A Paksi Atomerőmű telephelyének és környezetének mélyszerkezetéről, valamint az azt létrehozó tektonikai folyamatokról az 1980-as évek óta folyó célzott földtani és geofizikai kutatások már számos fontos eredményre jutottak, de néhány fontos kérdésben az ellentétes vélemények az elmúlt évekig fennmaradtak

Lake Balaton (Hungary), the largest lake in Central Europe, formed by the interplay of tectonic and external forces. Its shallow water and young soft sediments together allow to carry out ultra-high resolution reflection seismic surveys to investigate shallow tectonic structures and near surface stratigraphy at depth of ca. 0-30 m. To document neotectonics of the eastern lake basin and its onshore surroundings to the East, we have integrated new ultra-high-resolution seismic-reflection data with deeper penetrating multichannel lake and land seismic profiles, regional geological, geophysical and seismicity data, and geomorphological observations. Combined use of these different data sets provided an opportunity to understand better, how these different types and scales of structural features are linked. In our study area, late middle to late Miocene formations compose a deepening than shallowing sedimentary cycle from terrestrial clastic through offshore marl and deltaic sequence filling up the basin between ca. 8.6 to 7.5 Ma. The deltaic sequence is unconformably overlain by erosional remnants of late Pleistocene fluvial deposits and a mantle of latest Pleistocene to Holocene lake mud. Post-early Miocene deformation history involved two phases; a latest middle to early late Miocene transtension and a dominantly strike-slip regime with locally transpressional or transtensional character. The latter neotectonic phase reactivated the earlier faults and resulted in the propagation of 4 major fault zones across the complete late Miocene sequence. The resulting young faults show segmented geometry, stepovers, and connecting splays. The deformation also induced the modest but penetrative folding of the highest preserved Miocene deltaic sequence. The change in deformation style could happen during the late-stage of delta formation, at ca. 8 Ma although a slightly younger timing is not excluded. Faults imaged offshore apparently do not offset the Holocene lacustrine mud by discrete fractures, but the improved distribution map of recent seismicity and morphotectonic indices along their onshore continuations suggests that several segments of the fault pattern are still active, and might be capable of generating earthquakes. Integration of these different data provided an opportunity to understand better, how these different types and scales of structural features are linked and evolved one after another.

The so-called Transdanubian Conductivity Anomaly (TCA) of the Hungarian part of the NW Pannonian Basin has been well known for more than five decades. The exceptionally low resistivity (i.e. 1–2 Ωm) zone has a very large areal extent (on the order a few thousand km2) and it is an entirely subsurface anomaly occurring at depth between circa 3–15 km, with no corresponding outcrops. Various geological explanations of this enigmatic crustal-scale geophysical anomaly range from invoking sub-horizontal Alpine nappe contacts to sub-vertical dikes with graphite and/or saline fluid content. Only one possible analogue outcrop area was considered for the high conductivity anomaly so far, namely the Drauzug/Gailtal area of the Eastern Alps in Austria, some 300 km to the West from the TCA area. Previous attempts to find correspondence between the TCA and prominent seismic reflectors seen on 2D seismic reflection profiles were based on data acquired by research institutions. This study systematically correlates, for the first time, the TCA with 2D industry seismic reflection data in the same area. Our new results show a very strong correlation between the subsurface extent and location of the TCA with various sub-horizontally oriented Cretaceous Alpine nappe surfaces. In addition, we draw on the latest structural correlation of the Alpine nappe stack of the Transdanubian Range with its proper tectonic counterpart in the Eastern Alps.At the southern edge of the Upper Austroalpine units in northern Styria, in the Veitsch Nappe of the Greywacke Zone, numerous graphite localities are known historically. These laterally extensive graphite units in NW Styria formed as the result of greenschist-grade metamorphism of a Carboniferous coal sequence during the Cretaceous. For the first time, we describe here one well penetration of possibly age-equivalent graphitic units in NW Hungary. Correlation of the magnetotelluric anomaly with the distinct reflection seismic signature suggests that the same Palaeozoic graphitebearing Upper Austroalpine units should be present at 3–15 km depth in our study area.Therefore we propose that the best explanation for the observed extent and geometry of the TCA is the presence of graphite in subhorizontal, tectonically thinned detachment surfaces at the base of the Upper Austroalpine nappe edifice of NW Hungary

