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Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 September 2021) | Viewed by 13053

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jan Golonka

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environment Protection, AGH University of Kraków, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: paleogeography; regional geology; plate tectonics; petroleum geology; tethys; carpathians
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Petr Skupien

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Institute of Geological Engineering, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, Poruba, 708 33 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Interests: geochemistry; paleontology, sedimentology, tectonics

Special Issue Information

The Outer Carpathians belong to a great, 1300 km long mountain arc in Central Europe. They were deformed and thrust over the European Platform during the Alpine orogeny in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic, but the Outer Carpathian rocks also reflect a long and complex sequence involving Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic events. The geochemistry, geochronology, and petrology of the Precambrian and Paleozoic crystalline and volcanic rocks of the Outer Carpathian Realm have been studied in detail over the last decade, and significant progress has been made. These studies have led to an understanding of the evolution of this realm, but several crucial and topical questions remain unsolved.

This Special Issue should provide an opportunity to publish papers dealing with the geochemistry and petrology of the older crystalline rocks as well as younger sedimentary flysch sequences. We welcome specialized papers as well as overview papers, especially articles discussing the relationship between the petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry, geochronology, and geodynamic development of the complex orogene. Papers presenting controversial issues and different points of view are highly welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Jan Golonka
Prof. Dr. Petr Skupien
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

geochronology
geochemistry
petrology
geodynamic evolution
rocks
Outer Carpathians

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 182 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial for Special Issue “Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains”

by Jan Golonka and Petr Skupien

Minerals 2023, 13(1), 92; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min13010092 - 06 Jan 2023

Viewed by 793

Abstract

This Special Issue, published 15 years after the monumental volume “The Carpathians and their foreland: Geology and hydrocarbon resources” [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

24 pages, 5517 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recently Discovered Thick Bentonite Bed Hosted by the Lithothamnium Limestones (Badenian) in the Polish Part of the Carpathian Foredeep: The Evidence for Volcanic Origin

by Katarzyna Górniak, Tadeusz Szydłak, Piotr Wyszomirski, Adam Gaweł and Małgorzata Niemiec

Minerals 2021, 11(12), 1417; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11121417 - 15 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2242

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the hypothesis on the volcanic origin of the precursor sediments for a thick (0.6 m) clay bed, hosted by the sequence of lithothamnium limestones of the Pińczów Formation. Combined X-ray powder diffraction, imaging methods (optical and electron microscopy), and chemical analysis were used to document the volcanic markers, which were preserved in the rock studied. The results obtained show that the clay bed discussed is bentonite in origin. This bentonite, which can be called Drugnia Rządowa bentonite, is composed almost entirely of montmorillonite with little admixtures of quartz and biotite. A small amount of calcite is present, but only in the top of the bed. Despite that, the bentonite contains nothing but clay material—it is a model example of entirely altered pyroclastic rock, which retains texture originally developed in volcanic glass fragments and reveals the preserved original features of the precursor fallout pyroclastic deposits (rhyolitic in character). The thick bentonite beds, discovered for the first time within the Badenian lithothamnium limestones of the Pińczów Formation, can be considered as a record of a violent, explosive volcanic event related to the closure of the Outer Carpathian basin and the development of the Carpathian Foredeep. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

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26 pages, 23827 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Seismic-Scale Evidence of Thrust-Perpendicular Normal Faulting in the Western Outer Carpathians, Poland

by Jan Barmuta, Krzysztof Starzec and Wojciech Schnabel

Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1252; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11111252 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2119

Abstract

Based on the interpretation of 2D seismic profiles integrated with surface geological investigations, a mechanism responsible for the formation of a large scale normal fault zone has been proposed. The fault, here referred to as the Rycerka Fault, has a predominantly normal dip-slip component with the detachment surface located at the base of Carpathian units. The fault developed due to the formation of an anticlinal stack within the Dukla Unit overlain by the Magura Units. Stacking of a relatively narrow duplex led to the growth of a dome-like culmination in the lower unit, i.e., the Dukla Unit, and, as a consequence of differential uplift of the unit above and outside the duplex, the upper unit (the Magura Unit) was subjected to stretching. This process invoked normal faulting along the lateral culmination wall and was facilitated by the regional, syn-thrusting arc–parallel extension. Horizontal movement along the fault plane is a result of tear faulting accommodating a varied rate of advancement of Carpathian units. The time of the fault formation is not well constrained; however, based on superposition criterion, the syn -thrusting origin is anticipated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

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18 pages, 4894 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Maturity of the Grajcarek Unit (Pieniny Klippen Belt): Insights for the Burial History of a Major Tectonic Boundary of the Western Carpathians

by Magdalena Zielińska

Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1245; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11111245 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1744

