Abstract: Architecture and Sedimentary Evolution of the Pannonian Basin

JUHASZ, GYORGYI

The stratigraphy of the sedimentary succession of the different sub-basins within the Pannonian Basin has been interpreted in the past in a number of different ways. Even within Hungary, which covers the greater part of the basins, differences of interpretation are obvious. In the surrounding countries differences in interpretations are even greater. In fact these sub-basins were paleogeographically connected to each other.

Comparative studies of sedimentology, regional geology as well as sequence stratigraphy, however, demonstrated that their architecture is very similar, apart from small differences. Sediment input was continuous from the margins of the basin and the infilling of the individual sub-basins was sequential in time. The mechanism of sedimentation, the different sedimentary environments and the main factors affecting deposition, however, were the same. Therefore the lithofacies associations, which formed in the different sub-basins, are very similar. The different facies associations are continuous over long distances throughout the basin and are easily mappable. Differences from basin to basin were caused by the different rate of sediment input through time and by relative sea level fluctuations, both of which were partly the result of climatic changes.

This paper gives a comprehensive overview of the architecture of the Pannonian Basin, comprising characteristic cross-sections of six main sub-basins in the Hungarian part, pointing out the general features and the main differences between them, and giving also the possible interpretation and explanation of these facts.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria