The Pannonian Basin in Central and Southeastern Europe is a huge landlocked basin delineated by Alpine-Carpathian-Dinarides chain. This extensional backarc basin originating by tectonic rifting at about 18 Ma, was successively flooded by the Central Paratethys Sea. The Slovenian Corridor along the Alpine-Dinarides junction enabled its communication with the Mediterranean Sea. Marine flooding along the southern margin of the Pannonian Basin - between the Styrian Basin in Austria and Velika Morava Basin in Serbia - is still poorly understood. While the conflicting biostratigraphic interpretations contribute to ongoing discussions on the timing and mode of this major environmental turnover, independent radiometric data are still rare. The present study contributes three new U-Pb zircon ages which are the very first such data on the Miocene marine transgression in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Datings from primary volcaniclastic deposits prove the middle Badenian age for marine transgression uniformly, with a 0.5 Ma eastwards-younging trend of its onset, dated at 14.6 Ma in Prnjavor Basin and at 14.1 Ma in the Tuzla Basin. This trend stays in line with the literature data suggesting a steady eastwards propagation of extension along the Pannonian Basin southern margin. Towards a better understanding of the interplay between tectonic and glacioeustatic forcing of the regional marine progression, a review of published stratigraphic data has been conducted, depicted correspondingly in four paleogeographic maps of similar to 1-Myr resolution. Building on these data, we bracket the initial gradual flooding interval to the late Burdigalian-early Serravallian (17 to 13.5 Ma) time interval, respectively, attaining up to 3.5 Myr overall duration in a step-wise manner. We infer fault growth and linkage as mechanisms controlling the hydrological pathways and thereby the direction of the transgression. This implies a transgression direction oblique to the main regional extensional direction. In some cases, local stress changes may lead to formation of sea pathways/gates opposite to the direction of extension. Although the tectonic phases were the main drivers in the creation of accommodation space, along the NE Dinarides, glacioeustasy driven by the global climate suspended the landward propagation of the coastline during sea-level low-stands at long obliquity nodes.

The Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT) was a period of increased global aridity marked by reinforced evaporation and suppressed precipitation, respectively. While this aligns with general terrestrial paleoclimatic trends in Europe, the influence of land-vs-sea distribution and mountain building on regional climatic variability remains understudied. In particular, existing research suggests that southeastern Europe experienced pronounced aridity in the Miocene, linked to a rain shadow caused by the uplift of the Dinarides. However, poor age constraints hamper the establishment of clear causal relationships. In this work, we investigate how regional tectonic processes modulated global climatic trends in southeastern Europe. We conducted a sedimentologicl analysis of the basin fill and U-Pb zircon dating of intercalated volcaniclastic deposits in the Valjevo-Mionica Basin in western Serbia, allowing us to correlate the basin evolution with global and regional climatic forcing mechanisms. Our results reveal significant lake expansion between 14.1 and 13.5 Ma, which suggests a rise in precipitation coeval with the tectonically driven expansion of the Central Paratethys. A subsequent phase of progressive aridification occurred between 13.5 and 12.1 Ma. We correlate this with continued global cooling following the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition, consistent with an intensification of the rain-shadow effect in the Dinarides driven by changes in atmospheric circulation patterns.

Abstract The supercontinentPangeaattainedits maximumsize with land masses being equally distributed on both hemispheres during the Triassic. The peculiar configuration of continents gave rise to the largest monsoon system of Earth’s history, termed Pangean Megamonsoon (PMM). This monsoon system peaked around 234–232 Myr during the Carnian Pluvial Episode, a short-lived period of strongly increased precipitation. We present a section from the Reifling Basin in Austria (Northern Calcareous Alps, central Europe), which formed at that time along the northwestern margin of the Tethys Realm. The record documents a strong modulation of the PMM on millennial and centennial scales over ~215 kyr of early Carnian time. Precessional modulation is expressed in alternations between phases of predominant summer monsoon and phases of strong winter monsoon. Moist landward directed southerlies resulted in increased runoff and strengthened coastalupwelling during summer monsoon. Both mechanisms boosted primary productivity and caused severe bottom water anoxia. Dry northerlies forced downwelling and bottom water ventilation during winter monsoon. Monsoon intensity was also governed by solar cycles. These cycles were not strong enough to initiate downwelling but are expressed by strongly reduced terrestrial input during phases of predominating winter monsoon.

