and F. F. Steininger, the other organized by D. Dolic, N. Krstic and P. Stevanovic in June 1981 in Yu go sl av ia on the "Marine and brackish Neogene of Serbia".

A number of successful interim-colloquia in the time b e t ­ ween the large RCMNS congresses stimulated the work and were dedicated to specific problems: in Utrecht /March 21--25’, 1983/ the first took place on the " R e c o n s t r u c ­ tion of marine p al eoe nv ir on men ts " organized by J. E.

Meulenkamp, C. Vergnaud-Grazzini, A. J. T. Romein and K.

P e rc h- Ni el se n in a coop er at io n of the Int. N an no pla nk to n

A s so ci at io n and the RCMNS. The main topic c ons is te d of

the pa le oe n vi r on me nt al interpretation of the ma ri ne realm

by means of mi cr of os si ls and ge ochemistry including the

9

isotope record-.

The colloquium "M ed iterranean Neogene cont in en ta l paleo- enviro nm en ts and pale oc li ma ti c evolution" was organized at Montpellier /April 18--22, 1983/ by 3. P. Sue in colla boration with 3. P. A g u i l a r ;P. Ambert, M. Bessedik et al.

Beside the correlation of ma rine and c ont in en ta l zona- tions a main subject of interest was the re co ns tr uc ti on of the climate of the M ed it err an ea n Neogene.

The working group on marine megafau'nas met for "Mediterra nean Neogene marine megafaunal p al eo en vi ro nm en ts and bio- stratigraphy" in Athens /September 6 — 9, 1984/. This co ll oq ui um was organized by G. Demarcq, M. De rmitzakis and E. Georgiades - Dikeoulia and considered the e v o l u ­ tion and paleoecology of marine inve rt eb ra te s and v e r t e b ­ rates in the Neogene of the M edi te rr an ea n and Paratethys.

The in te ri m- co ll oqu iu m "Paleoge og ra phy and g eod yn am ic s of the Perity rr he ni an area" was organized in Florence / O c ­ tober 11 — 13, 1984/ by M. Boccaletti, R. Gelati and 8.

Moratti. The geodynamic evol ut io n of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Western M edi te rr an ea n was pursued and compared with the Neogene evolution of the surr ou nd in g mountain chains and their foredeeps.

An attempt was made by the RCMNS or ga ni za ti on to give all

members the possibility of a quick access to the newest

results in the Paratethys and M edi te rr an ea n Neogene. A

biblio gr ap hy of the years 1979 to 1984 was compiled a c ­

cording to the topics of the RCMNS working groups. This

was done with the help of active colleagues, the members

of the executive council and those r esp on si bl e in the

working groups. Despite the large number of titles we

have no doubt missed some important ones.

The current ex ecutive council of the RCMNS was elected and authorized by the IUGS at the 27th International G e o l o g i ­ cal Congress in Moscow, 1984:

O F F I C E R S :

President J . E . Meulenkamp

V i ce -P re si de nt G . Flamor

Secretary F . Rögl

VOTING MEMBERS:

A u s t r i a : F . Steininger

Bulgaria: E . . Kojumdgieva

CSSR : I . . Cicha

Egypt: I ., El Heiny

F r a n c e : G. Demarcq

P . Mein J . P . Sue

G. Ve rg naud-Grazzini German F e d . R e p .: L . Benda

G r e e c e : M. De rmitzakis

N. Symeonidis

I s r a e l : G. Martinotti

I t a l y : M. Boccaletti

A. M. Borsetti S. Iaccarino

Poland: E . Luczkowska

R u m a n i a : F . Marinescu

Spain: C . Dabrio

3 . de Porta

Yugoslavia: A . Sokac

Onited Kingdom: C. G. Adams E . Rose

USSR : V. Kr as henninikov

11

L . A . Nevesskaya M . F . Nosovsky

Switzerland: P. Jung

Following working groups of the RCMNS have been e s t a b ­ lished at the 7th RCMNS congress in Athens, 1979:

1. Ch ro no st ra ti gra ph y and Ge oc hronology Co-chairmen: M. DERMITZAKIS, K. BALOGH Co-organizers: L. BENDA, V. KR ASFIENNINIKOV 2. Vertebrate Migrations and Biostratigraphy.

Chairman: P. MEIN

3. Non-marine Pale oe nv ir on men ts and Biostratigraphy.

Co-chairmen: E. K O J U M D G I E V A , J.P. SUC Co-organizers: P. H 0 C H U L I , A. SOKAC

4. Marine Microfossil P ale oe nv ir on men ts and B i o s t r a t i ­ graphy .

Chairman: 3. E. MEULENKAMP

Co-organizers: C . G.ADAMS, S. IACCARINO, G. MARTINOTTI, C. MULLER

5. Marine Megafaunal P al eo en vir on men ts and Bi ostratigraphy Chairman: G. DEMARCQ

Co-organizers: L. DAVID, E. GEORGIADES -D IKE OU LI A, E. ROSE

6. Stable Isotopes.

Chairman: G. VERGNAUD-G RA ZZI NI 7. Paleog eo gr ap hy and Geodynamics.

Co-chairmen: M. BDCCALETTI, G. HAMOR, M. i<0VAC

Co-organizers: A. M. BORSETTI, I. EL-FFEINY, R. G E L A T I ,

I. M A R I O L A K O S , A. SLATZKA

8. Paratethys.

Chairman: I. CICHA

C o - o r g a n i z e r s : F. M A R I N E S C ü , M. F. NOSOVSKY

Fred Rögl

Secretary of the RCMNS

13

P A R T 1

REPORT ON ACTIVITY OF THE R. C. M. N. S.

WORKING GROUPS FOR THE YEARS 1979 - 198A

15

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON CH RO NO ST RA TI GR AP HY AND GEOC HR ON OL OG Y

by M. D. Dermitzakis and F. F. Steininger

Since the last congress of the RCMNS in Athens 1979 r e ­ lative rapid progress can be reported in the different fields of the working group. The state of the art in the cali br at io n and co rrelation of C i r c um -M ed it er ra ne an N e ­ ogene b i oc hr on ol og ies versus ch ro no st ra ti gr ap hi ca l stage concepts was given by the late Prof. Dr. A. Papp / P r o ­ ceedings of the Congress, Athens 1981, p. 7 3 — 7 8/. As a supplement to his co mpilation one might point out the following most crucial new data:

N e o g e n e :

P a l a e o g e n e / Neogene Boundary. Bi os tr at ig ra ph ic al ly n a r ­ rowed down to the Globorotalia kugleri zone of Bolli - either a biologic event within this zone /FAD of Glo- boquadrina dehiscens s. str./ or the base of the zone with the FAD of Gl oborotalia kugleri s. str. No b o u n ­ dary stratotype was selected so far.

