Upper Miocene Pannonian sediments from Belgrade (Serbia): new evidence and paleoenvironmental considerations

The Late Miocene sublittoral marls of the Pannonian Stage (the long-lived Lake Pannon) were studied. From neotectonic point of view, the investigated area represents a natural border between two different morphostructural domains: the Pannonian Basin to the north and the Peri-Pannonian Realm to the south. More than 20 mollusc and 34 ostracod species were identified which indicate the upper part of the Lower Pannonian and the lower part of the Middle Pannonian ("Serbian") predominantly. The identified dinoflagellate cyst assemblage (21 taxa) hinders assignment of the studied samples to a Pannonian substage but supports the high endemism of the Pannonian flora. The lithostratigraphical, paleontological, and paleoecological analyses indicate a mesohaline (8-16 ‰), sublittoral (<90 m deep) environment of the early Lake Pannon. The estimated stratigraphic range for the investigated deposits is 9.8-11.4 Ma.