Upper Badenian diatom paleoecolgy of the western part of Central Paratethys

Abstract

In the western part of Central Paratethys, on the territory of Slovenia, the Upper Badenian diatoms occur only in the Krško basin. The diatom paleoecology of the Upper Badenian beds suggests their deposition in the marine littoral, in warm to moderately warm water of depth less than 100 meters and of salinity above 30 ‰. The frequency of resting spores and of species Thalassionema nitzschioides in the Upper Badenian sediments indicates an increased bioproduction and connection with centers of the littoral upwelling, and by this also the connection of Central Paratethys with the Mediterranean via the “Transtethyan corridor” up to the end of Badenian.