In the Dinarides, a series of long-lived lakes, known as the Dinarides Lake System (DLS) developed during the Miocene. The Sinj Basin, situated in southern Croatia, is one of the best studied among them, providing valuable insights into the paleogeographic evolution of the region. Previous research established a chronostratigraphic framework in the NW part of the basin using paleomagnetic data calibrated by 40Ar/39Ar dating. Subsequent studies demonstrated that lacustrine flooding was diachronous. However, the influence of the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO) or the regional Miocene extensional tectonics is still debated. This study provides new constraints on the evolution of the Sinj Basin by integrating previous dating results with new LA–ICP–MS U–Pb–zircon dating of volcaniclastic and residual deposits from the NW, central, and SE parts of the basin. The obtained U-Pb ages range between 17.7 and 15.3 Ma and provide new constraints on the timing of initial lacustrine flooding. Correlation with the MCO suggests a close relationship between climate change and lacustrine development. Lake-level falls reflected by conglomerates and coals deposited in marginal and more distal parts of the basin, respectively, suggest environmental instability after 15.3 Ma, towards the end of the MCO. Detrital zircon grains reveal a wide spectrum of ages from the Neoproterozoic to the Early Miocene, suggesting multiple redeposition cycles, starting with the Cadomian and Variscan orogenies, followed by Cretaceous–Oligocene uplift of the Dinarides, and the recycling of foreland basin deposits into the Miocene Sinj Basin. Finally, this study demonstrates the usefulness of LA–ICP–MS U–Pb dating for the reconstruction and correlation of isolated intramontane basins.

Mountain building can strongly influence regional climate by modifying atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns. While such interactions are well documented in major mountain ranges such as the Himalayas and the Andes, their significance in lower ranges remains less well constrained. This work is focused on testing whether the Dinarides modified the regional climate and caused an orographic rain-shadow effect in the Miocene. Previous studies have suggested the existence of contrasting humid and arid environments across the mountain range during this time, accompanied by marked differences in lake development and faunal distribution. However, limited geochronological constraints from the eastern flank of the Dinarides have hindered regional correlations between intramontane basins and mechanisms driving paleoenvironmental variations. Here, we integrate sedimentological, geochronological and paleontological observations from Miocene lacustrine successions across the Dinarides to reconstruct paleoclimatic patterns and their relationship with regional tectonics.Field investigations were conducted at key successions in western Serbia, focusing on reconstruction of depositional environments through sedimentological observations, and sampling of intercalated volcanic ash layers. From these, zircons were extracted and U-Pb dating was performed by means of LA-ICP-MS. Our results reveal the coeval development of contrasting lake systems during the Middle Miocene. Freshwater lakes dominated the western flank of the Dinarides, facing the Adriatic Sea, whereas saline-type lakes characterized the eastern flank.We interpret these observations as evidence for a pronounced climatic gradient across the Dinarides during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. The results support the hypothesis that the Dinarides topography acted as an orographic barrier that intercepted moisture-bearing westerly air masses, resulting in enhanced humidity on the windward side and increased aridity on the lee side of the range. At the same time, the magnitude and persistence of these climatic contrasts may have been modulated by global climate change, changes in regional land vs sea distribution, and hydrological changes. Our findings suggest that even relatively modest mountain belts can exert a significant influence on regional climatic development, comparable to patterns observed in larger orogenic systems.