Neogene. The Su bc ommission on Neogene St ra ti gr ap hy p r o ­ posed to the International Geological Congress in Moscow a definition of the Neogene in the following e x ­ tent and subdivision:

Cenozoic

Neogene

Pl eistocene Pliocene Miocene.

Palaeogene

The Ol i go c en e/ Mi oc en e Boundary. Coincides with the P a ­

leogene/ Neogene boundary and therefore must be solved

by the ICS - Working Group on the Pa la eo ge ne /N eo ge ne B o ­ undary .

The Mi oc e ne / Pl io ce ne Boundary. Should coincide with the bo undary of the Medi te rr an ea n regional stages Mess in ia n and Zanclean and therefore should be defined by a Mes- si ni a n/ Z an c le an boundary stratotype.

The Pl i oc e ne / Pl ei st oc en e Boundary. A proposal for a b o ­ undary stratotype - the Vrica section, Calabria, Italy - was pr esented at the Int. Geol. Congress in Moscow by the Working Group on the P li oc en e/ Ple ist oc en e Boundary

of the ICS and the Subc om mi ss io n on Quaternary Stratigraphy.

T h e boundary is placed at the base of the claystone c o n ­ formably overlying the bed e in the Vrica section. The meet in g of the International Commission on Strati gr ap hy agreed to this proposal and it was forewarded to the v o t ­ ing members of the ICS.

Stages :

After seven international congresses on the M edi te rr an ea n

Neogene most problems relevant to the classification, n o ­

m e nc l a t ur e and definition of stages in the M edi te rr an ea n

proper and the Central and Eastern Paratethys have been

solved. The stage concepts proposed in Bratislava 1975

seem to be well established, generally agreed upon and are

widely used. However, it is the opinion of many colleagues

that most of the stages need to be redefined and that

bo un da ry stratotypes should be designated as is required

by m ode rn high resolution stratigraphy. This concerns, for

instance, most of the Early, Middle and Late Miocene and

Pl io ce ne stages of the Mediterranean, and nearly all the

stages of the Central and Ea-stern Paratethys, as follows

from d i sc us si on s during a joint meeting of the RCMNS C o u n ­

cil, memb er s of the Su bc ommission on Neogene St ratigraphy

17

and RCMNS working group leaders, held in Bratislava, CSSR, in September 1983. Moreover, diverging op inions continue to exist on the ranges of the Aquitanian and the Burdi- galian, which seem to be partly due to the location of the stratotypes, accepted by most authors, in the Atlantic bio p r o v i n c e .

The lack of unambiguous de finitions of some stage boundaries gives rise to confusion, for instance regarding high resolution c hro no st ra ti gra ph ic correlations. It also impedes the use of Medi te rr an ea n stages as a st andard for the su bd ivision of the global Neogene. For this reason the Working Group on C hr ono st ra ti gra ph y and G e o c hr on ol og y took the initiative for a re -i nv es ti ga tio n of s tra to ty pe s and asked for the co ll aboration of specialists to propose boun dary stratotype sections. A circular was dist ri bu te d

amongst some 900 colleagues involved in Neogene research, in which precise data and detailed proposals, to be d i s ­ cussed during the Budapest congress, were called for. By February 1985, 120 colleagues had responded to the c i r c u ­ lar. It is se lf-evident that only those op in io ns and p r o ­ posals are summarized here which are pert in en t to /re-/

definition of stages and stage boundaries of the M e d i t e r ­ ranean and Paratethys.

Ihe list of concrete proposals includes:

1/ boundary stratotype for the Romanian stage /ANDREESCU/

2/ boundary stratotype for the Dacian stage /A NDREESCU/

3/ stratotype for the Mi oc en e/ Pl io ce ne bo undary /VEEKEN/

4/ stratotype for the O lig oc en e/ Mi oce ne bo undary /ANGLADA, CATZIGRAS, DEMARCQ/

5/ boundary stratotype for the B u r d ig al ia n/ La ng hi an /ANGLADA, CATZIGRAS, DEMARCQ/

il boundary stratotype for the Z a n cl ea a/ Pi ac en zi an /CI1A, I A C C A R I N O , SPROVIERI/

7/ boundary stratotype for the A q u i t a n i a n / Bu rd ig al ia n

/POIGNANT/

In addition sugg es ti on s were received for the de signation of stra to ty pe s in Italy /Sicily/, Turkey, Greece and e x t ­ ra - Me di t er r an ea n areas, which, however, need further el ab or a ti o n before being accepted as formal proposals.

Co rr el a ti o n :

B i os t r a t i g r a p h y / M a g n e t o s t r a t i g r a p h y - Radiochronology:

Most important new data concerning especially the Middle Mioc en e are publ is he d by Berggren et al. /1985, in press/.

This pu bl ic a ti on should function as the fundamental basis for the disc us si on s and the establishment of a revised and r e co mm en de d "Medit er ra ne an Neogene Time Scale" during the next Neogene congress in Budapest this year.

In addition the already pu blished pale om ag ne ti c data on Pl io ce ne and Plei st oc en e / st ra tot yp e- / sect i o n s 'wi thin the Central Paratethys /Andreescu, 1981/ several p ale om ag ne ti c studies have been carried out and will be pres en te d at the c o n g r e s s .

Ch ronostratigraphy:

Changes in Middle Miocene m ag net ob io ch ron ol og y by Berggren et al. /in press/ pa rticularly effect the correlation, t i ­ ming and the duration of these stages in the entire M e d i t e r ­ ranean and the Central and Eastern Paratethys, which would have to be revised substantially /e.g. Rogl et Steininger , 1 9 8 3 /.

A most recent c orr el at io n between the Eastern and Central

P a ra te th ys stages and the Me di te rr an ea n was subm it te d by a

team of colleagues from the USSR based on new biostrati-

graphic, m a gn et os t r a t i g r a p h i c and radiometric data. The

most crucial changes are: the Caucasian corr es po nd s to

Late Egerian only, respec ti ve ly to Aquitanian only. The

T a rk h an i an corr es po nd s to the Karpatian, re sp ec ti ve ly to

the Late Burdigalian. The M ae oti an /P on tia n boundary c o ­

inci de s with the T o r to ni an /M es si ni an boundary and the

P o nt i an ther ef or e corr es po nd s to the lower part of the

19

Messinian only. Tentative co rrelations are also given for the Pleistocene.

Literature: Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V. et 3. A. Van

Couvering, Neogene Geoc hr on ol og y and C h r o n o s t r a t i g r a p h y . -

in: Snelling, N. J., Ge oc hronology and the Geologic Time

Scale. - Geol. Soc., London, Spec. Paper, 1985 /in press/.

