a chronostratigraphy for the dinaride lake system deposits of the livno-tomislavgrad basin: the rise...

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A chronostratigraphy for the Dinaride Lake System depositsof the Livno-Tomislavgrad Basin: the rise and fall of a

long-lived lacustrine environment

Arjan de Leeuw1, Oleg Mandic

2, Wout Krijgsman

1, Klaudia Kuiper

3and Hazim Hrvatovi

4

1Paleomagnetic Laboratory Fort Hoofddijk, Utrecht University,

Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, the Netherlands

email: [email protected]; [email protected] of Geology and Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum Vienna,

Burgring 7, 1010 Wien, Austria

email: [email protected] Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085,

1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands

email: [email protected] Institute for Geology - Sarajevo, Ustanika 11, 71210 Ilida, Bosnia and Herzegovina

email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The Dinarides are an integral part of the Alpine orogenic belt and stretch over large parts of Slovenia, Croatia,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Monte Negro and Serbia. A great number of intra-montane basins formed in the interior of this Late Eocene toEarlyOligoceneorogen during the Miocene. These basins harbored a suiteof long-lived lakes, collectively called the Dinaride Lake Sys-tem(DLS).Lake Livno,with its600km2 of preservedsurface,was thesecond largest of these Dinaride Lakes. At present, itsdepositsaredivided between the Livno and Tomislavgrad basins, which were part of a single basin when Lake Livno first formed. High resolutionageconstraints forthe over 2km basin infill have been lacking up to now, partlydue to the endemic natureof itslacustrine fauna. Thisseverely hampered geodynamic as well as paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here, we present a chronostratigraphy based on radio-isotopic and magnetostratigraphicdata. 40Ar/39Ar measurements reveal that theTunica volcanic ash,foundin betweenthe Gomphoterium-bearing coal seams at thebase of thebasin infill, is 17.000.17 Ma old. 40Ar/39Ar datingof theMandek ash, correlative to theuppermostsedimentary unit, provides an age of 14.680.16 Ma. Correlation of the composite magnetostratigraphy for the main lacustrinedepositional phase to the Astronomically Tuned Neogene Time Scale is straightforward and reveals that the majority of the deposits ofLake Livno accumulated between 17 Ma and approximately 13 Ma. The disappearance of Lake Livno is most likely attributable to a

change in tectonic regime. Calcarenites and breccias, derived from the basin margins, first entered the lake around 14.8 Ma and subse-quently coarsened and thickenedupwards. The basinmargins were apparentlygradually uplifted before subsidencestalled. Comparisonwith chronostratigraphic data for other constituents of the DLS leads to the conclusion that their lifetimes largely coincide. Finally, wecalibrate the most important marker fossils of the various Dinaride basins to the geological time scale and we present a newbiochronological scheme for the DLS.

INTRODUCTION

In the Miocene, the Dinaride-Anatolian land separated theepicontinental Paratethys Sea from the Mediterranean and con-nected the Middle East with Central Europe. A great number ofintra-montane basins developed within the Dinaride Mountainchain, in which a multitude of long-lived lakes settled (text-fig.1). The longevity, thick sedimentary successions and large geo-graphic extent of this so called Dinaride Lake System make it akey archive for the faunal and floral evolution of southeasternEurope (Krsti et al. 2003; Mandic et al. 2008; Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2008, 2009). Good age control on these sedimentsis lacking, since strong endemism characterizes the lacustrinefauna. The regional biostratigraphic scheme is furthermore farfrom complete and hardly time-indicative due to a lack of highresolution age data. This hampers regional geodynamic as wellas paleobiogeographic reconstructions and several key ques-tions remain unanswered. It is for example not clear if all basins

formed simultaneously or if they were generated in differentphases. Their significance with regards to the geodynamic evo-lution of the orogen thus remains unclear.

To solve these questions, a large chronostratigraphic study withspecial emphasis on long continuous sections suitable formulti-disciplinary dating techniques was set up. This study re-sulted in high resolution age constraints on the Pag, Sinj, andGacko basins of the DLS (Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2009; deLeeuw et al. 2010; Mandic et al. 2010, 2011).In this paper, weinvestigate the sedimentary succession of the Livno andTomislavgrad basins in Bosnia and Herzegovina (text-fig. 1).These basins, with their almost 2km thick infill, harbored one ofthe main constituent lakes of the Dinaride Lake System. We usemagnetostratigraphic and radio-isotopic dating techniques toconstruct a detailed (bio)-chronology for the evolution of LakeLivno.

stratigraphy, vol. 8, no. 1, text-figures 1-9, pp. 29-43, 2011 29


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GEOLOGICAL SETTING

The deposits of Lake Livno are at present distributed in fourintra-montane basins situated in the High Karst area of the ex-ternal Dinarides (text-fig. 2). This study concentrates on thetwo main basins; one surrounding the town of Livno, and theother the town of Tomislavgrad (formerly Duvno andupanjac). Although these basins are currently disunited and lieat different altitudes (700710m and 860890m), they wereformerly part of a single basin. Their Miocene infill consists ofup to 2.6km of lacustrine sediments, which represent two con-secutive phases of lake formation.