Very high-resolution, single channel (IKB-Seistec™) reflection profiles acquired offshore the Napoli Bay, complemented with geological and geophysical data from the literature, provide unprecedented, superb seismic imaging of the Latest Pleistocene-Holocene stratigraphic architecture of the submerged sectors Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius volcanic districts. Seismic profiles were calibrated by gravity core data and document a range of depositional systems, volcanic structures and hydrothermal features that evolved after the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 18 ka BP) over the continental shelf on the Campania coastal zone.Seistec profiles from the Pozzuoli Bay yield high-resolution images of the shallow structure of the collapse caldera-ring fault - resurgent dome system associated with the eruption of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (NYT) (ca 15 ka BP) and support a working hypothesis to assess the timing and the styles of deformation of the NYT resurgent structure throughout the Latest Quaternary. Seismic images also revealed the nature of the fragile deformation of strata along the NYT ring fault system and the occurrence of hydrothermal fluids and volcanic/sub-volcanic intrusions ascending along the ring fault zone. Seismic data acquired over the continental shelf off the Somma-Vesuvius stratovolcano, display evidence of gravitational instability of sand wave deposits originated by the underwater modification of pyroclastic flows that entered the seawater after destroying the Roman city of Herculaneum during the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius.At the Banco della Montagna, a hummocky seafloor knoll located between the Somma-Vesuvius and the Pozzuoli Bay, seismic profiles and gravity core data revealed the occurrence of a field of volcaniclastic diapirs formed by the dragging and rising up of unconsolidated pumice, as a consequence of fluid overpressure at depth associated with active degassing and fluid venting at the seafloor.

Tanulmányunkban a Kapos-vonal középső szakaszának legújabb geofizikai vizsgálatainak eredményeit tekintjük át. Munkánkkal tavaly ősszel elhunyt Kollégánk, Barátunk, Tanárunk és Mesterünk — Prof. Dr. Horváth Ferenc — emléke előtt tisztelgünk. A kutatási területen elérhető korábbi és újonnan mért 2D/3D reflexiós szeizmikus és fúrási adatok integrációjával komplex adatbázist alakítottunk ki, amelynek értelmezésével földtanilag és geometriailag egyaránt konzisztens, új 3D földtani-tektonikai modellt hoztunk létre. A modell a vizsgált terület földtani felépítésének alapvonásait szem előtt tartva öt meghatározó jelentőségű földtani horizont (prekainozoos aljzat-tető, alsó-miocén tető, középső-miocén tető, Endrődtető, Algyő-tető) és az értelmezett vetők téradatrendszerét tartalmazza. A kialakított 3D modell alapján elvégeztük a korábbi vizsgálatokkal nyert földtani-szerkezeti kép felülvizsgálatát, és azt szükség szerint módosítottuk, illetve pontosítottuk/kiegészítettük.A kutatás mélyföldtani szempontból legfontosabb eredményei közé tartozik a kristályos és mezozoos aljzat képződmények szerkezeti, elterjedési és kifejlődési viszonyainak reambulációja a lemélyült új szerkezetkutató fúrások és a szeizmikus adatrendszer integrált értelmezése alapján. Ugyancsak alapvető jelentőségű a markáns kora-miocén riftesedés kimutatása, amely során intenzív, többfázisú mészalkáli vulkáni működés, illetve egyidejű kontinen tális üledékképződés zajlott a létrejött, helyenként akár 2 km mélységű süllyedékekben. Mindez tágabb kontextusban a Pannon-medence korábban kevésbé ismert (és hangsúlyozott) kora-miocén kialakulási szakaszának jelentőségére hívja fel a figyelmet. A vetőtérképezés eredményei alapján a szűkebb kutatási terület meghatározó vetőzónái a KÉK–NyDNy-i csapású „Kapos-vonal”, továbbá az ÉK–DNy-i csapású Dunaszentgyörgy–Harta és az ezen kutatás során először térképezett Bonyhádi vetőzóna, amelyeket mind meredek dőlés (≥60–70°) jellemez. A Bonyhádi vetőzóna délnyugati irányban a Mecsek északi pikkelyzónájához csatlakozik. A terület szerkezeti képét összességében a fentiekkel többnyire (közel) párhuzamos törések uralják, míg az előbbiekre kb. merőleges ÉÉNy–DDK-i csapású, szerkezetileg kevésbé jelentős törések főként a Kapos-vonaltól délre jelentkeznek.Eredményeink alapján geometriai-szerkezeti értelemben egységes Kapos-vonal nem létezik: e vetőzóna a kutatási területen ugyanis egy nyugati („Kapos-Ny”) és egy keleti szegmensre („Kapos-K”) bontható, amelyek mind dőlés irányban, mind az észlelt neotektonikus aktivitásban — összhangban a korábbi szakirodalmi adatokkal — markánsan különböznek. A vizsgált területen élénk neotektonikus aktivitást mutató Kapos-K, Dunaszentgyörgy–Harta és Bonyhádi vetőrendszerek regionális léptékben egy ÉK–DNy-i és KÉK–NyDNy-i csapású elemekből felépülő, széles nyírási zónát körvonalaznak, amely a neotektonikus fázisban balos eltolódásként működött. Ezt igazolja az egyes vetőzónákban megfigyelt tipikus „virágszerkezetet” mutató belső struktúra, továbbá a kapcsolódó másodlagos formaelemek (Riedel-törések) is.A kialakított 3D modell eredményeinek figyelembevételével telepített nagyfelbontású 2D és pszeudo-3D sekélygeofizikai vizsgálatok, valamint az ezek eredményei alapján kijelölt árkolás és sekélyfúrások adatai bizonyították a Dunaszentgyörgy–Harta vetőzóna negyedidőszaki, sőt az árkolás eredményei szerint késő-negyedidőszaki aktivitását, hiszen a kutatóárokban feltárt késő-pleisztocén végi futóhomok tektonikus eredetű deformációja jelentkezett. A fiatalnegyedidőszaki tektonikai aktivitást a kutatási területen számos további korábbi, illetve a jelen kutatáshoz kapcsolódó, de e tanulmányban nem részletezett neotektonikai megfigyelés is alátámasztja. Mindezen eredmények a szak irodalomban a Kapos-vonal keleti szakaszáról (Duna–Tisza köze és Tiszántúl) közölt tektonikai adatokkal és értelmezésselteljes összhangban állnak.A tanulmányunkban ismertetett eredmények a Paks II földtani kutatási programjának (FKP) keretében 2015–2016 során elvégzett földtani-geofizikai kutatásokhoz kapcsolódnak.