We present volcanological, geochronological, and geochemical evidence suggesting that the Miocene Tar-Jato "middle tuffs" in the North Pannonian Basin all belong to the same volcanic system that produced multiple silicic explosive eruptions. These eruptions probably originated from a caldera (now buried under the Pannonian Basin) during a period around 15 Ma. Based on Bayesian age modelling of the dated ignimbrite horizons, the recorded eruptive activity lasted for 300-500 kyr between c. 15.3-14.9 Ma. Such prolonged, multi-episodic ignimbrite volcanism is considered unique in the region, as similar eruptive sequences of a single system have not been previously documented. The Tar-Jato eruptions deposited mostly successive ignimbrites with a total preserved thicknesses of up to 200 m. They were fuelled by geochemically nearly homogeneous magma, which nevertheless differs from any other ignimbrite in the Pannonian Basin and thus provides a distinguishable marker horizon. The vertically varying FeO content of the ignimbrites, together with locally interbedded epiclastic layers, is consistent with the extended duration of the volcanism, which probably occurred in three subsequent series, characterized by low, hybrid and high FeO content, respectively. This conclusion contrasts with a single eruption phase proposed earlier and dated at 14.9 Ma; we suggest that this age represents only the youngest eruption series. Trace-element geochemistry shows the southward distribution of this presumably youngest unit, as it correlates with the 14.9 Ma Plaz tuff (Mt. Medvednica, Croatia), located 300 km of the reconstructed source vent. On the other hand, the slightly younger (14.8 Ma) Bidrovec tuff also from Mt. Medvednica correlates with the Tibolddaroc tuff (14.7 Ma) in the North Pannonian Basin. Other definite distal counterparts of the Tar-Jato tuffs remain unknown. Comparative trace-element geochemistry also demonstrates that the Tar-Jato tuffs cannot be correlated with the 15.3-15.4 Ma tuffs widespread across the western-southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin System and the Dinarides (e.g., Kuchyna, Lucane-1, Gacko, and Pozeska gora tuffs).

Study region: Streams in the Dinarides ranging from coastal Croatia across the high-elevation basins of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the lee of the Dinarides. Study focus: The topographic evolution of the Dinarides is poorly-constrained and its controlling geodynamic mechanisms remain unclear. The oxygen-isotope composition (delta O-18) of authigenic minerals is a common paleo-altimeter for reconstructing past topography, proper interpretation requires thorough constraints on mechanisms modifying modern meteoric-water delta O-18. To constrain modern delta O-18 patterns across the Dinarides, we collected new stream samples and integrated them with published water stable isotope data. New hydrological insights for the region: Meteoric-water data show delta O-18 is higher at the coast (similar to-6 parts per thousand) and lower at the peak (similar to-11 parts per thousand). We use moisture trajectory models to show isotopic patterns across the Dinarides reflect two distinct moisture sources. The dominant source of moisture on the windward side originates from the Mediterranean and the leeward side has a continental source. This difference in moisture sources is reflected in d-excess values, which are high along the windward margin-reflective of Mediterranean moisture-and low in the lee, reflective of summertime, continental-sourced moisture. We interpret orographic rainout as the primary-driver of modern precipitation and surface water delta O-18 with secondary influences from moisture sources and precipitation seasonality. Our findings have implications for understanding the climatic processes that deliver moisture as well as our understanding of the past topography of the Dinarides.

Intramontane basins serve as exceptional archives of long-term climate, depositional and environmental changes. Additionally, these basins are biodiversity hotspots, harboring freshwater lacustrine fauna, making them invaluable for studying the interplay between paleoenvironmental dynamics and evolutionary processes.During Miocene, a multitude of intramontane basins emerged within the Dinarides mountain range. The basins were filled with a series of long-lived lakes, hosting endemic lacustrine fauna significant for understanding Neogene paleoenvironments and paleogeography. Two freshwater systems, representing distinct paleobiogeographic entities, occupied areas corresponding to present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dinarides Lake System, DLS) and Serbia, Kosovo, and North Macedonia (Serbian Lake System, SLS). Faunal samples were collected from various localities within the DLS and a single locality in the SLS. Within the DLS, key sites include the Kupres, Livno, and Tomislavgrad basins in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas the samples retrieved from the SLS belong to the Valjevo-Mionica Basin in western Serbia.This research aims to comprehensively revise and provide detailed taxonomic descriptions of the freshwater benthic assemblages from both the DLS and SLS. Comparative analysis of ostracod and mollusk compositions has been used to investigate evolutionary connections between species in these intramontane lacustrine systems. The ostracod fauna is of particular interest due to the absence of in-depth descriptions and detailed figures. In contrast, mollusk assemblages have been thoroughly revised and described in previous publications. Correlation within the DLS is based on ostracod and mollusk samples from the Table section (Livno Basin), the Kongora section (Tomislavgrad Basin), and the Fatelj section (Kupres Basin). A taxonomic analysis was conducted using samples from the Ribnica section of the Valjevo-Mionica Basin to compare this fauna with that of the SLS.The future direction of this research involves expanding comparative taxonomic analyses with other Neogene long-lived lakes, aiming to provide deeper insights into evolutionary patterns and further our understanding of faunal developments.

During the late Middle – Late Miocene, the large epicontinental Paratethys Sea that occupied the vast territory of West Eurasia’s interior underwent a remarkable hydrological transformation. At 12.6 Ma, driven by the interplay between the climatically controlled basin water budget and tectonically controlled gateway dynamics, the Paratethys became hydrologically isolated from the global ocean. During the following Sarmatian s.l. Stage (12.65 – 7.6 Ma), the largest eastern branch of the Paratethys – The Eastern Paratethys – became an endorheic basin with the hydrological balance being primarily controlled by the climate (ratio of evaporation/precipitation). Variations in the hydrological balance affected water chemistry, leading to a high level of aquatic ecosystem endemism/radiation and later to their extinction. Despite relatively well-documented trends of biotic evolution in the Sarmatian s.l., aspects such as comprehensive age constraints, (substage) biozonation, and depositional characteristics of strong water-level fluctuations are still missing. This gap of knowledge complicates interregional paleo(bio)geographic, tectonic, and paleoenvironmental studies of the five million-year-long portion of West Eurasian history. In this study, we present the results of our multidisciplinary research project dedicated to geochronology, biostratigraphy, environmental evolution, and dynamics/response of the biotic record of the Eastern Paratethys during the Sarmatian s.l. The periods (i.e. stages) prior to (Konkian) and after (Maeotian) the isolation have been also considered in this study to provide a complete picture of the basin’s hydrological transformation. Three representative sections, located in the Caspian Sea, Transcaucasian Strait and the Black Sea covering the Konkian – Sarmatian s.l. – lower Maoetian, have been studied. Systematic sampling of the sections for magnetostratigraphy, mollusk, ostracod, foraminifera and nannofossils allowed to create a consecutive and well-dated biotic record and enabled evaluation of the synchronicity of the biozones in different parts and depositional settings of the basin. Moreover, the marine vertebrate fauna (fishes, marine mammals) across the Konkian-Maeotian has also been documented and studied. Our data provides integrated stratigraphic constraints of the Serravallian-Tortonian of the Eastern Paratethys and completes the so far missing ages of the Sarmatian s.l. substages and biozones. Further, the reconstruction of depositional environments of the Eastern Paratethys during the Sarmatian s.l., especially for the Caspian Basin part, helped to understand the scale of the extreme Sarmatian s.l. water level oscillations. Integration of the age model, depositional setting and marine vertebrate faunal record suggest a very diverse and abundant fish and marine mammalian fauna in the Volynian (early Sarmatian s.l.), which, however, gradually decrease in the Bessarabian (middle Sarmatian s.l.) and entirely vanishes by the end of the Khersonian (late Sarmatian s.l.).