The deposits of the first lacustrine phase (text-fig. 2) attain up to2000m and consist for the larger part of limestone. The molluskassemblages of this phase indicate that Lake Livno was part ofthe widespread Dinaride Lake System. At the very base of thesedimentary succession, there is an approximately 10m thickcoal interval. In the main coal seam, remains ofGomphoteriumangustidens, an ancient elephant, were found and Malez andSlikovi(1976) therefore considered it to be of Middle Mio-cene age. The same level was, in contrast, correlated to the up-per Lower Miocene based on its pollen content (Panti1961).The coal interval is overlain by a thick package of limestones.Calcarenite layers, with carbonate grains, likely derived from

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Arjan de Leeuw et al.: A chronostratigraphy for the Dinaride Lake System deposits of the Livno-Tomislavgrad Basin

TEXT-FIGURE 1Mapindicating thelocation of theLivno andTomislavgrad Basins inthe interiorof theDinarides.Lake Livno was part of the Dinaride Lake Systemthatstretched out from the island of Pag in the west to the Sava and Drava depressions in the north and the Gacko basin in the south.


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basement rocks, intercalate in the middle part of the limestonesuccession. These layers coarsen and thicken upwards andeventually turn into carbonate clast breccias. These brecciasalso coarsen and thicken upwards. The uppermost part of thedeposits of this first lake phase does not crop out, since it is cov-ered by those of the second lake phase.

The deposits of the second lacustrine phase overlie those of thefirst phase discordantly and attain up to 640m (text-fig. 2).Based on its pollen (Panti 1961; Panti and Belagi 1964),mollusk (Jurii-Polak and Slikovi 1988) and ostracod re-cord (Milojevi1961; Milojeviand Sunari1962), this secondphase has been correlated with the Upper Miocene of LakePannon, which at that time covered large parts of adjacent Cen-tral and Eastern Europe. According to Milojevi and Sunari

(1964) and Pape (1977), the Livno and Tomislavgrad basinshad already been tectonically disconnected when the youngerlake was established.

SECTIONS, LITHOLOGY AND DEPOSITIONALHISTORY

The deposits of the first lake phase, on which we concentrate,are subdivided in four lithostratigraphical units, M1 to M4, onthe Livno sheet of the geological map 1:100.000 of former Yu-goslavia (Pape 1972, 1975). Basal unit M1 reflects a period ofcoal deposition and is exposed in the Drage Quarry of theTunica mine, 10km SE of Livno (Saracevic et al. 2009). Thisoutcrop also exposes the lowermost part of unit M2, which con-sists of gray limestone with clivunellid gastropods. The remain-

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Stratigraphy, vol. 8, no. 1, 2011

TEXT-FIGURE 2Generalized stratigraphic column and geological map of the Livno, Tomislavgrad and Roko-Polje Basins with the location of the investigatedsectionsand sites. The extent of the sampled sections is marked in the stratigraphic column by blue bars. The blue triangle indicates the approximate positionofthe Tunica Gomphotherium site (Kochansky-Devid and Slikovi, 1972; Malez andSlikovi, 1976). The geological mapwas compiled andadaptedfrom the 1:100.000 geological maps of former Yugoslavia sheets Livno, Sinj, Imotski and Glamo(Pape 1972; Pape 1975; Ahac et al. 1976;Marini etal. 1976;Rai et al.1976; Marini et al.1977; Pape andAhac1978; Rai andPape 1978;Pape et al.1982; Rai et al. 1984). Stratigraphiccolumn was drawn according to Milojeviand Sunari(1964) and Pape (1972, 1975).


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der of M2 is poorly exposed and available only in scatteredoutcrops, for example the Drage W. and Mokronoge sites. UnitM3 is composed of yellow limestones with dreissenid bivalves,and M4 of calcarenites and breccias intercalating with lacus-trine limestones. Unit M3 and M4 together comprise a ~1400mthick succession, most of which is well exposed along theOstroac stream 3km west of Tomislavgrad.

The Tunica Section

The 45m thick Tunica section is located in the Drage opencastcoalmine, situated at the foot of the Tunica Mountain near theeastern boundary of the Livno Basin (text-fig. 2). It was loggedand sampled along the SSE-NNW striking wall of the quarry.The base of the section is situated at N434417.3E170535.0 (WGS84) and the top at N434419.2E170532.9.

The lower 10.5m of the section are dominated by coal subdi-vided in three seams. The lower two seams are separated by a~1m thick organic material rich sandy limestone interval withlymneid snails and plant remains. A volcanic ash bed separatesthe middle and upper coal seams (text-fig. 3a). The ash layer is~20cm thick, laterally continuous, grayish-whitish in color, andconsists of sandy and silty clay with dark mica flakes. The tran-sition from coal to ash and vice versa is very sharp. It was sam-pled for 40Ar/39Ar dating at N434425.8 E0170528.2. Atransitional zone with clayey and coaly inter-layers starts abovethe upper coal seam. It is followed by dominantly dark brownand grayish, well-bedded limestones, rich in organic matter,that dominate the remaining 30m of the section (text-fig. 3b).