The Pannonian Basin is an intraorogenic extensional region floored by a complex system of Alpine orogenic terranes and oceanic suture zones. Its formation dates back to the beginning of the Miocene, and initial fluvial-lacustrine deposits pass into shallow to open marine strata, including a large amount of calc-alkaline volcanic materials erupted during the culmination of the synrift phase. The onset of the postrift phase occurred during the Late Miocene, when the basin became isolated and a large Pannonian lake developed. Early lacustrine marls are overlain by turbiditic sandstones and silts related to a progradational shelf slope and a delta plain sequence passing upward into alluvial plain deposits and eolian sands. A remarkable nonconformity at the top of lacustrine strata associated with a significant (4–7 my) time gap at large parts of the basin documents a neotectonic phase of activity, manifested by regional strike-slip faulting and kilometer-scale differential vertical movements, with erosion and redeposition. Subsidence and burial history modeling indicate that Middle and Late Miocene, fairly organic-rich marine and lacustrine (respectively) shales entered into the oil-generation window at about the beginning of the Pliocene in depocenters deeper than 2.5–3 km, and even reached the wet to dry gas-generation zone at depths exceeding 4–4.5 km. Migration out of these kitchens has been going on since the latest Miocene toward basement highs, where anticlines and flower structures offered adequate trapping conditions for hydrocarbons. We argue that compaction of thick sedimentary piles, in addition to neotectonic structures, has also been important in trap formation within the Pannonian Basin.

Lake-floor morphologies may be significantly different from seafloor topographies of other basins, typically observed in passive or active continental margins. The bathymetry of large paleo-lakes is often overwritten by subsequent tectonic evolution, burial beneath thick overburden and inherent compaction effects. We study the evolution of such an initial underfilled, balance fill and finally overfilled large paleo-lake basin by the interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic data set corroborated with calibrating wells in the example of the Neogene Pannonian Basin of Central Europe. Lake Pannon persisted for about 7–8Myr and was progressively filled by clastic material sourced by the surrounding mountain chains and transported by large rivers, such as the paleo-Danube and paleo-Tisza. We combined sedimentological observations with a backstripping methodology facilitated by well lithology and porosity data to gradually remove the sediment overburden. This approach has resulted in a morphological reconstruction of the former depositional surfaces with special focus on the prograding shelf-margin slopes. Our calculations show that the water depth of the lake was more than 1000m in the deepest sub-basins of the Great Hungarian Plain of the Pannonian Basin. The significant compaction associated with lateral variations of Neogene sediment thicknesses has created non-tectonic normal fault offsets and folds. These features have important effects on fluid migration and hydrocarbon trapping. We furthermore compare the geometries and effects of such non-tectonic features with the activity of larger offset sinistral strike-slip zones using 3D seismic attributes.

