The destructive earthquakes of February 6, 2023 in southern Turkey renewed scientific interest in neighboringfault systems whose late-stage tectonic histories remain poorly constrained. One such structure is the SavrunFault, located northeast of Adana and southwest of the Sürgü-Çardak Fault. This study investigates the tectoniccharacter and Neogene to Quaternary evolution of the Savrun Fault through an integrated approach that combinesfield observations, lithostratigraphic relationships, morphotectonic indices and GIS-based remote-sensinganalyses. The fault extends from Kozan toward Göksun and exhibits well-developed structural elements, includingfault planes, fracture systems and associated deformation within Lower to Middle Miocene sedimentaryunits. In contrast, overlying Quaternary colluvial and alluvial deposits show no evidence of displacementor disruption. Morphotectonic indices (Smf, SL, HI, Af, Vf) reveal localized landscape modification, yet theundisturbed nature of young fluvial and alluvial units indicates that the fault has not experienced documentedreactivation during the Quaternary. Despite its close spatial relationship to the seismically active Sürgü-ÇardakFault, the Savrun Fault lacks geomorphic or stratigraphic indicators of late-stage slip. Its southern segment,particularly near the Bağdaş Plateau, is interpreted as a transpressional zone that likely ceased motion duringthe Middle to Late Miocene. These combined observations suggest that, although structurally prominent, theSavrun Fault plays no measurable role in present-day deformation. The refined tectonic interpretation presentedhere contributes to a clearer understanding of fault architecture and Neogene landscape evolution in the centralAmanos-Göksun region.
During the mid Danian, deep-water chalk accumulated in the central parts of the Danish Basin, which harboureda markedly impoverished macrobenthos fauna. Among the seven echinoid taxa recorded so far, fiveare atelostomates belonging to the deposit feeder guild. Here, a new species of the micrasterid echinoid genusPseudogibbaster Moskvin, 1983, P. herkstroeteri, is erected to accommodate a single, moderately large-sized,fairly well-preserved test from Dalbyover, in northern Jutland, the only locality where mid-Danian deep-waterchalk from the central part of the Danish Basin can be accessed. This is the first record of the genus from thePaleocene of NW Europe. Features that distinguish the new taxon from its congeners are the relatively largesize, rectangular test profile and conspicuously large and countersunk phyllodal pores. The latter correspondedwith large penicillate podia and are interpreted as an adaptation to the nutrient-deficient bottom conditionsby optimizing the ability of bulk sediment feeding.
The Aptian–Albian succession, consisting of the Lower Qamchuqa, Jawan, Upper Sarmord, and UpperQamchuqa formations, from five boreholes in the Bai Hassan oil field, Zagros Foreland Basin, northern Iraq, hasbeen studied in terms of facies, microfacies, diagenetic processes and sequence stratigraphy. Eight microfacieswere identified: lime mudstone, orbitolina wackestone/packstone, orbitolina-miliolid wackestone, peloidal-miliolid-echinoderm packstone/grainstone, bioclast-mollusc-echinoderm wackestone/packstone, laminatedevaporite-carbonate mudstone, planktonic foraminifera wackestone/packstone, and argillaceous pelagic limemudstone. The succession was deposited in five stages characterised by changing facies patterns in a varietyof environments, including: restricted shallow marine/lagoonal, shallow open marine, fore-reef, deep open marineand basinal. The studied deposits were subjected to several diagenetic processes, including: micritization,dissolution, recrystallization, cementation, anhydritization, compaction, and dolomitization, taking place invarious diagenetic environments: meteoric phreatic, marine phreatic, vadose, mixing, and burial. Developmentof diagenetic processes was strongly affected by sea-level fluctuations, causing landward or seaward shifts ofvarious diagenetic environments. In general, the succession is characterised by less cementation, constructivedolomitization and moderate porosity, resulting in moderate to good hydrocarbon reservoir properties in its partsrepresented by highstand stages, and by moderate porosity, resulting in moderate to good reservoir characteristicsin its transgressive stages. The shallow environments represented by restricted and shallow open marinefacies are typified by high values of porosity due to dissolution and early dolomitization. Therefore, tectonicswas not the only factor that controlled the petrophysical properties and the reservoir distribution within thestudied succession in the Bai Hassan oil field.
The Upper Jurassic bedded limestones developed within the microbial-sponge megafacies along the northernmargin of the Tethys Ocean host, among other things, chert concretions and bedded cherts. This megafacies hasbeen identified in a number of exposures located in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland (Poland) as well as in thesoutheastern Franconian Alb and the Bayerwald (Germany), where it revealed mineralogical, petrographic andgeochemical similarities. Hence, siliceous rocks formed by the replacement of primary calcium carbonate withsilica also showed significant resemblance. The major chemical component of the analyzed siliceous rocks isSiO2, accompanied by minor amounts of Al2O3, TiO2, Fe2O3, and trace elements. The field observations combinedwith the results of geochemical analyses have indicated that the silica forming the chert concretions andthe bedded cherts was primarily supplied by hydrothermal solutions rather than being supplied by the skeletonsof siliceous sponges and radiolarians. The results of geochemical analyses document the formation of siliceousrocks during multistage diagenetic processes strongly influenced by hydrothermal solutions. The negativeCe anomalies observed in samples from all studied locations suggest oxic conditions during the silicificationprocesses whereas the positive Eu anomalies indicate the local contribution of hydrothermal solutions underpartially anoxic conditions. The differences in Eu anomalies found between particular locations are the result ofthe varying temperatures and intensity of hydrothermal solutions influx during the replacement processes, thusrevealing the spatial variability of hydrothermal activity in the studied regions of the northern Tethys margin.
A new trace fossil, Cochlearichnus tumidus igen. nov. et isp. nov., is described from Paleocene deep-seadeposits of the Ropianka Formation (Magura Nappe, Polish Outer Carpathians) and the Pagliaro Formation(Northern Apennines, Italy). The trace occurs in fine-grained turbiditic sandstones and is preserved as a hypichnialconvex semi-relief with a consistent spoon-shaped outline. Comparison with the body outlines of extantechiuran worms indicates that C. tumidus igen. nov. et isp. nov. represents a resting trace, most likely producedby a deep-sea echiuran inhabiting soft, muddy substrates. The structure was formed in mud and subsequentlyscoured and cast by turbiditic sand. The deposits bearing this trace fossil are characterized by the Paleodictyonichnosubfacies within the Nereites ichnofacies, typical of distal parts of the turbiditic depositional systems.