The hydrological connectivity of semi-isolated basins with the global ocean drives remarkable ecosystem turnover and regional climate shifts, making palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrological studies of the epicontinental basins of high relevance. During the late Middle-Late Miocene, the Paratethys Sea, which occupied vast areas of the West Eurasian Interior, underwent a notable hydrological isolation from the global ocean. Between 12.65 and 7.65 Ma, the Paratethys experienced significant water level fluctuations and eventually near-total ecosystem collapse. The causes and timing of these hydrological and biotic changes remain unclear, especially in the understudied Caspian Sea region. Our study presents an integrated stratigraphic framework of the 136-m-thick Karagiye section on the east coast of the Caspian Sea (Mangystau region, Kazakhstan). The fauna-rich deposits document the pre- (Konkian), syn- (Volhynian, Bessarabian and Khersonian) and post-isolation (Maeotian) phases of Paratethys evolution at its eastern margin. We reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental history of the Caspian Basin by combining palaeomagnetic dating with biostratigraphic analyses of microfauna, molluscs, marine vertebrates and calcareous nannoplankton. Our key findings in the studied section include: 1. Konkian (incomplete): Open lagoonal environments with restricted connectivity to the global ocean in the early Konkian followed by a middle Konkian faunal influx and establishment of normal marine environments; 2. Volhynian (incomplete, 12.3-12.05 Ma): Onset of Paratethys hydrological isolation with marginal lagoonal environments, new endemic species, plus rare surviving Konkian taxa; 3. Bessarabian (12.05-9.9 Ma): Transgression and offshore setting at similar to 12.05 Ma with maximum flooding at 11.6 Ma and Intra-Bessarabian Carbonate Surge at similar to 10.7 Ma, followed by upper Bessarabian (10.7-9.9 Ma) carbonate platform interior settings; 4. Khersonian (9.9-7.65 Ma): Khersonian Ecological Crisis, carbonate platform to backshore environments with hiatus between 9.5 and similar to 8.0 Ma representing an extreme lowstand. 5. Maeotian (incomplete 7.65-7.0 Ma): Transgression at 7.65 Ma, followed by a delayed invasion of Maeotian faunas at 7.5 Ma, linked to the reconnection of the Caspian Basin with the rest of the Eastern Paratethys. The well-dated biotic record of Karagiye enhances understanding of Paratethyan hydrological and ecological events in the Caspian Basin and provides a foundation for further palaeoclimatic and palaeobiogeographic studies across Eurasia.

The Dinaric Alps formed as a result of the collision between the Adria microplate with Eurasia during ongoing closure of the Tethys Ocean. However, there remain a number of questions regarding the mechanisms that created and sustained the high topography (maximum modern elevation of ~2500 m) of this region. We take advantage of a series of lacustrine basins—known as the Dinaride Lake System (DLS)—that formed in the Early and Middle Miocene to constrain paleo-elevations of the Dinaric Alps using stable isotope paleoaltimetry. We collected authigenic lacustrine carbonate samples from six basins in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina that span the range from sea-level to high-elevation (~1200 m) and measured these samples for δ18O. In addition, we also collected stream samples that span the range to constrain the modern change in δ18O across the Dinaric Alps. Stable-isotope paleoaltimetry is based on the concept that, as moist air parcels are forced upwards by orography, 18O is preferentially removed by the resulting precipitation, resulting in lower δ18O at higher-elevations and in the lee of ranges. Today, meteoric water δ18O is high (~ -6‰) at the coast and is ~5‰ lower at the crest of the range (~ -11‰). However, Middle Miocene lacustrine carbonate δ18O is high (~ -3‰) at the crest of the range and lower (~ -6‰) at the coast. Because lacustrine carbonate δ18O is frequently impacted by evaporation, we analyzed a subset of our samples for Δ17O, which is sensitive to the degree of evaporation. These carbonates have Δ17O values ranging from -68 to -150 per meg. Using our Δ17O data and a model of lake evaporation, we reconstruct the unevaporated meteoric water δ18O. Our preliminary results show a similar trend as in the modern, with higher δ18O values at the coast and lower δ18O at the crest of the range. Reconstructed unevaporated meteoric water δ18O at the crest is lower by 2-5‰ than modern water δ18O at the crest of the Dinaric Alps. That unevaporated meteoric water δ18O might have been lower than today at the crest of the range suggest that the Dinaric Alps were higher in the Middle Miocene that today, assuming that coastal meteoric water δ18O was similar to today. Thus, ongoing extension within the Dinaric Alps due to slab rollback may be responsible for lowering of topography.

