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This study aims to bring new constraints on the Eocene stratigraphy of the northern edge of Istria Basin, located in Western Black Sea. For achieving our goal, we have studied several core reports containing the description of the lithology and microfossils assemblages (foraminifera, ostracods and calcareous nannofossils) from 3 wells drilled in the northern Istria Basin. Thus, we were able to identify lithological and biostratigraphic constraints, allowing to generate a coherent correlation scheme for the Eocene deposits, with precise age assignment and advanced models of the IB evolution during the Eocene. The lithology of the 3 wells, situated in the Sinoe, Lebăda West and Lebăda East areas, is mainly represented by calcareous sandstones and siliciclastic ones. The biostratigraphy indicates that the deposits of the Sinoe and Lebăda West wells are Middle Eocene in age (mostly the upper part), while in the Lebăda East well a late Early to Middle Eocene age was assigned., {"references":["Agnini C., Muttoni G., Kent D.V., Rio D., 2006. Eocene biostratigraphy and magnetic stratigraphy from Possagno, Italy: The calcareous nannofossil response to climate variability. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2241: 815-830.","Allen A.P., Allen R.J., 2005. Basin Analysis: Principles and Applications. The 2nd Edition. Blackwell Publishing, Malden.","Belousov V.V., Volvovsky B.S., Arkhipov I.V., Buryanov V.B., Evsyukov Y.D., Goncharov V.P., Gordienko V.V., Ismagilov D.F., Kislov G.K., Kogan L.I., Kondyurin A.V., Kozlov V.N., Lebedev L.I., Lokholatnikov V.M., Malovitsky Y.P., Moskalenko V.N., Neprochnov Y.P., Ostisty B.K., Rusakov O.M., Shimkus K.M., Shlezinger A.E., Sochelnikov V.V., Sollogub V.B., Solovyen V.D., Starostenko V.I., Starovoitov A.F., Terenkov A.A., Volvovsky I.S., Zhigunov A.S., Zolorarev V.G., 1988. Structure and evolution of the earth's crust and upper mantle of the Black Sea. In: Finetti, I. (Ed.), Monograph of the Black Sea. Bolletino di geofisica teoretica ed applicata, Trieste, 109-196.","Berggren W.A., Van Couvering J.A., 1974. The Late Neogene Biostratigraphy, geochronology and paleoclimatology of the last 15 million years in marine and continental sequences Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.16 (1-2): 1-215.","Berggren W.A., Kent D.V, Swisher III C.C., Aubry M.-P., 1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. In: Berggren W.A., Kent D.V, Swisher C.C. III, Aubry M.-P., Hardenbol J., (Eds.), 1995. Geochronology, Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation. SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Special Publication 54: 129-212.","Bindiu R., 2013. Fossil agglutinated foraminifera and their relationship to the depositional environments in the Northern part of the Eastern Carpathians, Romania [in Romanian], Ph.D. Thesis, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca","Blow W.H., 1969. Late Middle Eocene to recent planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Planktonic Microfossils, Geneva, 1967, 1: 199-422.","Blow W.H., 1979. The Cainozoic Foraminifera. Vols 1-3. E.J. Brill., Leiden, 1413 p.","Bolli H.M., Saunders J.B., Perc h-Nielsen K. (eds), 1985. Plankton Stratigraphy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 407 p.","Bombiţă G., 1963. Contribuţii la corelarea Eocenului epicontinental din R.P. România. Edit. Acad. R.P.R., Bucharest, 113 p.","Boote R.D., 2017. The geological history of the Istria 'Depression', Romanian Black Sea shelf: tectonic controls on second-/third order sequence architecture. Geological Society London, Special Publications, 464: 169-209.","Bown P.R., Dunkley Jones T. 2012. Calcareous nannofossils from the Paleogene equatorial Pacific (IODP Expedition 320 Sites U1331- 1334). Journal of Nannoplankton Research, 32(2): 3-51.","Chaisson W.P., Pearson P.N., 1997. Planktonic foraminifer biostratigraphy at Site 925: middle Miocene - Pleistocene, Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program: Scientific Results, 154: 3-32.","Dinu C., Wong H.K., Țambrea D., Mațenco L., 2005. Stratigraphic and structural characteristics of the Romanian Black Sea shelf. Tectonophysics, 410: 417-435.","Folk R.L., 1974. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Hemphill Publishing Co., Austin,170 p.","Görür N., 1988. Timing of opening of the Black Sea basin. Tectonophysics, 147: 247-262.","Görür N., 1997. Cretaceous Syn- to Postrift Sedimentation on the Southern Margin of the Western Black Sea Basin, Regional and Petroleum Geology of the Black Sea, AAPG Memoire, 68: 227-240","Gebhardt H., Ćorić S., Darga R., Briguglio A., Schenk B., Werner W., Andersen N., Sames B., 2013. Middle to Late Eocene paleoenvironmental changes in a marine transgressive sequence from the northern Tethyan margin (Adelholzen, Germany). Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences,106(2): 45-72.","Georgiev G., 2012. Geology and Hydrocarbon Systems in the Western Black Sea. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 21: 723-754.","Gradstein F.M., 2012. The Geologic Time Scale. Elsevier, Amsterdam,1176 p.","Hippolyte J.C. Müller C., Kaymakçi N., Sangu E., 2010. Dating of the Black Sea Basin: new nannoplankton ages from its inverted margin in the Central Pontides (Turkey). Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 340: 113-136.","Holbourn D.A., Henderson A.S., Macleod N., 2013. Atlas of Benthic Foraminifera, Wiley-Blackwell, London, 634 p.","Ionescu A.L., 2006. Formation evaluation by integrated analysis of geological and borhole geophysics data. Case study, stuctures from the Romanian Black Sea continental platform [in Romanian]. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 68 p.","Ionescu G., 2000. Facies architecture of the Paleogene Formations of the NW shelf of the Black Sea (in Romanian). PhD Thesis, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 133 p.","Ionescu G., 2002. Facies architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Black Sea offshore Romania. In: Dinu C., Mocanu V. (Eds.), Geology and Tectonics of the Romanian Black Sea Shelf and its Hydrocarbon Potential 2: 43-51.","Kaminski M.A., Gradstein F.M., 2006. Atlas of Paleogene Cosmopolitan Deep-Water Agglutinated Foraminifera. Grzybowski Foundation Special Publication, 10: 547 p.","Kennet J.P., Srinivasan M.S., 1983. Neogene planktonic foraminifera - A phyllogenetic atlas, Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company, 265 p.","Krezsek C., Bercea R.-I., Tari G., Ionescu G. 2017. Cretaceous sedimentation along the Romanian margin of the Black Sea: inferences from onshore to offshore correlations. In: Simmons M.D., Tari G.C. & Okay A.I. (Eds.), Petroleum Geology of the Black Sea. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 464","Martini E. 1971. Standard Tertiary and Quaternary calcareous nannoplankton zonation. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Planktonic Microfossils, Rome 1970 2: 739-785.","Munteanu I., 2012. Evolution of the western Black Sea: Kinematic and sedimentological inferences from geological observations and analogue modelling. 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International audience; In the frame of the GAARAnti ANR-17-CE31-0009 project, we aim at establishing the paleogeography of the arc/forearc areas of the Northern Lesser Antilles over the last 35 Ma to bring constraints for the mammal fauna dispersion paleo-biogeographic models from south America to Greater Antilles. Available paleogeographic maps are ancient (Stephan et al., 1990; Iturralde-Vinent & McPhee, 1999) and contradictive. During that time, the forearc of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone strain pattern accommodated (i) strain partitioning related to subduction obliquity and (ii) progressive trench bending by several episodes of differential vertical and horizontal motions which may have built and/or destroyed continental areas allowing south american terrestrial mammals to reach the Greater Antilles or isolating some south American mammals on newly formed islands. We conducted new studies, onshore on the Anguilla Bank islands and offshore in Kallinago Trough and Wallichi Plateau to reconstruct the evolving paleogeography of this area. We used: 1) new micropaleontological, sedimentological and paleoenvironmental results acquired onshore and from dredged samples during the GARANTI Cruise in may 2017; 2) a database of seismic profiles from various sources: CPEM 1980; ANTITHESIS 2016 and GARANTI 2017 cruises.Onshore, we revised the stratigraphy of the Neogene series. Offshore, we established a seismic stratigraphy and correlated the seismic units and erosional unconformities with the onshore lithostratigraphic successions. We then built paleogeographic maps for different time spans: late Eocene-early Oligocene, late Oligocene-Aquitanian, Burdigalian, early Langhian, mid-late Miocene and Zanclean. During late Eocene-early Oligocene most the area was emergent except in the Kallinago Trough. Significant subsidence periods occurred during Burdigalian and mid-late Miocene and most of the terrestrial areas were drowned. During early Langhian and Zanclean numerous small islands occurred.