REPORT ON NEW RESULTS OF RADI OM ET RI C AGES AND PALEO- M A GN ET IS M

by D. Vass

In the period 1979--1985 several papers dealing with r a ­ diometric ages and pa le om ag ne ti sm of the Neogene in the Me d it e rr a ne a n and Paratethys area appeared.

R adi om et ri c ages - M edi te rr an ea n area: A chronology of the Neogene volcanics in the territory of the Western M e d i t e r r a ­ nean was publ is he d by H. Bellon /1981/. D. Tisserant and G. S. Odin /1979/ published the glauconite ra di ometric ages from the Miocene of NW Africa. A co mpilation of r a ­ diom et ri c ages concerning the Paleogene /Neogene boundary was made by D. Vass /1980/. The ages come not only from the Me di t er r an ea n area, but from the world Late Palaeogene and Early Neogene.

R a di om et ri c ages - Paratethys area: In Hungary, r a d i o m e t ­ ric ages of both rhyolite tuffs varying roughly between 13.0 and 22.0 Ma / G . H a m o r et al., 1980/ and of basalts from Tr an sd an ub ia /A. Jambor et al., 1980/ were measured.

In 1981 at the 12th Congress of the Carpathian - Balkan Geolog ic al A sso ci at io n /B ucharest/ 3 papers were presented c o nc er ni ng the chronology of the Miocene py ro cl as ti cs and laves from Hungary /

. A r v a - S o o s et al., 1983/, the c h r o ­ nology of the Miocene vo lcanism in northeast Hungary /K.

Balogh et al. 1983/ and the radi om et ri c ages of young /Upper Neogene - Quaternary/ basalts from Hungary /K. B a ­ logh et al., 1983/. Young basalts in the territory of Slovakia, CSSR, were also dated radiomet ri ca lly /K. Balogh et al., 1981; J. Kantor and V. Wiegerova, 1981/. The pa- l e om ag ne ti c ev al ua ti on of the same basalts was made by 0.

Orlicky et al., 1981. I. Repcok has studied the chrono-

st ra t ig r ap h y of the M id- Sl ov ak ia n ne ovolcanics by the

21

F. T. method. The results were published in 1977, 1978 and in a more complete form in 1981. I. Repcok has carried out further measur em en ts including measur em en ts on East Slova- kien Neogene volcanics. New results are in prep ar at io n for print. The F. T. method also was used in the study of the Miocene and Pliocene of the Ponto-Caspian region in the USSR /S. S. Ganzej, unpublished/.

Magnetostratigraphy: M ag ne to st rat igr ap hi c in ve stigations were co nducted mainly in the Eastern M edi te rr an ea n and the Eastern Paratethys areas.

M a gn e to str at igr ap hy in the Mediterranean: In northern Tur­

key the pale om ag ne ti c investigation was carried out on some basaltoids and ore deposits in the Pontic ranges /M. GLiner, 1981/. The chronostratigraphifc position of the Pikermian regional stage was verified by p ale om ag ne ti c me as ur em en ts /D. Heye et al., 1981/. The bios tr at ig ra phy of the Late Miocene on Crete was correlated with the m a g ­ ne to st ra ti gr aph y /C. G. Langereis et al,, 1984/. A m a g n e ­ tostrati gr ap hic study on some Late Miocene vertebrate sites of Greece was co nducted by S. Sen /1984/. In the W es ­ tern Medite rr an ea n a pale om ag ne ti c i nve st ig at io n on fl u­

vial sediments was done in the Ebro Basin, Spain /P. Tur­

ner et al., 1984/. In the Eastern Atlantic - Canarian Is­

land region - a cali br at io n of the Late Neogene c a l c a r e ­ ous plankton datum planes with the p al eo mag ne ti c record of DSDP site 397 was made by R. Mazzei et al. /19 7 9/. The results were correlated with the Moroccan and M e d i t e r r a ­ nean Late Neogene.

Ma gn et os t ra t ig ra ph y in the Paratethys: Great progress in

the corr el at io n of the Eastern Paratethys Neogene with the

M e di t err an ea n and Central Paratethys was enabled by p a l e o ­

magnetic i nve stigations in the Eastern Paratethys area. In

the Ponto - Caspian region /USSR/ pa le om ag ne ti c i nv es ti ­

gation of the Late Miocene and Pliocene and a comparison

with the bios tr at ig ra phy were carried out by V. N. Seme- nenko and M. A. Pevzner /1978/. In the Paleoc as pi an area of the Western Ukraine /USSR/ a m a g n et os tr at ig ra ph ic s ca ­ le for the Late Cenozoic was established /G. Z. Gurary, V. M. Trubikhin, 1981/. Ihe chronology of the Pliocene - Pl eistocene formations in the Dacian Basin /Rumania/

based on mollusc, mammal fauna and ma gn et os tr at ig ra ph y was invest ig at ed by I. Andreescu et al. /1981/. On the basis of ma gn et os tr at ig ra ph y and b io str at ig ra phy a c o r r e ­ lation of the Late Neogene of Central Asia and Europe was es tablished by M. A. Pevzner et al. /1982/. In the area of the Central Paratethys some results of p ale om ag ne ti c invest ig at io ns of the Late Pliocene and Quater na ry in Hungary were published by H. B. S. Cooke and A. Ronai

1979

From areas outside the Me di terranean and Paratethys, p a r ­ ticularly from the Sivalik formation /India and Pakistan/

the results of pale om ag ne ti c in ve stigations were p u b ­ lished by N. D. Opdyke et al. /1979/, A. Azzaroli and G.

Na poleone /1982/ and G. D. Johnson et al. /1984/.

Revised ra diometric time-scale of Paratethys Neogene:

The last version of a radiometric time-scale of the P a ­ ratethys Neogene was presented at the 6th Congress of RCMNS in Bratislava, 1975 and slightly mo dified at the 25th Int. Geol. Congress in Sidney, 1976 /D. Vass et al;

1975; D. Vass and G. P. Bagdasarjan, 1978/.

During the last 10 years many new radiometric ages c o n ­ cerning the Paratethys Neogene have emerged. Therefore a revised radiometric time-scale of the Paratethys N e o ­

gene will be presented at the 8th RCMNS Congress in Budapest

/K. Balogh, J. Halmai, I. Repcok, D. Vass/. In this scale

the Egerian is not radiomet ri ca lly calibrated, because no

23

reliable radiometric ages concerning the Egerian exist.

Newly obtained data on the E g g e n b u r g i a n , Ottnangian and Karpatian have enabled the radiometric cali br at io n of the Early Miocene stages. New datas on the Badenian and Sar- matian do not contradict the older ones. Only the base and the top of the Sarmatian seem to be slightly older than in the previous scale. The subdivision of the Sarmatian has also changed slightly. The radiometric ca libration of the Late Miocene and Pliocene was established on the basis of radiometric age and refined using certain magneto- st ra tigraphic data, partic ul ar ly those from the Eastern Paratethys area.

Ma Quaternary

Romanian Dacian

Pontian

Pannonian

Sarmatian

Badenian

^Carpathian

Ottnangian

-

1,8

—

3,7

0,1

— 3 , 6 + 0 , 2---

—

8,3

0,5

41.5

0,5

43.6

0,2

16.5

0,5

17.5

0,5

•19,0-

Ma

Eggenburgian

--- 22,0 Egerian

At the suggestion of the president of the RCMNS 0. E.

Meulenkamp, an attempt was made to compile all ra diometric ages of the Medi te rr an ea n and Paratethys Neogene. D. Vass sent a ques ti on na ir e on this topic to many potential c o l ­ laborators. A more or less complete answer was obtained from Italy /A. M. Borsetti et al./. H. Kreuzer and 0. M.

Cantagtel have sent great numbers of reprints dealing with

radiometric ages of Tertiary rocks. From C ze ch osl ov ak ia all

reliable radiometric ages of the Neogene volcanic rocks

were compiled by D. Vass. The compilation of radiometric

ages of the Neogene from the Me di terranean and Paratethys

region has not yet been accomplished.

2 5

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON VERTEBRATE MI GR AT IO NS AND BI OSTRATIGRAPHY

by P. Mein

L'une des activités es se nt ie ll es du Working Group a été 1 ' Inté ri um -C ol loq ui um sur les Pa lé oe nv ir on ne me nt s c o n t i ­ nentaux qui s'est tenu a Mont pe ll ie r en Avril 1983 / P a ­ léobiologie contientale, vol. XIV, n° 2, Montpellier,

1984/ et dont Monsieur J. P. SUC présente un rapport gé né­

ral. Treize communic at io ns traitaient de Mammifères.

Pour les grands Mammifères, on peut utiliser des espèces indicatrices, proches de formes actuelles. Les Mammifères végétariens sont de meil le ur s indicateurs que les C a r n i ­ vores car ils -dépendent di rectement du climat. On peut également utiliser une méthode écologique supposant c o n n u ­ es les relations de locomotion, nutrition, poids, mode de vie de toutes les espèces. Ces données tr an scrites sur des graphiques /histogrammes d'Andrews/ permettent de comparer des faunes fossiles à des po pu lations actuelles de biotope connu /Artemiou, p. 91; Guérin, p. 287/. Bien que moins

précis que les re ns ei gn em en ts fournis par la palynologie, ceux fournis par les grands ma mm if èr es sont souvent les seult utilisables pour la c on nai ss an ce de leurs p a l é o e n ­ vi ronnements .

Pour les petits Mammifères, le problème est plus complexe;

la plupart des formes néogenes appa rt ie nn en t a des genres

éteints. La morphologie d e n ta ir e permet parfois la r e c o n ­

naissance d'exigences éc ol ogiques /écureuils volants, c as ­

tors, desmans, formes fouisseuses/, mais ces cas demeurent

rares. C'est seulement par l'analyse d'àne série d ' a s s o c i ­

ations entre formes de divers gisements que l'on peut ap p­

rocher les paléoenv ir on nem en ts . Enfin, les petits M a m m i ­ fères sont moins stri ct em en t dépendants de leur milieu que les grands Mammifères; ils vivent dans des niches écol og iq ue s et peuvent tomber en léthargie quand les conditions clim at iq ue s sont défavorables.

On peut néanmoins espérer de bons résultats quand on d i s ­ pose d'un grand nombre de gisements sur une surface g é o ­ gr aphique restreinte. Van der Meulen et de Bruijn /1982/

ont réussi a trouver une relation entre la m orp ho lo gi e de ntaire et l'habitat pour la famille des Gliridae. Daams et Van der Meulen /p. 241/ utilisant ces données et t r a ­ vaillant sur le p our ce nt ag e des diverses familles de r o n ­ geurs présentent une r ec ons ti tu ti on des variat io ns c l i m a ­ tiques pour le Miocène du bassin de Teruel /Espagne/.

C'était la première fois qu'un tel colloque avait lieu et si les résultats pr ésentés semblent légèrement divergents, les di scussions ont été fructueuses et les méthodes, une fois testée, pourront être appliquées de partout.

Depuis le Colloque d'Athenes, de nombreus progrès ont été effe ct ué s dans la co nn ai ss an ce des faunes bordant le d o ­ main e m é d i t e r r a n é e n D e nombreus gisements néogènes c h i ­ nois peuvent être corrélés avec les gisements européens / L i , Wu, Qiu, 1984/. En ne citant que quelques sites m i o ­ cènes, on trouve:

- Miocène inférieur: Xiejia / E u c r i c e t o d o n , P l e s i o s m i n t h u s , B r a c h y p o t h e r i u m , Oioceros/ - MN 2/3.

- Miocene moyen /Orléanien/: -Shanwang / P l e s i a c e r a t h e r i u m , P a l e o t a p i r u s , Lagomeryx, P a l a e o c h o e r u s , Ursarus, Diatomys/

- MN 4 .

-Xiacaowan /Plesiacer at her iu m,

27

Micromeryx, Cricetodon , Me ga cr ic et od on , D e m o c r i c e t o d o n , Diatomys, Dionys op it he cus / - MN 5.

- Miocene moyen / A s t a r a c i e n / : -D ialongkou / S a n s a n o s m i l u s , Percrocuta, Chilotherium/ - MN 6.

-Tongxin / P l i o p i t h e c u s , G o m p h o t h e r i u m , P l a t y b e l o d o n , H is pan ot he ri um/ - MN 7.

-Tund Gur / M a c h a i r o d u s , Metailurus, P a l a e o t r a g u s , Pl at yb el od on évolué/ - MN 8.

- Miocene supérieur /Vallesien/: - Bahea /Hipparion, Sh aa nxispira/ - Mn 9/10.

- Miocene supérieur /Turolien/: -Lufeng /Indartos, Ictit- herium, S i v a p i t h e c u s , Sinoadapis, C e r c o p i t h e c i d a e , Lacco- pithecus Dinosorex, An ou ro so re x/ - MN 11.

-Ertemte /Fahlb us ch & Chiu, 1984/ - MN 13/14.

Dans le sous-c on ti ne nt indien, de nombreux gise me nt s ont été étudiés par: De Bruijn & alii, 1981; Dehm & alii, 1982;

Flynn, 1982; Munthe, 198D; Wessel & alii, 1982; De Bruijn

& Hussain, 1984; Andrews & Cronin, 1982; Barry & alii;

1982; Pilbeam, 1982.

Un gisement miocene moyen de Thailande: Li /Gin sb ur g &

Ukkapimapan, 1983/, vient de livrer des petits mammifères

permettant une co rrélation précise avec la Lower Manchar Formation, tout en indiquant un biotope plus humide.