Abstract The Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO, ~ 17–14 Ma) was a time of extraordinary marine biodiversity in the Circum-Mediterranean Region. This boom is best recorded in the deposits of the vanished Central Paratethys Sea, which covered large parts of central to southeastern Europe. This sea harbored an extraordinary tropical to subtropical biotic diversity. Here, we present a georeferenced dataset of 859 gastropod species and discuss geodynamics and climate as the main drivers to explain the changes in diversity. The tectonic reorganization around the Early/Middle Miocene boundary resulted in the formation of an archipelago-like landscape and favorable conditions of the MCO allowed the establishment of coral reefs. Both factors increased habitat heterogeneity, which boosted species richness. The subsequent cooling during the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (~ 14–13 Ma) caused a drastic decline in biodiversity of about 67%. Among the most severely hit groups were corallivorous gastropods, reflecting the loss of coral reefs. Deep-water faunas experienced a loss by 57% of the species due to changing patterns in circulation. The low sea level led to a biogeographic fragmentation reflected in higher turnover rates. The largest turnover occurred with the onset of the Sarmatian when bottom water dysoxia eradicated the deep-water fauna whilst surface waters-dwelling planktotrophic species underwent a crisis.

We present a detailed description of the Middle Miocene (Chokrakian and Karaganian) depositional environments of the Eastern Paratethys Sea in the southern Caspian Basin. The Chokrakian comprises a 500-m-thick succession of marls and sandstones, termed herein Javarem Formation, which formed in coastal marine environments. The lower Javarem Fm. Developed in calm lagoonal settings, indicating frequent exposure under a predominantly dry climate and occasional formation of evaporites. The upper part of the Javarem Fm. Is characterized by mixed siliciclastic-carbonatic sediments with ooids of agitated, warm, hypersaline tidal shoals. Above follows the about 500-m-thick Vashi Formation, which is correlated with the Karaganian regional stage. The formation is characterized by an alternation of reddish marls with thick sandstones and gravel beds with terrestrial gastropods, ubiquitous pedogenetic features and occasional root horizons. The depositional environment is interpreted as a floodplain with gravelly channels of an arid to semiarid climate. The successions of the Javarem and Vashi formations capture the transition from the shallow marine Iranian shelf into the northern Iranian coastal plain around 13.8 Ma, following the onset of the Miocene Climate Transition and the coinciding global sea level drop around the Langhian/Serravallian boundary. Graphical abstract

Ascidians, or sea squirts, are sac-like sessile tunicates commonly found in modern seas. Although the oldest ascidians, or at least ascidian-like tunicates, are mid-Cambrian in age, the quality of the ascidian fossil record is extraordinarily poor. It mostly consists of isolated finds or low-diversity assemblages, often represented by mineral spicules. Our study reports the world's most diverse assemblage of ascidian spicules, originating from the Middle Miocene Bogutovo Selo near Ugljevik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This material includes 31 spicule types, with four assignable to species (Lissoclinum cf. perforatum, Polysyncraton cf. bilobatum, Didemnum cf. vexillum and D. cf. leopardi) and 10 to genera, all belonging to aplousobranchiate ascidians. Comparing our findings with those of two other studies that use modern biological nomenclature, our assemblage shows a closer resemblance to the distant Eocene Australian assemblage than to the Miocene ascidians from Eastern Paratethys. This suggests the persistence of a once-homogeneous and widely distributed Eocene fauna into the Miocene, while the Eastern Paratethyan basin developed an endemic fauna after the isolation of Eastern Paratethys from the open sea. Some taxa of our assemblage currently inhabit the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery of one species in distant South African waters suggests that tectonic and environmental changes during the Late Miocene, including the closure of the Gibraltar Strait and prior disconnection from the Indian Ocean, may have limited its survival to remote refugia. The study underscores the importance of including spicules in reconstructing ascidian faunas in the geological past, an area that has been surprisingly understudied.

In the Early to Middle Miocene, the post‐orogenic intramontane lacustrine Sinj Basin that belonged to the Dinarides Lake System evolved in the area of the External Dinarides. A composite 770 m thick stratigraphic column was measured spanning the basin's stratigraphy. Eight facies were differentiated. Four facies are almost entirely composed of freshwater carbonate deposits. Carbonate facies are divided into calcareous mudstone, charophytic micritic limestone, calcisiltite and coquina facies. They are interpreted to belong to a prograding carbonate bench on a gently inclined lake margin. In addition, tuff/clays, carbonate conglomerate, carbonate breccia and coal were differentiated. The tuff/clays are the result of remote volcanic eruptions, while the coarse‐grained sediments belong to subaqueous shallow stream channels or were deposited by gravity flows. The coal at the top of the measured succession, mostly of allochthonous origin, was deposited as a fen forest peat, representing the final stage of the lake. The formation of the Sinj Basin might have been triggered by dissolution of Permo‐Triassic evaporites, within the mostly carbonate basement but also by breakdown and collapse of Mesozoic and Palaeogene carbonate rocks and coalescence of contiguous sinkholes. The non‐tectonic interpretation of the basin genesis is a novel hypothesis explaining the origin of one of the Dinarides intramontane basins and is in contrast to previous considerations that evolution of the Sinj Basin was controlled by strike‐slip or extensional tectonics.