This paper presents investigation carried out on two sections containing successions of the middle Sarmatian s.l. (Bessarabian) and upper Sarmatian s.l. (Khersonian). Both substages are mainly characterized, from lithological point of view, by the presence of chalky limestones, argillaceous limestones, oolithic limestones and coquinas. The boundary between the two substages is marked by coquinas mainly containing small-sized specimens of the bivalve Cardium spp. The upper Bessarabian is characterized by the Plicatiforma fittoni bivalve zone, while in the Khersonian substage the Mactra caspia bivalve zone, followed by Mactra bulgarica biozones are present. The Techirghiol section contains no calcareous nannofossils, while in the Limanu section a few specimens assigned to the genus Noelaerhabdus were discovered in the upper Bessarabian. This finding indicates a possible connection of the South Dobrogea (part of the Euxinian-Caspian domain) with the Central Paratethys, during the middle Sarmatian s.l. (Bessarabian)., {"references":["Andreescu I. (2008). Magnetobiostratigrafia depozitelor Sarmato-Pliocene din estul Bazinului Dacic. In: Avram C, Melinte M, editors. Paleoambianţe şi biodiversitate în contextul schimbărilor globale. Editura Eikon, Cluj-Napoca: 5–116.","Andrusov N. (1917). Ponticeskij jarus Trudy Geol Com 4, 2.","Atanasiu I. (1940). Contributions à la géologie des Pays Moldaves. Annales de l'Institut de Géologie de la Roumanie 20: 147–173.","Atanasiu I. (1945). Le Sarmatien du Plateau Moldave. Acad. Rom. Mém. Sect. sci. 3, 20/5, 293–327.","Bona J., Gal M. (1985). Kalkiges Nannoplankton im Pannonien Ungarns. In: Papp A, Jambor A, Steininger FF, editors. Chronostratigraphie und Neostratotypen. Miozän der Zentralen Paratethys, Pannonien 7 (M6), pp. 482–515.","Brânzilă M., Chira C. (2005). 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Supplementary data 1: Accuracy of UTh dating on spondylid shells: results and discussion.