Hungary is one of the most suitable countries in Europe for geothermal development, as a result of large amounts of Miocene extension and associated thermal attenuation of the lithosphere. For geothermal exploration, it is crucial to have an insight into the subsurface temperature distribution.

Three-dimensional geophysical modelling of the early Late Miocene Pásztori volcano (ca. 11–10 Ma) and adjacent area in the Little Hungarian Plain Volcanic Field of the Danube Basin was carried out to get an insight into the most prominent intra-crustal structures here. We have used gridded gravity and magnetic data, interpreted seismic reflection sections and borehole data combined with re-evaluated geological constraints. Based on petrological analysis of core samples from available six exploration boreholes, the volcanic rocks consist of a series of alkaline trachytic and trachyandesitic volcanoclastic and effusive rocks. The measured magnetic susceptibilities of these samples are generally very low suggesting a deeper magnetic source. The age of the modelled Pásztori volcano, buried beneath a 2 km-thick Late Miocene-to-Quaternary sedimentary sequence, is 10.4 +/− 0.3 Ma belonging to the dominantly normal C5 chron. Our model includes crustal domains with different effective induced magnetizations and densities: uppermost 0.3–1.8 km thick layer of volcanoclastics underlain by a trachytic-trachyandesitic coherent and volcanoclastic rock units of a maximum 2 km thickness, with a top situated at minimal depth of 2.3 km, and a deeper magmatic pluton in a depth range of 5–15 km. The 3D model of the Danube Basin is consistent with observed high ΔZ magnetic anomalies above the volcano, while the observed Bouguer gravity anomalies correlate better with the crystalline basement depth. Our analysis contributes to deeper understanding of the crustal architecture and the evolution of the basin accompanied by alkaline intraplate volcanism.

The evolution of sedimentary basins and their thermal structure are the result of the coupling between shallow crustal and deep lithospheric - mantle processes. When sources of shallow crustal deformation are not detectable, then deep lithospheric processes have the role to reveal the origin of these events. A particular method of investigating these deep processes is to evaluate their lithospheric thermal imprint, in particular when anomalous thermal values are exhibited. One such example is the Transylvanian Basin situated at the interior of the highly bended Carpathians chain, which shows lower heat flow values when compared with average cratonic values and even lower when compared with the neighbouring Pannonian extensional basin. The basin architecture suggests that a deep lithospheric - asthenospheric mechanism is responsible for Middle – Late Miocene subsidence, coeval with phases of Carpathian collision. The interplay between upper crustal evolution and deep lithospheric mechanics is investigated by means of 2D lithospheric-scaled heat flow modelling, simulating the present-day thermal regime of the basin. The heat flow correction for transient effects shows the great importance of paleoclimate and sedimentation during the evolution of the basin, calculated values being ~20% higher when compared with measured heat flow. The modelling implies that the low values of heat flow are the result of a combination of thermal effects of Middle – Upper Miocene sedimentation and the presence of depleted rocks in the basin basement, with their thickness dependent on the amount of enrichment in felsic magmatism during their evolution in a supra-subduction zone. The observations infer a thinned lower part of the mantle during the Miocene evolution of the basin, but the lithosphere thermal time constant suggests such changes do not affect the thermal regime at present day. Larger effects in the SE part of the basin are likely driven by the recent asthenospheric uplift due to the Vrancea slab descent.

The architecture of sedimentary basins reflects the relationship between accommodation space and sediment supply, their rates and localization being variable during basin evolution. A novel kinematic and seismic sequence stratigraphic interpretation calibrated by wells allows the quantification of the link between the formation of half-grabens and coeval sedimentation in the Great Hungarian Plain part of the basin. While the lower order tectonic induced cycles characterize the main phases of extension in various sub-basins, the higher order cyclicity and associated unconformities define individual moments of fault (re-)activation. The combined kinematic and depositional model at the scale of the entire basin infers that the cumulated amounts of Early to Late Miocene extension were much higher than previously thought, reaching about 220-290 km.