We present XRF-based element data and magnetic susceptibility measurements of a 60-m-long core of Upper Miocene deposits of Lake Pannon from the Vienna Basin (Austria). The deposits formed during the Tortonian Thermal Maximum, which was a global warming event during the Late Miocene. Statistically significant cyclicities occur in all records centering around -22 m, -12 m, -10 m, -7.2 m and -1.5 m. The modulation of the -12-m-cycle is strikingly similar to that of the precession band between 10.45 and 10.34 Ma and is used herein as hypothetical tie point for tuning. Consequently, the -22-m-cycle is interpreted as an expression of the obliquity cycle. This hypothetical correlation lacks a tie point by absolute dating but is supported by the resulting sedimentation rate of 0.53 m/kyr, which is well in the range of published data. Moreover, the expected phase relations between the assumed precession and obliquity signals fit excellently with the observed paleoenvironmental data. Obliquity is reflected by changes in sediment input and lake level oscillations. Obliquity maxima coincided with increased input of coarser sediment and enhanced lake bottom oxygenation, whereas pelitic sedimentation and lake bottom anoxia prevailed during obliquity minima. Precession is reflected by shifts in precipitation. Maxima in lake productivity, indicated by phytoplankton blooms and a high abundance of ostracods, occurred during precession minima. The striking cyclicity in the Ca/Ti and Rb/Sr ratios suggests a periodic interplay of two source areas. Increased runoff from the Calcareous Alps, drained via the Paleo-Liesing river, occurred during precession minima, whereas siliciclastic input from the Rhenodanubian Flysch Unit via the Paleo-Wien river prevailed during precession maxima. The maximum of freshwater influx occurred during an obliquity maximum coinciding with a precession minimum, which agrees with model data and other geological records in the Circum-Mediterranean region. The shortest cycle potentially represents the Hallstatt cycle, which was already detected in other records of Lake Pannon and is a further anchor to link sub-Milankovitch cycles with astronomical cycles in Lake Pannon deposits.

The Croatian Natural History Museum (CNHM) houses rich fossil collections from the Neogene deposits of Northern Croatia, comprising numerous scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae). During the Middle Miocene (Badenian = Langhian and early Serravallian), this region was located at the southwestern margin of the Central Paratethys. The value of the CNHM’s historical collections has been presented through taxonomic revisions and biostratigraphic, paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic study. Methods included the cross-checking of specimens from museum boxes with all available published data, systematic revision of scallops, recording the abundance of each taxon, defining the preservation state of the specimens, measuring the morphometric elements and taking photographs of each specimen. After the conducted revision of 624 specimens, the number of registered taxa in the collections was reduced from 52 to 33, and their stratigraphic distribution has been updated. The species Lissochlamys excisa (Bronn, 1831) has been recorded for the first time at the southwestern part of the Central Paratethys. The southernmost Badenian record of Delectopecten vitreus (Gmelin, 1791) known so far has been described. Six types of pectinid habitats have been distinguished, based on the provided paleontological and lithological data, also estimating the scallops’ abundance in each of them. Bioerosion and encrustation traces on scallops’ shells represent an additional contribution to paleoecological studies.