These beds belong to interval M2 (Milojeviand Sunari1964)and contain scattered fish and plant remains.

The Ostroac section

The 1700m thick Ostroac section (text-fig. 3) is situated nearthe NW margin of the Tomislavgrad basin. It follows theOstroac brook, running down the eastern slope of the TunicaMountain, for about 2km. The brook strikes N-S, subnormal tothe bedding that is ~150/30 in the stratigraphically lower partof the section and ~170/55 in the upper part of the section.The base (N434340.5 E171059.6) is located about 150mN of the place where the path to Eminovo Selo meets the road tothe abandoned Vuipolje coal mine. The top (N434340.5E171059.6) reaches the Joanica village where a largemegabreccia crops out just north of a large curve in the mainroad to Tomislavgrad.

Milojevi and Sunari (1964) describe coal seams and lime-stone beds rich in organic material, with the same character andthickness as those in the Tunica section, from the Vuipoljecoal mine at a distance of 1km from the base of the Ostroacsection. They indicate that the overlying part of the M2

clivunellid limestone interval is about 300m thick. The strati-graphic distance between the Tunica and Ostroac section isestimated in accordance with this.

The Ostroac section starts with pale-colored lacustrine lime-stones intercalated with clay layers and volcanic ash beds (Unit1: 8.2m, text-fig. 3). These already belong to stratigraphic inter-val M3 (text-figs 2, 3). The well-bedded limestone, light beige,gray, yellowish or brownish in color, is dominantly

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TEXT-FIGURE 3Lithological column for the Dinaride Lake System sediments exposed along the Tunica and Ostroac sections of the Livno andTomislavgrad Basins placed in a composite section for the main lacustrine cycle of the palaeo-lake (text-fig. 2).

For a description of the pictures, marked a to l, we refer to the main text. Stratigraphic interval: correlation of the lithostratigraphicunits from text-figure 2 to the studied section. Units M2 and M4 are subdivided according to lithostratigraphic scheme by Milojeviand Sunari(1964) differentiating lower M2 with dark, organic matter rich limestone with Pisidium, upper M2 with gray limestone

and clivunellid gastropods, lower M4 with sandstone intercalations and upper M4 with upward thickening breccia intercalations.The M4 lower boundary was detected at the stratigraphic height indicated by Milojeviand Sunari(1964) that was distinctly

higher than the position indicated on 1:100.000 geological map by Pape (1972).

Units: numbered lithostratigraphic units identified by detailedlogging in the field and indicated on the right of the litho-stratigraphic column. Ostroac section:

1 Limestone/ clay / marl alternation with tephra interca-lations.

2 Brownish limestone with plant remains.

3 Brownish well bedded limestone.

4 Brownish ripple bedded limestone.

5 Ripple through bedded limestone with channel andslump structures and sandstone intercalations.

6 Well bedded limestone.

7 Ripple bedded limestone.

8 Beddedlimestones withthinningupwards sequences.

9 Partly cross bedded limestone with marl interbeddingand a 2m thick breccia superposed by a 0.5m thick ashlayer.

10 Thick bedded limestone.

11 Thin bedded limestone with 1m thick breccia.

12 Limestone intercalated by ooliths and red sandstonelenses and beds.

13 Marly limestone with breccia intercalations. Tunicasection: Coal with clay and marl intercalations and avolcanic ash layer overlain by well bedded organicrich limestone bearing Pisidium, Glyptostrobusandfish bone remains.


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fine-grained, although some coarser-grained intervals are pres-ent as well. The beds are ~10cm thick. The clay intercalationsare at maximum 20cm thick and are predominantly found in thelower part of the unit. An interval of brownish limestone withroots of water plants follows (Unit 2: 49.6m; text-fig. 3c). Thelimestone is somewhat softer than those below. These are over-lain by a thick interval of planar bedded limestones with a bedthickness of 5-20cm (Unit 3: 215.9m; text-fig. 3d). In this inter-val, plant remains disappear completely. A single bentonitelayer is located in its middle part. In the next unit (Unit 4,211.2m; text-figs 3e, 3f), ripple bedding dominates, although insome intervals plain beds return. The ripples are commonly