Abstract

The Grajcarek Unit of the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB), at the boundary between the Central (Inner) and Outer Carpathians, resulted from the convergence of the ALCAPA (the Alps–Carpathians–Pannonia) block and European plate. The strongly deformed slices of the Grajcarek Unit consist of Jurassic–Cretaceous sedimentary rocks associated with Late Cretaceous–Middle Palaeocene synorogenic wild-flysch, and sedimentary breccias with olistoliths. Maximum burial temperatures and burial depths were estimated based on vitrinite reflectance data. The vitrinite reflectance values were wide scattered through the Grajcarek sedimentary succession, especially in the flysch formations. This is attributed mainly to the depositional effects that affected the vitrinite evolution. The determined maximum burial temperatures were interpreted due to the regional compression controlled by tectonic burial coeval with thrusting and strike-slip faulting. The regional vitrinite reflectance variations might estimate cumulative displacement around the NNW–SSE and oriented the strike-slip Dunajec fault, which is a continuation of the deep fracture Kraków–Myszków fault zone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

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23 pages, 3045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Burial and Thermal History Modeling of the Paleozoic–Mesozoic Basement in the Northern Margin of the Western Outer Carpathians (Case Study from Pilzno-40 Well, Southern Poland)

by Dariusz Botor

Minerals 2021, 11(7), 733; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11070733 - 06 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2503

Abstract

Hydrocarbon exploration under thrust belts is a challenging frontier globally. In this work, 1-D thermal maturity modeling of the Paleozoic–Mesozoic basement in the northern margin of the Western Outer Carpathians was carried out to better explain the thermal history of source rocks that influenced hydrocarbon generation. The combination of Variscan burial and post-Variscan heating due to elevated heat flow may have caused significant heating in the Paleozoic basement in the pre-Middle Jurassic period. However, the most likely combined effect of Permian-Triassic burial and Late Triassic–Early Jurassic increase of heat flow caused the reaching of maximum paleotemperature. The main phase of hydrocarbon generation in Paleozoic source rocks developed in pre-Middle Jurassic times. Therefore, generated hydrocarbons from Ordovician and Silurian source rocks were lost before reservoirs and traps were formed in the Late Mesozoic. The Miocene thermal overprint due to the Carpathian overthrust probably did not significantly change the thermal maturity of organic matter in the Paleozoic–Mesozoic strata. Thus, it can be concluded that petroleum accumulations in the Late Jurassic and Cenomanian reservoirs of the foreland were charged later, mainly by source rocks occurring within the thrustbelt, i.e., Oligocene Menilite Shales. Finally, this work shows that comprehensive mineralogical and geochemical studies are an indispensable prerequisite of any petroleum system modelling because their results could influence petroleum exploration of new oil and gas fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

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20 pages, 6565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tracing Pre-Mesozoic Tectonic Sutures in the Crystalline Basement of the Protocarpathians: Evidence from the Exotic Blocks from Subsilesian Nappe, Outer Western Carpathians, Poland

by Jan Golonka, Aleksandra Gawęda, Anna Waśkowska, David Chew, Krzysztof Szopa and Foteini Drakou

Minerals 2021, 11(6), 571; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min11060571 - 27 May 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1995

Abstract

Pre-Mesozoic exotic crystalline blocks within the Outer Carpathian flysch have potential to unravel the nature of their eroded basement source(s) and to reconstruct the Paleozoic–Precambrian history of the Protocarpathians. Strongly tectonized Campanian–Maastrichtian grey marls in the Subsilesian Nappe of the Outer Western Carpathians in Poland contain a variety of different lithology types, including granitoids and andesites. Petrological investigations coupled with zircon and apatite U-Pb dating were performed on crystalline (subvolcanic) exotic blocks from a locality in the Subsilesian Nappe. U-Pb zircon dating yields magmatic crystallization ages of c. 293 Ma for the microgranitoid and c. 310 Ma for the andesite block, with inherited zircon cores yielding Archean, Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Cadomian ages. Whole rock trace element and Nd isotope data imply that the melt source was composed of a significant Neoproterozoic crustal component in both the microgranite and andesite. The Late Carboniferous–Permian magmatic activity likely continues outside the Carpathian Belt and can be linked to a Late Paleozoic transtensional zone, which is a continuation of the Lubliniec–Kraków Zone that extends under the Carpathians to Moesia. This Late Paleozoic transtensional zone was probably reactivated during the Late Cretaceous under a transpressional regime within the Żegocina tectonic zone, which caused the uplift of the Subsilesian Ridge and intensive erosion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Petrology and Evolution of the Outer Carpathian Mountains)

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