Biotic and abiotic response to palaeoenvironmental changes at Lake Pannons' western margin (Central Europe, Late Miocene)

A multidisciplinary study was performed on a c. 30 m thick, limnic–deltaic sequence in the Styrian Basin (Austria). Geophysical (gamma ray activity, rock magnetism), geochemical (organic carbon, sulphur) and sedimentological observations were combined with palaeontological information (mainly ostracods). On this base, several ecological factors were deduced (terrigenous influx, salinity, water depth and oxygenation). Based on integrated stratigraphy as well as on palaeomagnetic results the whole section is set to Chron C5r.2r−1n (11.308–11.263 Ma) and covers a period of less than 45 kyr. In addition to the long-term record, we analysed short-term changes by high-resolution sampling (5 mm sample interval; ostracods, magnetic susceptibility). This ~ 2.3 m-thick interval spans in total < 3500 yr with an individual sample resolution of a few years only. The combination of these data permit the description of the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the section in detail: at the base of the section, the development of a conifer swamp on the lakeside of Lake Pannon is documented. This almost freshwater swamp existed for some centuries before it became extinct within a few decades due to a rise of the water-table. The drowning is related to a transgression of Lake Pannon, which triggered the establishment of a brackish-water fauna as well as greigite formation in the lake sediments. In general, the ongoing transgression favoured benthic life due to increased salinity (up to mesohaline conditions). The high-resolution ostracod and magnetic susceptibility record reflect short-term fluctuations in bottom-water ventilation. These oscillations probably range in the order of centuries and decades and are possibly related to climatic shifts. Later, the successive deepening of the lake resulted in a significant faunal turnover. A meromictic system with a well-established, oxygen-depleted hypolimnion developed. Finally, the limnic phase was replaced by a prograding deltaic system, where the amplified input of coarse-grained material and freshwater also affected benthic life. Periodic changes in clay (illite) content were detected by the gamma ray-log throughout the entire section. The observed cycles (5–12 kyr) of the gamma ray-log may reflect a super-ordinate modulation of the sedimentary record by climatically forced changes in precipitation or run-off.