about 1cm thick and there is about 10cm of distance betweenconsecutive crests. Some intercalations of plant remains occurin association with horizons of coarser grained limestone. Thenext unit (Unit 5, 111.2m) starts with an about 5cm thickcalcarenite layer situated within laminated limestones, withplant-stems preserved on its bedding planes. Ripple and troughcross beds characterize this unit. Slump and channel structuresoccur in combination with more calcarenite intercalations.These are red or brownish in color and consist of badly sorted,angular lithoclasts. Above follow intervals of well-beddedlimestone (Unit 6, 54.0m; Fig. 3g) and ripple-bedded limestone(Unit 7, 24.4m) succeeded by a thinning upward succession ofmore well-bedded limestone (Unit 8, 72.2m). The first brecciarecorded in the Ostroac section occurs at the base of the fol-lowing interval (Unit 9, 42.0m), which is dominantly composedof alternating cross-bedded and massive limestones. The brec-cia is about 2m thick and consists of angular, badly sorted car-bonate lithoclasts. Two, up to 0.5m thick, volcanic ash layersoccur in this unit as well. Both the tephra and breccia beds arelaterally continuous and can be traced for at least several 100m.The breccia thickens westwards. Thickly bedded (Unit 10,97.2m; Fig 3h) and thinly bedded limestones (Unit 11, 73.9m;Fig. 3i) with intercalated calcarenite layers and inverselygraded breccia follow. Unit 12 displays a unique carbonate fa-cies with frequent micro-breccia intercalations and ooid inter-vals (Unit 12, 48.3m). The topmost interval (Unit 13, 394.9m;Fig. 3j) is badly exposed and partly covered by an artificial

lake. It consists of marly limestones with recurrent breccia in-tercalations. The topmost breccia is a 26.3m thick megabedwith limestone blocks of up to 2m in diameter. More marlylimestones follow until the discordant contact (Milojevi andSunari1964; Pape 1975) with the deposits of the younger lac-ustrine cycle is reached (text-fig. 2). The measured thicknessesand the succession of lithologic units correspond very well withdata presented by Milojeviand Sunari(1964).

The Mandek section

The Mandek section (text-fig. 3l) is located 10km south ofLivno, just E of the town of Mandek on the shore of artificial

Lake Mandek (text-fig. 3k) and belongs to stratigraphic unitM4. The section was logged from North to South along thegulley of the Vojvodinac brook, which runs normal to the bed-ding. The outcrop was mentioned by Luburi(1963). It exposesa volcanic ash, weakly lithified and whitish in color. At its top,it grades into lacustrine carbonates, dominated by fine-beddedlimestone. The ash layer is about 6m thick in this exposure. Aprominent 8m thick breccia horizon crops out 14m strati-graphically below the ash. The separating interval is completelycovered by vegetation. Below the breccia, there is an additional15m of lacustrine limestone in which a second 30cm thickbentonitic tephra occurs. Both ash horizons are also indicatedon the geological map of Pape (1972). A sample of the upperash layer was collected in a small pit about 100m E of the gulleyat N434349.9 E0170121.6.

The Drage West and Mokronoge sites

Although the clivunellid-bearing interval, M2, is in generalpoorly exposed in the Livno Basin as well as the TomislavgradBasin, small exposures crop out at the Drage West andMokronoge sites (text-fig. 2). Drage West (N434429.0E170455.6) is located about 300m W of the main entrance tothe Tunica coalmine. The narrow gulley displays light and darkbrownish bedded limestones with Clivunella katzeri (text-fig.4A), small dreissenid bivalves and plant remains such asTaxodium-related Glyptostrobus europaeus, and belongs to theupper part of interval M2. The Mokronoge site (N434520.5

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TEXT-FIGURE 4Dinaride Lake System endemic lacustrine mollusks from the W Drage (A) and Mokronoge (B and C) sites. A. Clivunella katzeri. B. Mytilopsisdrvarensis. C. Mytilopsis kucici. The scale is the same in all three images.


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E171358.2) is located near an Islamic graveyard just S of

the town of Mokronoge, alongside the road to Tomislavgrad(Kochansky-Devid and Slikovi1978). It exposes well-bed-ded, light beige limestones with abundant dreissenid bivalvesand plants remains. The bivalves include rather small speci-mens of Mytilopsis drvarensis, about 30mm in diameter(text-fig. 4B), and remarkably large specimens of M. kucici(text-fig. 4C), about 50mm in length.

Depositional history

The coals exposed in the Tunica and Vuipolje mines testify toswamp conditions during the initial phase of basin formation.Coal formation was terminated when the basin flooded and along-lived lake was established. As the lake deepened suboxicbottom conditions developed, as indicated by the organic-richlimestones of the Tunica mine and the overlying clivunellidlimestones (Unit M2, text-fig. 3). The strata exposed in thelower part of the Ostroac section are indicative of predomi-nantly shallow water conditions. The rippled structure of theselimestone beds shows that they accumulated by traction cur-rents in the shallow littoral zone. The calcarenites and brecciasthat characterize interval M4 are badly sorted, which impliesshort transport. We interpret them as debris-flows indicative oflocal seismic activity in conjunction with uplift of the basinmargins from which the material originates. The coarsening up-wards sequence, which these calcarenites and breccias thatfilled in the basin built, preluded the end of the first lacustrinephase. The angular discordance between the first and second

lacustrine units provides additional evidence for tectonic activ-

ity at the end of the first phase. This interpretation is in line withthat of Milojevi and Sunari (1964) and Pape (1975), whosuggested that uplift of the Tunica Mountain began during de-position of Unit M4. They postulate that this divided theLivno-Tomislavgrad basin into two independent lakes duringthe second lacustrine phase.