A Balaton-környéki fúrások, feltárások és a nagyfelbontású vízi szeizmikus szelvények által leképezett üledékek közötti rétegtani korreláció közel 30 éve képezi kutatások tárgyát. A parti és víz alatti rétegsor illesztésére elsőként Sacchi et al. (1998, 1999) adtak korrelációs javaslatot, amely szerint a Tihanyi‑félsziget kovás, édesvízi mészkövei (Lóczy (1913) gejzíritjei) a Balaton alatt is megtalálhatók, és ott mint jellegzetesen nagy amplitúdójú reflexiókkal határolt buckás alakzatok ismerhetők fel. A szeizmikus szelvényeken a buckás alakzatok által kijelölt felszínt egy harmadrendű pannóniai szekvenciahatárként (Pan-2) értelmezték. A fenti értelmezés ellenőrzésére mederfúrást végeztünk a Balaton keleti medencéjében, és magmintát vettünk a kérdéses rétegtani szintben elhelyezkedő egyik buckából, és néhány méter vastagságban az alatta lévő rétegekből. A fúrás a tihanyi Fehérpart rétegeihez hasonló, agyagos-homokos képződményeket harántolt, vagyis nem támasztja alá Sacchi et al. (1999) felvetését. Az agyagos képződményekből álló buckákat szeizmikus geometriájuk tükrében olyan csuszamlási szerkezetekként értelmezzük, melyek a területet feltöltő progradáló deltalebenyek előterében keletkeztek, mintegy 8,4‑8,7 millió éve a Lymnocardium decorum biokronban. A fúrómagon végzett természetes gamma-intenzitás, mágneses szuszceptibilitás mérések és üledékföldtani vizsgálatok eredményeit a vízi szeizmikus szelvényekkel összevetetve sikerült azonosítani a csuszamlásos szerkezetek talpát is. Ez a szeizmikus felület egy molluszka-töredékekkel és centiméteres üledékes deformációkkal jellemezhető réteg, amelyhez a természetes gamma- és a mágneses szuszceptibilitás szelvényekben is észlelhető változás társul. A fúrás harántolta a Pan-2 horizontot is, amely a rétegsorban a mélyebben fekvő homokos és a rátelepülő agyagos képződmények éles határaként jelentkezik. E határ alatti üledékek a Be-izotópos koradatok és reverz mágneses polaritásuk alapján a C4Ar (9,1-9,8 Ma) kronban keletkezhettek, tehát úgy tűnik sokkal idősebbek, mint a korábban Horváth et al. (2010) által becsült 7,9 millió év.

Strike-slip tectonics has been the dominant style of deformation during the neotectonic (Pliocene and Quaternary) evolution of the Pannonian basin. Main faults are exposed in the “island mountains” of the basin, but strike-slip tectonic features can be best studied in the basin fill by seismic data. Lake Balaton offers the opportunity to carry out high to ultra-high-resolution seismo-acoustic surveys to image stratigraphic and tectonic features in the central part of the Pannonian basin. Several campaigns in the lake using different acquisition techniques have resulted in more than 2000-km seismo-acoustic profiles with a range of resolutions and penetration depths. Interpretation of faults and folds shows a few kilometers wide shear zone below the lake in Late Miocene–Pliocene strata. This zone can be identified as the continuation of the Balatonfő line known onshore to the east of the lake. Mapping revealed a set of duplex structures and highlighted the importance of this shear zone in the formation of Lake Balaton. Comparison of our results to analogue clay models suggests that the observed shear zone is sinistral and the horizontal displacement is on the order of hundreds of meters. Looking at 3D industrial seismic data to the south of the lake, we suggest that the first-order Balaton line, which represents the continuation of Periadriatic line, is also sinistral and characterized by small horizontal displacement of about 1.0–1.5 km during Pliocene and Quaternary times. This indicates a 0.2–0.3 mm/year average slip rate, which is compatible with recent GPS measurements.

(1) Department of Geophysics and Space Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary (a.balazs@uu.nl), (2) Netherlands Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Science, Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht, Netherlands, (3) MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., Budapest, Hungary, (4) Research Group for Paleontology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences-Hungarian Natural History Museum-Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, (5) Geomega Geological Research and Environmental Services Ltd., Budapest, Hungary