A

En Moldavie, A. Lungu a fait connaître, en 1981, une faune de petits Mammifères vallésiens montrant de grandes r es s e m ­ blances avec les faunes comp ar ab le s d' Europe occidentale.

L' Arabie Saoudite a livré des gisements étudiés par

Whyb ro w & alii, 1982; Thomas & alii, 1982.

Les données récentes sur les di fférentes provinces paléo- géog ra ph iq ue s du domaine mé di te rr a né en sont an alysées dans Bernor, 1984. Dans chaque province, la latitude peut apporter des m odi fi ca ti on s de faune, par exemple: le

Va llésien du Va ll es -P en ed es est bien plus humide que celui de Teruel; de mp'me le Turolien de Lufeng est bien plus humide que celui de Qinyang.

Un autre aspect important des recherches récentes a été co ns ac ré a l'étude des voies et des époques de migrations.

Aguilar & alii, 1984, mettent en évidence une voie t r a n s ­ m é di t er r an é en ne permettant un passage Est-Quest au Miocene terminal. De Bruijn & Hussain, 1984, envisagent une m i g ­ ration d'âge MN 6 amenant les My oc ri ce to do nt id ae o r i g i ­ naires du s o us -c on ti ne nt indien sur la Turquie, l'Arabie et 1 Afrique du Nord; a la meme époque, il y aurait eu

entrée des Rhizomydae en Afrique. Le passage par G i b r a l ­ tar dans le sens E ur op e-A fr iq ue au Miocene terminal, est attesté par la pr és en ce a Ain Guettara d'Eliomys, Apodemus, Prolagus, Cricetus /Brandy & Jaeger, 1980/. Le peuplement des iles de M éd ite rr an ée occidentale, au Miocene terminal, est discuté par Moya Sola & alii, 1984. Thomas, 1984, met en évidence plusieurs migrations de Bovidae de l'Asie vers l'Afrique au cours du Miocène moyen et supéri eu r. La mi gr a ti o n des Bo selaphini / He li co por ta cin a/ d'Asie en Afri qu e pourrait etre synchrone de celle des M y o c r i c e t o ­ do nt id ae et Rhizomyidae.

Je termine en ra ppelant la parution de l' important travail

de Savage et R u s s e l , 1983: Ma mmalian Paleofaunas of the

World qui pour la pr emière fois cite les faunes de M a m m i ­

fères fossiles du monte entier avec les co rr él at io ns

v r a i s e m b l a b l e s .

29

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON NON-MARINE PALEOENVIRON- MENTS AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHY. Part 1: AQUATIC PALEOENVIRON- MENTS

by E . Kojumdgieva

The working group "Non-marine p ale oe nv ir on men ts and bio- st ra tigraphy" spontaneously split into two subgroups - aquatic and contiental. There are few common points b e t ­ ween these groups and their activities are therefore re­

ported separately.

The activity of members of working group "Aquatic p a l e o ­ en vi ronments" concentrated mainly on brackish and f r e s h ­ water isolated basins of the Paratethys and their endemic faunas. This is pa rticularly true for the period between the two congresses in which similar studies in the Tethys area were virtually lacking.

The work on nonmarine basins in the Paratethys area and their faunas was intensive but not well coordinated. This was in part due to the illness and death of the head of the group Prof. Dr. A. Papp as well as to inadequate p a r ­ ticipation of the members of the subgroup at the 1983 interim co lloquim in Montpellier.

An attempt was made to systemize and unify the paleoecolo-

gical terminology and methods. No un if ication was achieved,

but comparison with p al eoe co lo gi cal results and methods

in marine megafaunas /were an identical inquiry took p l a ­

ce/ showed some consistent differences. These differences

/u niformity of trophic groups, poor genetic and specific

composition, high morp ho lo gi ca l variations etc./ had been

noted earlier by K o j u m d g i e v a ,Nevesskaya and Ilina as c h a ­

ra cteristic features of faunas in isolated non-ma ri ne

basins. The results confirmed their signif ic an ce and general validity.

In the years after the Athens congress, three large m o ­ nographs on Paratethys brackish sediments and faunas were compiled and submitted for print: the volumes "Pannonian"

and "Pontian" of the series "Chron os tr at igr ap hi e und Neo- s t r a t o t y p e n ", and the "Molluscan History of the Eastern Paratethys". They discuss regional stratigraphy and c o r r e ­ lation on the basis of different groups of organisms. Apart from that, a number of papers usually dedicated to a single group were published /compare "Bibliography"/.

More important new works on brackish and freshwater basins and organisms are as follows: Ko zakhurian mo lluscs were revised and their distri bu ti on studied. It was esta bl is he d that certain elements were in common with the Ottnangian molluscs, i. e. that the two brackish basins were c o n n e c ­ ted. Re pr es entatives of the genus Rzehakia occur also in Tarkhanian sediments /Goncharova, 1981; Kvalishvili, 1979;

Popov, 1983/.

The evolution of molluscs and their use in the stra ti gr ap hi c subd iv is io n of Middle Miocene nonmarine sediments in the Eastern Paratethys / T s h o k r a k i a n , Karaganian, Ko nk ia n/ were discussed. Similar but not identical subdivision schemes were proposed, partic ul ar ly for the Karaganian regional stage /Belokrys, 1980; K v a l i a s h v i l i , 1979; Zgenti, 1981/.

Information on diatoms was alsg published /Temniskova, 1,984;

Temniskova & Kozyrenko, 1982/.

Studes of the Sarmatian regional stage and the respective fauna and marine flora were intensive and covered foramini- fera /Bobrinskaya, 1981; Maissuradze, 1981/, mo lluscs

/ B o h n - - H a v a s , 1983; Ionesi & Vele, 1981; Kojumdgieva, 1981;

31

M u k h e l i s h v i l i , 1980; Stevanovic & Paramonova, 1983/, ostracods /Hanganu & Grigorescu, 1981; Karmishina, 1979;

Stancheva, 1984/, bryozoas /Bagdasarjan & Ponomareva, 1982;

Belokrys, 1980; Ponomareva, 1979/, diatoms /Kozyrenko, 1982;

Rehakova, 1980; Temniskova, var./, n ann op la nk to n /Stradner

& Fuchs, 1979/ as well as certain p al eo ge ogr ap hic problems /Kojum dg ie va , 1983/.

The su bd ivision and faunistic c ha rac te ri st ics of the Pan- nonian regional stage were discussed in the respective monograph, paleoeco lo gi cal problems studied on the basis of molluscs by Korpas-Hodi /1983/

Maeotian molluscs and their st ra tigraphic and p a l e o g e o g r a ­ phic si gn if ic an ce were studied by Badzoshvili /19 7 9 , 1983/, Ko jumdgieva /1979/, Stevanovic & Ilina /1982/.