RADIO ISOTOPIC DATING

Sampling and methods

Two major volcanic ash deposits are intercalated in the basininfill (text-fig. 2). These are the tuff intercalated into the maincoal of the Tunica section and the thick tephra layer of theMandek section. Both ashes were sampled and subsequentlyprocessed at the Department of Isotope Geochemistry (VU Am-sterdam). The bulk samples were crushed, disintegrated in acalgon solution, washed and sieved over a set of sieves between63 and 250m. The residue was subjected to standard heavy liq-uid as well as magnetic mineral separation techniques. The frac-tion of grains larger than 150m from both samples containedample feldspar crystals. These were handpicked and leachedwith a 1:5 HF solution in an ultrasonic bath for 5 minutes. Themineral separates were then loaded in a 6mm ID quartz vial to-gether with Fish Canyon Tuff (FC-2) and Drachenfels (Dra-1,f250-500) sanidine. The vial was irradiated at the Oregon StateUniversity TRIGA reactor in the cadmium shielded CLICITfacility for 10 hours.

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TEXT-FIGURE 5Probability density diagrams for the multiple total fusion experiments for the Mandek, Tunica tuffs.


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TEXT-FIGURE 6Lithologicalcolumns,obtained magneticdata and resultingpolarity pattern for the Tunica and Ostroac sectionsin the Livno and Tomislavgradbasins,placed in a compositesection for the main lacustrine cycleof the palaeo-lake (Fig. 2). Stratigraphicinterval: Correlation of lithostratigraphic units fromFigure 2 tothe studied section. Units: Lithostratigraphic units identified by sedimentological logging. For a detailed explanation of the stratigraphicin-tervals and sedimentary units see Figure 3. Polaritycolumn: In the polaritycolumn,black indicatesnormal polarity, whitereversed polarityand greyin-tervals for whichno reliablepolarity could be established. Blackarrows: Samples for which demagnetization and decay diagramsare shownin Figure 6.Letters A L: Polarityintervalsdiscussedin thetext. ATNTS (Astronomically Tuned Neogene TimeScale) afterLourenset al.(2004).ColumnA: Med-iterranean stages, Column B: Central Paratethys stages.


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All age calculations use the decay constants of Steiger andJger (1977). The age for the Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine fluxmonitor used in age calculations is 28.201 0.03 My (Kuiper etal. 2008). The age for the Drachenfels sanidine flux monitor is25.42 0.03 My (Kuiper et al. in prep). Correction factors forneutron interference reactions are 2.64 0.017 10-4 for(36Ar/37Ar)Ca, 6.73 0.037 10-4 for (39Ar/37Ar)Ca, 1.211 0.003 10-2 for (38Ar/39Ar)K and 8.6 0.710-4 for(40Ar/39Ar)K. Errors are quoted at the 1level and include theanalytical error and the error in the irradiation parameter J. All

relevant analytical data as well as error determination can befound in the online supplementary material.

40Ar/

39Ar ages

Ten multiple grain fusion experiments have been analyzed forthe Mandek and Tunica tuffs in order to determine the40Ar/39Ar age. These provided two, almost homogenous agepopulations (text-fig. 5). The full analytical data are given in thesupplementary material. For the Tunica tuff, the average per-centage of radiogenic40Ar* is 89.5% and its K/Ca ratio is on av-

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TEXT-FIGURE 7Reconstruction of the sedimentation rate for the Livno and Tomislavgrad Basin and comparison with the rate of sedimentation in the Sinj Basin (deLeeuw et al. 2010).


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erage 3.3. The isochron ages are concordant with the weightedmean age and the trapped 40Ar/36Ar component is atmospheric.This provides an age of 17.000.17 Ma for the Tunica tuff, inexact agreement with the age indicated by the probability den-sity distribution calculated for the 10 duplicate experiments(text-fig. 5). This age is thus assumed to reflect the crystalliza-tion age of the tuff. For the Mandek tuff, the average percentageof radiogenic 40Ar* is 59.5% and its K/Ca ratio is on average1.51. Also for this tuff, the isochron ages are concordant withthe weighted mean age and the trapped 40Ar/36Ar component isatmospheric. This provides an age of 14.680.16 Ma for theMandek tuff. This age is in good agreement with the age indi-cated by the probability density distribution (text-fig. 5) and re-flects its crystallization age. For both ash samples, the MSWDof the calculated weighted mean ages is smaller than the T-stu-dent distribution at the 95% confidence level (supplementarymaterial).

