The GEMAS (geochemical mapping of agricultural soil) project collected 2108 Ap horizon soil samples from regularly ploughed fields in 33 European countries, covering 5.6 million km2. The <2 mm fraction of these samples was analysed for 53 elements by ICP-MS and ICP-AES, following a HNO3/HCl/H2O (modified aqua regia) digestion. Results are used here to establish the geochemical background variation and threshold values, derived statistically from the data set, in order to identify unusually high element concentrations for these elements in the Ap samples. Potentially toxic elements (PTEs),

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The Dinaride Lake System, as one of the largest freshwater systems in the Neogene of Europe, is widely known for its exceptional mollusc fauna. During the Early and Middle Miocene, it displayed a major evolutionary hotspot resulting in a high level of endemicity. Despite advanced investigations in that region, comprehensive knowledge on the mollusc fauna of the Kupres basin is largely lacking. The herein presented results give insight into this outstandingly preserved fauna and are the base for a systematic revision of several supraspecific taxa among the Hydrobiidae. Because their phylogeny is poorly known, this study may serve as starting point for an overall systematic revision of this highly diverse family. Moreover, the faunal composition allows inferences on palaeobiogeography and hydrological connections within the Dinaride Lake System during the early Middle Miocene. About one-third of the described taxa are restricted to the Kupres basin. The other taxa document faunistic relations to the coeval faunas of the Sinj, Drniš and Džepi basins. Phases of hydrological isolation, indicated by carbonate dominated lithology, coincide with a high frequency of sculptured morphologies within the gastropods. Phases of increased aridity led to high evaporation, a lowered lake level and enhanced carbonate production which seem to have promoted strongly calcified shells. The stratigraphic ranges of the species imply a depositional age of 15.5 ± 0.2 Ma (earliest Middle Miocene; Langhian). Among the Hydrobiidae Cyclothyrella gen. nov. and Pseudodianella gen. nov. are introduced as new genera. Bania obliquaecostata sp. nov., Melanopsis corici sp. nov., Nematurella vrabaci sp. nov., Prososthenia diaphoros sp. nov. and Prososthenia undocostata sp. nov. are described as new species. For the secondary homonym Melanopsis bittneri (Neumayr, 1880), the new name Melanopsis medinae nom. nov. is proposed.

The geodynamic evolution of the Dinaride Mountains of southeastern Europe is relatively poorly understood, especially in comparison with the neighboring Alps and Carpathians. Here, we construct a new chronostratigraphy for the post-orogenic intra-montane basins of the Central Dinarides based on paleomagnetic and 40Ar/39Ar age data. A first phase of basin formation occurred in the late Oligocene. A second phase of basin formation took place between 18 and 13 Ma, concurrent with profound extension in the neighboring Pannonian Basin. Our paleomagnetic results further indicate that the Dinarides have not experienced any significant tectonic rotation since the late Oligocene. This implies that the Dinarides were decoupled from the adjacent Adria and the Tisza–Dacia Mega-Units that both underwent major rotation during the Miocene. The Dinaride orogen must consequently have accommodated significant shortening. This is corroborated by our AMS data that indicate post-Middle Miocene shortening in the frontal zone, wrenching in the central part of the orogen, and compression in the hinterland. A review of paleomagnetic data from the Adria plate, which plays a major role in the evolution of the Dinarides as well as the Alps, constrains rotation since the Early Cretaceous to 48 ± 10° counterclockwise and indicates 20° of this rotation took place since the Miocene. It also shows that Adria behaved as an independent plate from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene. From the Eocene onwards, coupling between Adria and Africa was stronger than between Adria and Europe. Adria continued to behave as an independent plate. The amount of rotation within the Adria-Dinarides collision zone increases with age and proximity of the sampled sediments to undeformed Adria. These results significantly improve our insight in the post-orogenic evolution of the Dinarides and resolve an apparent controversy between structural geological and paleomagnetic rotation estimates for the Dinarides as well as Adria.

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