Pontian sediments and the respective faunas are discussed in the above mentioned monograph. Some mo lluscs /Papaia- nopol, var./ and freshwater diatoms /Temniskova & Ognya- nova, 1979, 1983/ were also described.

The Pliocene /Dacian - Romanian/ brackish and freshwater se diments in the Dacian Basin were su bd iv id ed in zones according to molluscs and related to type sections and pa- leom ag ne ti c studies /Alexeeva et al., 1983; Andreescu, 1983;

Andreescu et al., 1981/. Ostracod zones were defined / St a n c ­ heva, 1981/ and the mo lluscs revised /Pana et al., 1981;

Papaianopol & Lubenescu, 1 9 8 3 / . The Pliocene in the Euxi-

nian Basin and the respective fauna were studied by Babak

/1983/, Belokrys /1982/, and Taktakishvili /1984/. Akchagy-

lian brackish molluscs and Dacian - Romanian freshwater

molluscs were described in the Da rd anelles /Taner, 1982/.

In conclusion, the efforts of the subgroup in the period after the Athens congress were directed mainly at further precision in biostrat ig ra phy and correlation of brackish and freshwater sediments from the Paratethys, as well as at the development of certain ideas voiced in the p r e c e d ­ ing period. Ihis concluding trend is expressed not only in the monographs but also in a part of the other papers.

A number of problems is still controversial or unsolved, for instance the subdivision, range and corr el at io n of the Middle Miocene regional stages in the Eastern P ar a ­ tethys, the subdivision and range of the Maeotian r e g i o ­ nal stage, the correlation of the lower boundary of the Pontian outside the Paratethys etc. Ihe lack of new works on brackish faunas and p ale oe nv ir on men ts in the M e d i t e r r a ­ nean is a severe obstacle for' c o r r e l a t i o n . Ihe studies on the different groups and intervals in the Paratethys are likewise irregular. For example, the in ve stigation of the fauna of the Paludia - beds from the Pann on ia n Basin lags consid er ab ly behind. Molluscs remain the principal object of study; the studies on ostracods were less in­

tensive then in the preceding period but those on diatoms are in progress.

Studies on faunistic and floristic associations, aimed at

p a le oe nv ir on men ta l reconstructions, continue. More i m p or ­

tant works are those of Badzoshvili /1979, 1983/, Belok-

rys /1982/, Korpas-Hodi /1983/, lemniskova & Ognyanova

/1984/. Ihe quality of the papers is good, but the number

is small, particularly if we take into account the high

p o t e n t i a l .

33

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON NON-MARINE PA LE OENVIRON- MENTS AND BIOSTRATIGRAPHY. Part 2: CO NTINENTAL DATA by J .-P . Sue

I wish to pay a tribute to my predecessor, the late P r o ­ fessor A. PAPP.

The activity of our group was co nc en tr at ed mainly on the interim-colloquium held in Montpellier /18 — 2 2 April, 1983/

in connection with the "Vertebrate mi gr at io ns and bio- st ra tigraphy" Working Group on the topic "Mediterranean Neogene continental p al eo en vir on men ts and climatic e v o ­ lution". Sixty five colleagues attended this meeting which was a great success and thirty five co nt ri bu ti on s have been published in a special issue of " Pa leo bi ol og ie C o n ­ tinentale" .

I do not intend to summarize the results of this interim- -col lo qu iu m but wish to include them with the more recent ones according to the following scheme: ve ge ta ti on al l a nd ­ scapes and paleobioprovinces, climatic evolution, s t r a ­ tigraphic remarks.

1. Ve getational landscapes and pa le ob ioprovinces.

The data were obtained mainly by pa le ob ot an ic al methods

/ m ac ro re ma in s and pollen grains/ but also from mammal p a ­

leontology. Nevertheless, if mammal records are able to

reveal what kinds of vegetation existed /woodlands, open

vegetations/, paleob ot an ic al evidence is essential to d e ­

fine them precisely /mangrove, s c l e r o p h i l o u s , mixed meso-

philous, deciduous forests, xeric shrublands, savanna,

steppe, tundra/ on the basis of their fl oristic c o m p o s i ­

tion. The validity of the compared i nfo rm at io n between

the different provinces of the Me di te rr an ea n area s. 1.

depends rather largely on the b io str at ig ra phi c control generally provided by mamm al s /chiefly rodents/ and s o m e ­ times by planktonic marine organisms for sections located on the continental shelf. Some datings result from radio- me tric and p a le om ag ne ti c measurements.

As early as the Late Miocene, forests were dist ri bu te d all over the M e di te rr an ea n area s. 1. with an intense c o m p l e x i ­ ty and a wide diversity in the vegetation pattern in r e ­ lation to the pa le og eo gr ap hi c characteristics. From the Earliest Miocene, evergreen s cle ro ph il ou s forest /e. s. f./

with Lauraceae, E n g e l h a r d t i a , H a m a m e l i d a c e a e , Sapotaceae, Oleaceae, etc. generally grew in the M ed it err an ea n area s. 1; in some provinces /Portugal, n or th wes te rn and s o u t h ­ eastern M e di t err an ea n/ they c ont ai ne d tropical elements such as Bombax, Mimosaceae,. Meliaceae, Alchornea. Moreover, other regions in the no rt hw es te rn M ed it err an ea n were o c c u ­ pied by a se mi-arid open vegetation, locally in coastal r e ­ gions close to an impove ri sh ed ma ngrove /only one ligneous component, Avicennia/. Diff er en ce s also existed according to a la titudinal and al titudinal distri bu ti on /passage to mixed m eso ph il ou s forest - m. m. f. - then to deciduous assemblages/. The greatest deve lo pm en t of these woody l a n d ­ scapes occurred in the Late Burd ig al ia n - Early Langhian.

The data on the Upper Mioc en e vegetations are more sparse:

the diff er en t types of ve ge ta ti on seem to have been a l t e r ­ nately pred om in an t acco rd in g to pa le og eo gr ap hi c and paleo- cl imatic variable conditions. The tropical elements were co nf in ed to southe as te rn M e d i te rr an ea n regions.

In formation on the M ess in ia n is scarce and partly c o n t r a d i c ­

tory in one is not aware of the difficulty of the chrono-

s t r a ti g ra p hi c co rr el at io ns for such a short and complex

p e r i o d .

33

Pliocene vegetational history is better known. The Zan- clean began with forests spreading /e. s. f. in Portugal, locally in southern France and northe as te rn Spain with swamp associations; m . m. f. in other regions/ while xe- ric open ve getations of eastern and southern Spain e f f e c ­ ted the transitional between the Miocene semi -a ri d a s s e m ­ blages and the Late Piacenzian steppic associations. Some tropical elements still grew in the southeastern M e d i t e r ­ ranean area. So, great differences exis te d according to latitude and altitude.