Beside the Mandek and Tunica tuffs, several volcanic ash lay-ers in the Ostroac section were sampled and subjected to min-eral separation techniques. However, all except one werebentonized and too fine grained to provide suitable grains for40

Ar/39

Ar dating. Results for sample VU1, taken from the onlycoarser grained ash, situated at the base of the Ostroac section,were disturbed by a large reworked component. Thus its crys-tallization age could not be determined.

MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHY

Sampling and methods

Hand samples were gathered from the Tunica and Ostroacsections in order to construct a magnetostratigraphy. The orien-tation of all samples and bedding planes was measured bymeans of a magnetic compass, and corrected for the local mag-netic declination. In the laboratory, standard paleomagneticcores were drilled and subsequently divided into several speci-mens. Thermal as well as alternating field demagnetization

techniques were applied in order to isolate the characteristicremanent magnetization (ChRM). The natural remanent mag-netization (NRM) of the samples was measured after each de-magnetization step on a 2G Enterprises DC Squid cryogenicmagnetometer (noise level 310-12Am2). Heating occurred in alaboratory-built, magnetically shielded furnace employing10-30C temperature increments up to 280-350C. AF demag-netization was accomplished by a laboratory-built automatedmeasuring device applying 5-20mT increments up to 100mT bymeans of an AF coil interfaced with the magnetometer. TheChRM was identified through assessment of decay-curves andvector end-point diagrams (Zijderveld 1967). ChRM directionswere calculated by principal component analysis (Kirschvink1980) without forcing trough the origin, and are always basedon at least four consecutive temperature or field steps.

Demagnetization results

The samples of the clayey limestones of the Tunica sectionwere subjected to stepwise AF demagnetization. Their NRMgenerally consists of two components. A normal overprint, es-pecially observable in non-tilt corrected diagrams (supplemen-tary text-figure 9), is removed in fields up to 25mT.Subsequently, between 25 and 60mT, approximately 95% ofthe NRM disappears. This second component decays straight tothe origin and we interpret it as the ChRM. ChRM intensitiesrange between 1*10-4 and 12*10-4 A/m. We do not observe anygyroremanence. All ChRM directions have a MAD


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ing samples from this interval above 200C results in a sharpincrease in intensity. The generated components have randomdirections, and thermal demagnetization diagrams are severelydisturbed. Apparently, new magnetic minerals are being cre-ated. Thermal demagnetization diagrams of interval G demon-strate normal polarities. AF results of G are generally of verylow quality and cannot be reliably interpreted. Interval H car-ries a reversed polarity, as demonstrated by thermal demagneti-zation diagrams. Some signs of alteration appear above 200C.AF results are of low quality but generally corroborate the re-versed polarity. Both AF and thermal results are of high qualityin intervals I, J, and L, and they are clearly of normal polarity.In intervals J and M, intensities often sharply increase whensamples are heated above 250-330C. This temperature intervalindicates that the rise in intensity might be attributable to the al-teration of iron sulfides. The directions of the ChRM compo-nent have been determined by forcing a vector from the220-280C temperature steps through the origin. Interval K isrelatively short and bears a reversed polarity as indicated byboth thermal and alternating field demagnetization diagrams.

CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK

Correlation of the magnetostratigraphy for the Livno Basin tothe geological timescale is facilitated by the acquired 40Ar/39Arages for the Tunica and Mandek tuffs. Since the former has anage of 17.000.17 Ma, the reversed polarity interval retrieved inthe Tunica - Drage Quarry must correlate to chron C5Cr(text-fig. 6). The large reversed interval in the lower part of theOstroac section most likely represents chron C5Br. This im-plies that the unexposed interval between these two sections,comprising approximately 350m (Milojeviand Sunari1964),covers the time span of C5Cn. The topmost part of this chronstraddles the very base of the Ostroac section (text-fig. 6). In-terval E most likely corresponds to C5Bn.2n, interval F toC5Bn.1r, interval G to C5Bn.1n, and interval H to C5ADr. In-tervals I and J together correlate to chron C5ADn. We cannotexclude, however, a short reversed interval in the top of intervalI or the base of interval J. Reversed interval K might thus repre-sent either C5ACr or C5ABr. This results in a correlation of in-terval L to either C5ACn or C5ABn. This correlation suggestsan age of approximately 16 Ma for the base, and an age of either

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TEXT-FIGURE 8Chronology for key biostratigraphic and depositional events of the Dinaride Lake System.


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14 Ma or 13.5 Ma for the top of the Ostroac section. The firstoption (option 1) implies that the sedimentation rate stronglyincreases in the breccia-bearing part of the section (text-fig. 7).Adoption of the second option (option 2) means sedimentationrates increase only slightly. The 14.680.16 Ma Mandek ashcorrelates to stratigraphic interval M4 of the 1:100,000 geologi-cal map of the Livno Basin. The age of the Mandek ash sug-gests that it is time-equivalent to part of interval H of theOstroac section. An 8m thick breccia crops out 14m below theMandek ash. Since the first breccia enters the Ostroac sectionin the top part of interval I, we conclude that breccias appar-ently started to accumulate asynchronously in different parts ofthe basin.