Supplementary data 4. Beach to continental sequences overlying the Lindos Bay Formation in the Faliraki Road section.

Supplementary data 2. Calcareous nannofossils of sequence TSS 2 at Tsampika Beach, new road. Heliscophaera inversa and Gephyrocapsa, sample TSS 9; Pseudoemiliana lacunosa, sample TSF 10; Emiliania huxleyi, sample TSF 11.

The occurrence of amber in the Upper Eocene deposits of the outer Moldavide Nappes is herein presented. The geological significance and various properties of the amber from the Duraș Site (Neamț County) are, for the first time, discussed. The primary amber occurrence is located in the glauconite-rich siliceous arenites, of the Lucăcești Formation, latest Eocene, i.e., Priabonian, in age. The chemical properties and IR spectra of the amber from the Duraș are similar to those of the Almaschite amber variety, from the same region, but different from other amber varieties, such as Rumanite (Buzău region, South - Eastern Carpathians), Muntenite from the Southern Carpathians, and Schraufite (North - Eastern Carpathians, Bucovina)., {"references":["Barthel M., Hetzer H., 1982. Bernstein-Inklusen aus dem Miozän des Bitterfelder Raumes. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Geologie, 28/7: 314-336.","Băncilă I., 1958. Geologia Carpaților Orientali. Ed. 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The Nature Reserve „Bădila Limestone Blocks“, located on the Buzău River in the Buzău Land Geopark (Romania), is known for the occurrence of exotic limestone blocks (Tithonian) included in the Badenian Salt Breccia Horizon. An investigation of the Reserve area using an unmanned aerial vehicle was carried out. The drone-based study of the Bădila Geological Reserve generated a high resolution digital image of the exotic blocks distribution. A small number of large blocks (12 blocks with diameters ranging from 4 to 20 m) occur together with a large number of smaller blocks (414 blocks with diameters from 0.1 to 4 m). The Bădila exotic limestone blocks were resedimented by fluvial currents, suffered a size-sorting and their frequency diminished downstreamward.