2. Climatic evolution.

Sedimentary and geom or ph ol og y evidence also cont ri bu te s ef fectively to describe climatic characteristics.

The results are summarized in three co mp il at io n charts pr esented in the conc lu si on s of " Me di ter ra ne an Neogene continental p al eo en vir on men ts and cl imatic ev ol ut io n"

/P al eo bi ol og ie Continentale, 1984/.

Many converging data are to be underlined:

- the Miocene thermic m axi mu m noticed in the Early L a n g h i a n ;

- the p r og re ss iv e /and cyclic/ climatic d e t e ri or at io n in the Upper Miocene towards a more c on tr as te d s e a s o ­ nal rhythm;

- the Zanclean pr on ou nc ed improvement;

- the succes si ve ly stronger de te ri or at io ns /during the Zanclean, close to the Z a n cl ea n- Pi ac en zi an boundary,

and in the Late Piacenzian/;

- the improvement before the PI io -P le is to ce ne boundary.

From the Messinian and mainly during the Pliocene, the effects of Arctic gl ac iations were stronger than those of Antarctic ones; modern M ed it err an ea n climatic cycles started during the Late Piacenzian.

Th eoretical climatic models have emerged from s e d i m e n t a ­ ry studies in which al ternating mo nsoons influenced the global climatic phases.

3. S t ra ti gr ap hi c remarks.

The value of the pa le oe nv ir on me nt al and p ale oc li ma ti c data on the M e di t err an ea n area s. 1. is highly dependent on bio- and c h r o no s tr a ti gr ap hi c accuracy. C l i m a t o s t ra ti gr ap hi c r e ­ lati on sh ip s have been suggested between northw es te rn E u ­ rope and M edi te rr an ea n regions through pollen analysis;

this mo re ov er permits a c orr el at io n of the climatic steps with pl an kt on ic marine scales and isotopic curves under the c o nd it io n that the studied sections represent a s u f f i ­ ciently long period.

Co nc lu s io n s and future prospects.

First, one must take into c on si der at io n the endeavours in the diff er en t disciplines to reco ns tr uc t cont in en ta l pa- l e o e n v i r o n m e n t s . In any case, analogies with present e n ­ vi ro nm en ts are more and more needed. For instance, the pr og r es s in pollen analysis /con si de re d more from a b o t a ­ nical point of view/ is essential.

Q u a t e r n a r i s t s ' methods are now commonly used with success

in Neog en e series and therefore pa le oe nv ir on me nt al and

s t ra t i g r a p h i c c ont ri bu ti on s during these last six years

were fundamental.

3 7

Certain geologic periods /Upper Miocene and, particularly, Messinian/ and regions /central and southern Spain, s o u t ­ hern and eastern Me di te rr an ea n/ remain to be systemically i n v e s t i g a t e d .

St ra tigraphic applic at io ns of climatic curves must be in ­ tensified and look promising for Upper Miocene and P l i o ­ cene correlations, especially between the Tethys and Para- tethys .

To conclude, everyone expects a successful M edi te rr an ea n

Neogene Congress on Ecostrat ig ra phy from which will arise

a more elaborate, knowledge of contiental p al eoe nv ir on men ts

and an increasing contri bu ti on of co ntinental data to the

M edi te rr an ea n Neogene stratigraphy.

MEDI TE RR AN EA N MARINE MEGAFAUNAL P ALE OE NV IR ON MEN TS AND B I O ­ STRATI GR AP HY - IN TE RI M- CO LL OQU IU M ATHENS, 1984.

FINAL REPORT by G. Demarcq

Pa rticipants numbered 75, re presenting 10 countries. There were 31 abstracts, di stributed before the colloquium, and 24 commun ic at io ns presented. The latter fell into 4 topics.

An overall analysis in three major themes is given below.

Report of scientific conclusions: The communications, c o n ­ ferences and discussions can be grouped into themes e n c o m ­ passing fundamental data for the M edi te rr an ea n Neogene.

1. P a le oe nv ir on men ta l analysis

2. P a le o bi oge og rap hy and structural de velopment 3. Neogene faunal events

Pa le oe nv ir on men ta l analysis: R ec ons tr uc ti on of the paleo- environment, pa rticularly in the littoral neritic biotope, was possible for numerous parts of the Tethys, and a little for the Paratethys, at all Neogene ages in which the marine sediment is rich in information in megafaunas. The f o l l o w ­ ing groups contributed: Madrepora, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, Mollusca, Crustacea, E c h i n o d e r m a t a , Pisces. The results permit spatio - temporal correlations since the different pa le o- mi li eu situations bear witness to the evol ut io n of the basins.

P a le ob io ge og rap hy and structural development: Abundant d a ­

ta on different taxa and regions allow us to trace out the

biop ro vi nc e and to follow its destiny in time. C o m m u n i c a ­

tions with the Middle East, the dominant Atlantic i nf l u e n ­

ces, cleavages between the western and middle to eastern

Me di t er r an e an and passages to the Paratethys until the

end of the Badenian have a direct influence on the paleo-

ge ography and hence the structural evolution of the c o n ­

3 9

tinental margins. These developments are also applicable to the p a le o- oc ea no gra ph y /thresholds, currents, faunal diffusion/. Study of differential migration of pertinent taxa appears mandated for a coherent synthesis.

Neogene faunal events: The study of marine me ga fa un al com­

position with classical methods su pplemented by paleoeco- logical analysis /example: taphology/ and biog eo gr ap hi c analysis requires retracing of major events of the Neogene.

It is important to delimit and explain them. The main con­

siderations are: the varying di fficulties of relating O li ­ gocene and Miocene, the flowering at the end of the Bur- d i g a l i a n / L a n g h i a n , the se di mentological and structural crisis of the S e r r a v a l l i a n , the Messinian crisis, the Andalusian phenomenon, and the relative slowdown in Pl io­

cene reproduction. Pa leothermal evolution has been r epr e­

sented by a q ual it at iv e curve for the Me di te rr an ea n N eo ­ gene, with a tentative attempt at quantification.

As these data furnished by marine megafa un as should aid in advancing new aspects of knowledge on the Neogene. Eco- st ratigraphy and "eventology" are the keywords. We hope that marine megafaunas, a rich and si gnificant material will be considered to be a true witness of their time and as such will bring us as much as if not more than the su ­ per-star taxa of the b io st rat ig ra phi c m eth od ol og y of the 1960's. It is in this direction that current research is p r o c e d i n g .