Since the Tunica section is located at the very base of the basininfill, sedimentation in the Livno Basin started around 17 Ma.In order to estimate when deposition ended, an additional 300mof poorly exposed sediments that overlie the section sampledalong the Ostroac stream have to be taken into account(text-fig. 6). Extrapolating the calculated sedimentation ratesfor the topmost sampled interval, we estimate a minimum ageof between 12.6 and 13.2 Ma for the mega-breccia at the top of

the Ostroac section (text-fig. 7). Since the breccias coarsen andthicken upwards, the amount of clastic input gradually in-creases along the sampled section. In the interval above, this ef-fect is more strongly pronounced and the sedimentation ratemight thus increase significantly. Most of the infill of the LivnoBasin, attributed to the first lacustrine cycle, thus accumulatedbetween 17 and approximately 13 Ma.

DISCUSSION

Comparison with the other lakes of the Dinaride Lake System

For a long time, accurate age control on the lacustrine depositsof the intra-montane Dinaride basins remained an outstandingproblem. Recently, however, new chronostratigraphic datahave become available. The DLS sediments in the Sinj basinaccumulated between 18 and 15 Ma (de Leeuw et al. 2010),while deposition in the Gacko basin lasted from 15.8 to approx-imately 15.0 Ma (Mandic et al. 2010). The sediments exposedalong the shores of the island of Pag are between 17.1 and 16.7Ma (Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2008). The lacustrine phase of theSava and Drava depressions, situated along the northern rim ofthe Dinarides, and collectively called the North Croatian Basin,lasted from 18 Ma to at least 16 Ma (Mandic et al. 2011). TheDLS sediments in the Livno basin have now been shown tohave accumulated between 17 and approximately 13 Ma. Weconclude that deposition in all these Dinaride Lakes concen-trates in a period stretching from the Early to Middle Miocene(18-13 Ma), which correlates to the Burdigalian and Langhianstages of the Geological Time Scale and to the regional

Ottnangian, Karpatian and Badenian stages of the Paratethys.A profound phase of basin formation thus struck the Dinaridesin the Early to Middle Miocene. At that time, the DLS, whichoccupied the resulting depressions, stretched out from the Is-land of Pag in the west, to the Gacko Basin in the south, and theSava and Drava basins in the north. Subsidence in the LivnoBasin was fairly rapid compared to the Sinj, Gacko and Pagbasins. The sedimentation rate in the Sinj Basin on averageamounted 17cm/kyr (de Leeuw et al. 2010), similar to the sedi-mentation rate of 22-30cm/kyr on the Island of Pag(Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2008). In Gacko, the average rate of de-position was estimated to be between 10-30cm/kyr, based on

assumed astronomical forcing of sedimentary cycles (Mandic etal. 2010). In the Livno basin the sedimentation rate was signifi-cantly higher, around 37-55cm/kyr. Since all of the investigatedsediments accumulated in or close to the photic zone, the accu-mulation rate directly reflects basin subsidence.

The role of tectonics and climate in the development anddisappearance of Lake Livno

The life-time of Lake Livno and the other lakes of the DinarideLake System coincided with a phase of profound syn-rift exten-sion in the neighbouring Pannonian Basin (Horvth 1995). Thissuggests extension may have penetrated into the orogentrigerring the formation of the Dinaride intra-montane basins, inline with paleostress data of Iliand Neubauer (2005) and thetectonostratigraphic model for formation of the North CroatianBasin of Paveli(2001). Both persistent basin subsidence and along-term appropriate climate are necessary to guarantee accu-mulation of a 1.7km thick pile of lacustrine sediments. It is thusevident that Early to Middle Miocene climatic conditions weresuitable for lake formation in the Dinarides. Detailed facies andpollen analysis suggests Lake Sinj and Lake Gacko were sensi-tive to cyclic changes in climate (Mandic et al. 2010;

Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2008, 2009). Whether these are reflectedin the thick sedimentary record of the Livno Basin remains to beexplored.

At 14.8 Ma, shortly after deposition in the Sinj and Gacko bas-ins ended, the first calcarenites were deposited in the Livno Ba-sin. Between 14.4 and 14.2 Ma, the first breccia was depositedin the Ostroac section. In other locations in the basin, brecciasstarted to accumulate even earlier, as becomes clear from theMandek section where a breccia underlies the 14.680.16 Mavolcanic ash. From this moment onwards, breccias thicken andcoarsen until deposition of a mega-breccia eventually con-cluded the Miocene lacustrine phase. These breccias containclasts of Mesozoic age derived from the basin margins and re-veal that these were prone to erosion. This suggests the margins

became uplifted in response to enhanced tectonic activity. Sub-sidence apparently stalled or was outpaced by the enhanced in-put of erosional material. A change in tectonic regime is thus themost likely cause for the disappearance of Lake Livno whichslightly postdates 13 Ma. During the second lake phase, sepa-rate lakes develop in the then disunited Livno and Tomislavbasins. An angular unconformity separates the deposits of thefirst and second lake phase. This supports a tectonic cause forthe end of the first lake phase.