International audience; Continental erosion and weathering destroy parts of the stratigraphic record. Analyses of the sedimentary filling of paleokarsts help completing the geological record of regions that have been submitted to post-depositional, long-term, continental evolution. Jurassic carbonate platform of Languedoc (South of France) has undergone several karstification phases from Cretaceous to Neogene. Later incision of canyons through the carbonate massifs allows to observe paleokarsts over 400m depth, within the massifs. Paleokarsts are partly filled with sediments. Some have yielded marine bioclasts (echinoderms, radiolars), foraminifera and nannofossils; others are composed of polygenic detrital sediments, including sources from the upstream Paleozoic basement (Cevennes). The age of the filling of successive paleokarsts can be constrained by structural relationships and by biostratigraphy. These findings suggests 1) the marine elements of the karstic filling relate to a Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene interval, while 2) the Paleozoic basement-sourced-sediments were trapped in the karst during Miocene to Present. Karstic sediment containing Early Paleocene foraminifera and nannofossils are found in paleokarsts cavities distributed across the entire thickness of the carbonate massif (≥350m). This requires base-level lowering and associated karstification, followed by base-level rise and karst filling of at least 350 m amplitude, respectively. The time interval corresponding to the occurrence of foraminifera and nannofossils in karsts covers 10 Myrs ; surprisingly, no equivalent marine sediments are preserved on the surface. In addition, analyses of the different forams species suggests several (up to 3) distinct karstification and marine filling cycles. Finally, sedimentological facies analysis of the karst filling reveals the following succession of processes: low energy settling of mudstone, high energy reworking, transport and deposition of silts and sandstones within the karst system. Integration of geological, paleontological and sedimentological data, leads to a polyphase scenario in response to repeated base-level variations, more than 350m amplitude. Such an amplitude excludes eustacy, and the improbable repeated sequence of uplift and subsidence rules out tectonics, as driving forces for base-level change, respectively. We propose that the high-amplitude base-level changes results from a succession of desiccation-flooding events of an endorheic, silled, basin during Early Paleogene. The later detrital assemblage sourced in the Cevennes occurs on perched paleosurfaces and in karst cavities across the whole 350m-deep canyon walls. When found on paleosurfaces, they correspond to the south-flowing Early Miocene fluvial drainage, and can be correlated downstream with the marine, well dated, Early Miocene, sediments. When found within the karst cavities, they correspond to successive base-level surfaces connected to the progressive incision of the canyon. This canyon incision is coeval with a Late Miocene uplift of the hinterland.

International audience; van Baak et al. provide magnetostratigraphy for DSDP Hole 380A along a 175 m interval and a 40Ar/39Ar date at 706.8 mbsf. The biostratigraphic basis for their interpretation is the first consistent occurrence (FCO) of the dinoflagellate cysts Galeacysta etrusca and Caspidinium rugosum at 841 and 850 mbsf, respectively (Groothe et al., 2014), instead of at least 1009.36 mbsf as demonstrated by Suc et al. (2015) (Fig. 1A). Grothe et al. (2014) proposed an age of 6.1 Ma for this event from the Taman Peninsula. We repeat that the placement of this bioevent at 6.1 Ma is significantly lower in the sedimentary succession of Site 380 (Fig. 1A).

Since the discovery of calcareous nannofossils, dinoflagellate cysts and planktonic foraminifers in deposits from the Dacic Basin, intensive research has been performed in order to evidence which gateway this microplankton used to connect Paratethys and the Mediterranean prior and after the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Such a gateway is also to be regarded at the origin of successive influxes of Paratethyan organisms (molluscs, ostracods, dinoflagellates) into the Mediterranean Basin ("Lago Mare" events). Observing that the I˙stanbul area, usually proposed for this purpose, was inefficient, we examine the succession of marine well-dated pre-MSC and post-MSC deltaic deposits through the Balkans, from northern Greece to southern Romania, that constitutes a reliable candidate for such a marine corridor, the origin of which was caused by the regional tectonic extension. The reconstructed palaeogeography for high sea level episodes that encompassed the MSC clarifies the context of the so-called North Aegean Lake. This marine gateway probably evolved as a powerful river during the peak of the MSC, contributing to the deposition of clastics in the hydrocarbon Prinos Field. A tectonically controlled subsidence to the north and south of the Skopje region caused the closure of such a gateway.

More than a thousand specimens of the Galeacysta etrusca taxonomical complex from eleven Upper Miocene and Lower Pliocene localities of the Paratethyan and Mediterranean realms have been studied using a biometric approach in part relating to the degree of separation between endocyst and ectocyst. Four stable biometric groups have been statistically distinguished, the occurrence or prevalence of which appears closely linked to environmental conditions irrespective of the realm. Group “ a” is related to brackish conditions, group “ b” to marine conditions, group “ c” to freshwater, and group “ d” to high nutrient levels. Based on an accurate chronology provided by calcareous nannoplankton bioevents and recognition of the Messinian Erosional Surface, this study reveals: • the high sensitivity of Galeacysta etrusca complex for reconstructing paleoenvironments and the connection– isolation phases of basins ; • the detailed history of this species which originated in the Pannonian Basin at ca. 8 Ma before invading the Dacic Basin at about 6 Ma, then migrating into the Mediterranean during high sea-level connections (the “ Lago Mare” events just before and after the peak of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, i.e. at 5.60 Ma and during the interval 5.48– 5.33 Ma, respectively) and, finally, into the Black Sea at 5.13 Ma ; • an improved paleogeographic reconstruction for the Mediterranean and Paratethyan realms with focus on the location of corridors and the timing of when they were active. Field observations and dinoflagellate cyst data lead us to consider that the reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin by Atlantic waters occurred at ca. 5.48 Ma, about 150 kyrs before the Zanclean GSSP (5.33 Ma).