After the colloquium, on Monday, September 10, 1984, at the Department of S tr at ig ra ph y- Ge og r a p h y - C l i m a t o l o g y of the University of Athens /Faculty of Earth Scie nc es / a meeting was held between:

Prof. N. Symeonids, President of the 7th Congress of the

R C M N S ; Dr. F. Rogl, Secretary of the RCMNS;

Ass. Prof. M. Dermitzakis, President of the Organizing Co mmittee of the Interim-Colloquium;

Prof. G. Demarcq, Chairman of the W. G. "Megafaunal Pa- leoenvir on me nts and Biostratigraphy";

Ass. Prof. E. G e o r g i a d e s - D i k e o u l i a , Re sponsible of the Organizing Committee of the In.terim-Colloquium ;

Dr. E. P. F. Rose, Co -Organizer of the W. G. "Marine M e ­ gafaunal Pale oe nv ir on men ts and Biostratigraphy";

The above persons, following the results of the colloquium

and with a desire for the greatest efficiency in the fu ­

ture, propose the creation of an "International Neogene

Marine Megafauna Association". Its goals, if po ssible in

conj un ct io n with the IGCP Project "Global Neogene" and

the SNS, are to assemble researchers in all co untries w o r k ­

ing on the same theme and, by fruitful and structured

exchanges, to formulate the propos it io ns for a synthesis

on the history of life in the Neogene from marine d o c u ­

ments of all kinds.

4 1

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON P AL EO GEO GR AP HY AND G E O ­ DYNAMICS. Part 1: WESTERN M ED IT ERR AN EA N

by M. Boccaletti

During the last three years the Working Group "Paleogeo- graphy and Ge odynamics" has mainly aimed at p lan ni ng s e ve ­ ral ti me-slices and maps of certain regions in the M e d i t e r ­ ranean and Ci rc um -m ed it er ra ne an areas.

In particular, the P er ity rr he ni an regions /Alps, A p e n n i ­ nes, Maghre ib id es chain and western M e d i te rr an ea n basins/

and the Pannonian basin have been chosen as type area's for a comparison concerning the p al eo ge ogr ap hic and g e o d y n a ­ mic evolution.

This project has been co nt em po ra ne ou sl y d eve lo pe d by two subgroups who have operated separately.

The main goal of the subgroup dealing with the project

"Neogene pa le og eo gr ap hi c and geodynamic evol ut io n of the Western Medite rr an ea n" is the palins pa st ic re co ns tr uc ti on of the Perity rr he ni an section, where the r el at ion sh ip s between tectonics and s edi me nt at io n have been emphasized and geophysical data coll ec te d up to now have been taken into consideration.

This group organized an In te ri m- Co ll oq ui um on "Paleogeo- graphy and Geodynamics of the Pe ri ty rr he ni an Area", held in Florence /October 1984/ at the Di pa rt im en to di Scienze della Terra. Numerous re se archers from Italian and f o ­ reign Un iversities took part in this meeting and many of them pr esented the "state of art" of their researches.

The I n te ri m- Co ll oqu iu m was subdivided into four scientific

sessions :

1/ Geology of the Tyrrhenian Sea and of some Western M e ­ dite rr an ea n Areas. During this session the most recent s e di me nt ol og ica l and geophysical data of the Tyrrhenian Basin were presented, correlated with the data on land.

2/ Neogene evol ut io n of Sardinia, Sicily and Southern Apennines .

3/ Neogene evol ut io n of the Northern Apennines. Connection with the Southern Alps and an outlook on Messinian G e o d y n a m i c s .

In the course of these two sessions a discussion was made about the p a le og eo gr ap hi c and geodynamic aspects of d i f f e ­ rent sectors of the A lp s- Ape nn in es chain, c orr el at in g the t e c t on o -s e di m en ta ry data with the ge ophysical and u n d e r ­ ground data.

4/ Neogene e v ol ut io n of the Northern Alpine Molasse basin and of the Central P a r a t e t h y s .

This session was dedicated to the pa le og eo gr ap hi c and g e o ­ dynamic e v ol ut io n of the Central Paratethys section and to the co rr el a ti on with the Alpine sections.

Finally, the state of adva nc em en t of 8 p a l eo ge og ra ph ic maps was presented, relative to selected periods from Upper Oli- gocene to Lower Pliocene, from the So ut h- Al pi ne area to Sicily, including Corsica and Sardinia. Furthermore, some attempts of Neogene geodynamic evolution of the whole s e c ­ tors were p r es en te d with possible in te rp re ta ti on models.

The ab stracts of the scientific c om mun ic at io ns were issueo at the meeting, whereas the complete works are in press and will appear on a special issue of the "Giornale di Geologia"

edited by Boccaletti, Gelati and Ricci Lucchi.

4 3

Furthermore, researchers in Spain, Morocco and Tunisia

have been recently cont ac te d to contribute to the c o m p ­

letion of the p al eo ge ogr ap hic maps with the w est er nm os t

sectors of the Mediterranean.

REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON P AL EO GEO GR AP HY AND G E O ­ DYNAMICS. Part 2: PA NNONIAN BASIN

BY M. KOVAC

At the RCMNS Executive Council Meeting in Harmaskdt, H u n ­ gary /Sept. 1981/ the working group decided to establish pilot studies on the "Paleoge og ra phy and Ge od ynamics of the Western M ed it err an ea n" and on the "Palae og eo gr aph y and Ge odynamics of the Pannonian Basin". This period coincided with the project of the IUGS Research Deve lo pm en t Programme /RDP/ "Neogene Pa le og eo gr ap hi c Map Series on Scale

1:1 000 000" designed by G. Hamor and carried out by the Hungarian Geological Institute. A su bstantial part of the work in the countries of the Alpine - Carpat hi an mountain chain and Pannonian region was to be carried out by the same scientific workers. In the RDP session in Sopron /May 1982/ it was therefore decided that within the a c t i ­ vity of the working group "Paleoge og ra phy and G e o d y ­ namics", the Neogene pa le og eo gr ap i c map series would be s u pp l eme nt ed by additional maps. Those would take into account not only the pa le og eographic, but also the palin- spastic and geodyn am ic al si tuation of individual, t e m p o r a l ­ ly precisely determined Neogene periods. At the interim- - c ol lo qu iu m " P al eo ge og ra phy and Geod in am ic s of the Pe- r i ty r rhe ni an Area" /Florence, 1984/ the pattern of high initia ti ve of the pilot studies was set. A nuitber of papers on the pa le og e og ra ph y and geodynamics in the region of the A l pi n e- C ar p a t h i a n mo untain chain and the Pa nnonian backarc region were also presented.

In the planned congress of RCMNS in Budapest, besides the

"Neogene Pa le o ge og ra ph ic Map Series" the work of geologists

in the region of the Pannonian Basin and the A l p i n e - C a r ­

path ia n mo un ta in chain carried out within the years 1979--

1985 will be presented.