Towards a time-indicative endemic mollusk biostratigraphy

Our new chronostratigraphy for the Dinaride basins pinpointsthe age of a number of mollusk occurrences (text-fig. 8), impor-tant for the regional biostratigraphic scheme (Kochansky-

Devid and Slikovi

1972, 1978, 1980). The first is the occur-rence of the primitive dreissenid bivalve Mytilopsis herce-govinensis(18-17.2 Ma), documented in the lower part of theSinj section. This type ofMytilopsisis morphologically relatedto the larger sizedMytilopsis kucici, which occurs above a hori-zon with clivunellid gastropods (~17 Ma) in the upper part(~16.7 Ma) of the section on Pag (Buli and Jurii-Polak2009, Jimnez-Moreno et al. 2009).

In the Livno and Tomislavgrad basins, clivunellids are re-stricted to stratigraphic unit M2 with an approximate age rangeof 16.116.9 Ma (text-fig. 6). It contains fossils ofClivunellakatzeri, a primitive morphotype ofMytilopsis drvarensis,and a

40



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progressive morphotype ofM. kucici(text-fig. 4). This is theoldest recorded occurrence ofM. drvarensisand its presence inunit M2 demonstrates that it had already appeared in the Early

Miocene. The specimens ofM. kuciciandClivunella katzerire-corded, on the other hand, are the youngest ones known andthese species might have become extinct at the Early to MiddleMiocene boundary. The occurrence of either clivunellids orM.kuciciin combination with M. drvarensisis thus an importantmarker for the uppermost Lower Miocene in the DLS. In con-trast to M. kucici and C. katzeri, the stratigraphic range of

Mytilopsis drvarensisextends into the Middle Miocene and astriking radiation of the species occurs in chron C5Br (16-15.2Ma) (de Leeuw et al. 2010).

Two more first occurrences complete our current knowledge ofthe DLS biochronostratigraphic scheme. These are the

Mytilopsis friciFO at 15.6-15.4 Ma in the Gacko Basin (Mandicet al. 2010), and theMytilopsis aleticiFO at 15.4 Ma in the SinjBasin (de Leeuw et al. 2010). The establishment of age ranges

for these endemic mollusks allows their use as time indicatorsand might enable future dating of fossil-bearing successionsthat are not suitable for paleomagnetic and radio-isotopic tech-niques.

CONCLUSIONS

A detailed chronostratigraphic framework based on integratedmagnetostratigraphic and radio-isotopic data demonstrates thatthe majority of the DLS sediments in the intra-montane Livnoand Tomislavgrad basins accumulated between 17 and approxi-mately 13 Ma. The very top of the DLS sediments is overlaindiscordantly by deposits of a younger lake phase and do not

41


TEXT-FIGURE 9Supplemental data.


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crop out. The end of the first lake phase is therefore poorly con -strained.

When subsidence initially set in, swamp conditions prevailedand several coal seams formed. Subsequently, the basin, thenstill undivided, was flooded and a long-lived lake established.Around 1700m of lacustrine limestones with several intercalat-ing volcanic ash layers accumulated. Around 14.8 Ma,calcarenites and breccias, derived from the basin margin startedto enter Lake Livno. They coarsened and thickened over time.This suggests an inversion of the tectonic regime with gradualuplift of the basin margins that eventually caused Lake Livno todisappear. During the second lake phase, two separate lakesformed in the then separated Livno and Tomislavgrad basins.

Comparison with other recently dated Dinaride lakes demon-strates that their life-times coincide and shows that a profoundphase of basin formation struck the orogen in the Early to Mid-dle Miocene. The concomitant climatic conditions were appar-ently beneficial for lake formation. The occurrence of eitherclivunellids or M. kuciciin combination with M. drvarensisisshown to be time-indicative of the uppermost Early Mioceneand is thus considered an important chronological marker in theDLS. Integrated radio-isotopic and magnetostratigraphic datingtechniques once more prove to be a powerful chronostrati-graphic tool in settings subject to endemism.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are highly indebted to Tvrtko ubela (Coalmine Tunica,Livno), Jeronim Buli(HPM Zagreb) and Stjepan ori(GBAVienna) - this study would not be possible without their supportand logistic help. We thank Roel van Elsas for assistance withmineral separation and Jan Wijbrans and Cor Langereis for dis-cussion. The study contributes the Austrian FWF ProjectP18519-B17: Mollusk Evolution of the Neogene DinarideLake System and was supported by the Netherlands ResearchCentre for Integrated Solid Earth Sciences (ISES) and by the

Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research(NWO/ALW).

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Received January 31, 2011Accepted July 5, 2011Published August 2011


a chronostratigraphy for the dinaride lake system deposits of the livno-tomislavgrad basin: the rise...

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