Relationships between the Mediterranean and Paratethys have been debated for a long time (Senĕ s, 1973 ; Rögl and Steiniger, 1983 ; Kojumdgieva, 1987 ; Marinescu, 1992). High sealevel exchanges between these two seas are documented by the presence of: 1. marine organisms, especially calcareous nannoplankton (Mărunţeanu, 1992 ; Semenenko and Olejnik, 1995 ; Mărunţeanu and Papaianopol, 1995, 1998 ; Drivaliari et al., 1999 ; Snel et al., 2006) and marine dinoflagellate cysts (Popescu , 2006 ; Popescu et al., accepted ; Popescu and Süto-Szentai, unpublished data) in the Paratethys basins: 2. brackish endemic dinoflagellate cysts (Corradini and Biffi, 1988 ; Bertini, 1992, 2006 ; Popescu et al., 2007 ; Londeix et al., 2007), molluscs (dreissenids, lymnocardiids) and ostracods (Cyprideis pannonica group) (Cippolari et al., 1999 ; Gliozzi, 1999 ; Ghetti et al., 2002 ; Basseti et al., 2003, 2004 ; Esu et al., 2007) in the Mediterranean area, as constituents of “ Lago Mare” biofacies. Such connections are generally considered to have been reduced even interrupted in the Late Miocene, when the Mediterranean became temporarily isolated from the Atlantic Ocean. Isolation led to the Messinian Salinity Crisis, peaking with a severe drop in Mediterranean sea-level which resulted in the deposition of thick evaporites in central basins (Hsü et al., 1973 ; Rouchy and Caruso, 2006) and intense subaerial erosion of the margins (Clauzon, 1999). Two successive falls in sea-level (Clauzon et al., 1996) have been evidenced: 1. the first one, between 5.96-5.60 Ma, characterized by low amplitude, that caused the deposition of evaporites in the more-or-less isolated marginal basins and some erosion in the most proximal parts of river valleys ; 2. the second one, between 5.60 to 5.48 Ma characterized by high amplitude, that provoked the almost complete desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea and consequently evaporite deposition within central basins ; on the land a huge subaerial erosion is widely recorded as a consequence of river activity. Similar events (huge erosion) also impacted the Eastern Paratethys (Gillet et al., 2003, 2007 ; Clauzon et al., 2005) where evaporites were recently discovered (Clauzon et al., submitted). Different hypothesis concerning the gateway between Mediterranean and Paratethys were proposed, the most known concerned the “ proto-Bosporus” gateway (Hsü et al., 1973 ; Rögl and Steininger, 1983 ; Marinescu, 1992). The second possibility was trough the Balkans, an hypothesis proposed by Kojumdgieva (1987). The supposed “ proto Bosporus” gateway was tested by Popescu (2006), using the late arrival of marine dinoflagellate cysts at DSDP Site 380 in the Black Sea, that demonstrates the closure of this gateway in the earliest Zanclean. This evidence is also supported by (1) the huge erosional surface passing at the base of the Zanclean deposits in the same locality Gillet et al. (2007), (2) the reconstruction of a complex fluvial erosional network in the Dardanelles Strait and Marmara Sea area at the time of the desiccation of the Mediterranean (Clauzon et al., 2008). Using the presence of marine organisms and evidence of Gilbert-type delta fans, we demonstrate that the most probable gateway between the Mediterranean and Paratethys was trough the Balkans region (Clauzon et al., 2005, submitted ; Popescu et al., accepted). Most difficult to explain are the connections between the Paratethyan (Pannonian and Dacic) basins themselves because these two basins were already evolving towards brackish conditions before the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Previous hypotheses suggested that the corridor between the Pannonian and Dacic basins before the Messinian Salinity Crisis (i.e. at the Portaferrian) was located at the present-day Iron Gates (Archambault-Guézou, 1976 ; Marinescu, 1992). The discovery of the Messinian Erosional Surface below the Iron Gates (Clauzon et al., 2005 ; Leever, 2007) shows that this passage was cut by the proto-Danube River during the desiccation of the Mediterranean. As supported by dinoflagellate cyst records both in the Pannonian and Dacic basins, we propose a more reliable gateway in the area of the Timok Valley and Niš-Belgrade area at the Portaferrian (Popescu et al., accepted).