The Miocene Paratethys Sea is frequently depicted as junction between the Proto-Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Herein, we elucidate the biogeographic character of this large epicontinental Miocene sea based on its speciose gastropod fauna. We debunk the persistent myth that there was a connection between these marine realms during Langhian times via the Tethys Seaway. Throughout most of the Early and Middle Miocene the connectivity of the Central Paratethys was via the Rhone Strait and the Slovenian Strait as supported by up to similar to 22 % of species shared with the Proto-Mediterranean Sea. The faunistic similarity decreased successively at higher latitudes towards the northeastern Atlantic and dropped to low values towards the North Sea. Therefore, a connection with the North Sea can be excluded throughout the Early and Middle Miocene. Faunistic relations of the Central Paratethys Sea with the Eastern Paratethys Sea were surprisingly low until the late Middle Miocene, when endemic species from the Eastern Paratethys 'flooded' the Central Paratethys. Therefore, the effectiveness in species transfer or presence of the Carasu and Barlad straits, hypothetically connecting both seas, must be questioned for most of the Middle Miocene. The present-day gastropod faunas of the tropical eastern Atlantic (TEA) and the Indo-West Pacific Region (IWP) can be distinguished clearly by their differing faunal structure (different relative abundance of certain families). The faunas of the Paratethyan and the Proto-Mediterranean Sea follow more closely the type nowadays represented in the tropical eastern Atlantic, suggesting a common origin. The faunistic connectivity with the Indian Ocean, via the Tethys Seaway ceased very early during the Early Miocene, predating the formation of the Gomphotherium land bridge by several million years. Consequently, we reject a re-activation of the Tethys Seaway during the Langhian as providing an effective oceanographic gateway. This is an important observation for climate models, linking the closure of the Tethys Seaway to Miocene climate change.

The Carpathians are a typical Mediterranean-type orogen that resulted from slab roll-back, nappe accretion, collision and slab detachment. We will use basin-scale sedimentological and provenance analysis to reconstruct the Miocene to recent evolution of the Carpathian Foreland Basin. Paleontological observations will highlight the basin’s biogeographic relations with the surrounding regions, demonstrating the creation and destruction of topographic barriers with the Pannonian Basin and the Black Sea. Results from inverse modelling of thermochronological data from the Carpathians with PECUBE will be used to understand the timing and volume of sediment supply from different parts of the mountain belt, which will then be compared to deposition over time in the foreland basin. Finally we will establish a link between the geodynamic events in the subduction system, particularly collision and slab-detachment, and the evolution of the foreland basin. Since there are many similarities between the Carpathians and other roll-back orogens, our results might be interesting for researchers studying other Mediterranean-type orogens.

The Tethyan Seaway was the connection between the Eastern and Western Tethys which became restricted and finally closed during the Early and Middle Miocene. The growing Zagros Mountains split the seaway into two entities, the Iranian Gateway in the northeast and the Mesopotamian Gateway in the southwest. The reconstruction of the seaway is based on sedimentological and paleontological data of the Qom, Asmari and Gachsaran formations predominantly on biostratigraphy. This paper presents an evaluation and new data on the occurrence of the Qom Formation in the Zanjan area (Sheikh Jaber section) of Iran. The Qom Formation there is dominated by marls and sandstones and subordinated limestones. Unusual for the Qom Formation is the high share of volcanic rocks (basalts, tuffs, tuffitic marls, lapilli, coarse volcanoclastic components in all types of lithologies) which indicate that the Qom Formation in the Zanjan area belongs either to the Sanandaj-Sirjan Basin or the Urumieh-Dokhtar Basin. Planktonic foraminifers and mollusks, in particular, pteropods, indicate a late Burdigalian to Langhian age for the studied section. The mollusk fauna exhibits a pure Mediterranean character and no overlap with the Indo-Pacific fauna occurs. Both the fauna and the overlying continental deposits of the Upper Red Formation preclude a marine connection along the Iranian Gateway in the Langhian between the Proto-Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, the mollusk fauna also obviates a connection between the Proto-Mediterranean/Indian Ocean and the Eastern Paratethys. The sediments in the Mesopotamian Gateway are represented by the Asmari Formation, which is similar in facies and stratigraphy to the Qom Formation, and the Gachsaran Formation dominated by evaporites and shallow marine sediments. This gateway may have not been completely blocked in the Langhian, but the very shallow water connection was paleoceanographically ineffective and not passable for biota such as mollusks.