According to earlier concepts, the Czorsztyn Unit (Oravic Superunit, Pieniny Klippen Belt, Western Carpathians) sedimented on the isolated Czorsztyn Swell which existed in the Middle Jurassic-Late Cretaceous time in the realm of the Outer Western Carpathians. This paper brings new data providing an alternative interpretation of its Cretaceous evolution. They are based on heavy mineral analysis of the Upper Aptian/Lower Albian sediments of the Czorsztyn Unit. They rest upon a karstified surface after a Hauterivian-Aptian emersion and are represented by condensed, red marly organodetritic limestones with some terrigenous admixture (Chmielowa Formation). The heavy mineral spectrum is dominated by spinels, followed by garnet, with lesser amounts of zircon, rutile and tourmaline. The composition of the majority of the detrital garnets shows that they were derived from primary HP/UHP parental rocks which were recrystallized under granulite and amphibolite facies conditions. The garnets were most probably derived directly from the magmatic and metamorphic rocks of the Oravic basement, as the high-pyrope garnets are known to be abundant in Mesozoic sediments all over the Outer Western Carpathians. The presence of spinels is surprising. According to their chemistry, they were mostly derived from mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORB) peridotites, supra-subduction zone peridotites (harzburgites) and transitional lherzolite/ harzburgite types. Only a lesser amount of spinels was derived from volcanics of BABB composition (back-arc basin basalts). The presence of this ophiolitic detritus in the Czorsztyn Unit is difficult to explain. Ophiolitic detritus appeared in the Aptian/Albian time only in the units which were considered to be more distant, because they were situated at the boundary between the Central and the Outer Western Carpathians (Klape Unit, Tatric and Fatric domains). The hypothetical Exotic Ridge which represented an accretionary wedge in front of the overriding Western Carpathian internides was considered to be a source of the clastics. In previous paleogeographical reconstructions, the Czorsztyn Unit was situated north of the Pieniny Trough (considered to be one of the branches of the Penninic-Vahic Ocean). In the trough itself, the ophiolitic detritus appeared as late as in the Senonian and there was no way it could reach the Czorsztyn Swell which was considered to be an isolated elevation. The new results presented herein show that these reconstructions do not fit the obtained data and infer a possibility that the Czorsztyn sedimentary area was not isolated in the Cretaceous time and it was situated closer to the Central Carpathian units than previously thought. A new paleogeographical model of the evolution of the Pieniny Klippen Belt is presented in the paper: Oravic segment was derived from the Moldanubian Zone of the Bohemian Massif by the Middle Jurassic rifting which caused block tilting where most of the Oravic units were arranged north of the Czorsztyn Swell. The Oravic segment was situated in...

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A hydrothermal quartz vein with REE-U-Au mineralization in the Zimná Voda (Gemeric Unit, Western Carpathians, Slovakia) is associated with contact metamorphism between Permian granites and host phyllites and metaquartzites. It contains unique REE minerals of the monazite and xenotime groups. Monazite-(Ce), monazite-(Nd), monazite-(Sm), and Gd-dominant monazite [“monazite-(Gd)”], along with xenotime-(Y) to Gd-dominant xenotime [“xenotime-(Gd)”] and Gd-rich hingganite-(Y) show heterogeneous compositions and reflect a strong fractionation trend toward the enrichment of MREE (Sm to Dy), particularly Gd. Here, the gadolinium abundance reported in “monazite-(Gd)” (≤23.4 wt% Gd2O3) and Gd-rich xenotime-(Y) to “xenotime-(Gd)” (≤28.7 wt% Gd2O3) and accompanied by Gd-rich hingganite-(Y) (≤15.8 wt% Gd2O3), is among the highest Gd concentrations ever reported in natural minerals. The Gd-richest compositions show the following formulas: (Gd0.31Sm0.24 Nd0.15Ce0.10La0.05Dy0.03Y0.03…)0.98PO4 [“monazite-(Gd)”], (Gd0.36Y0.32Dy0.13Sm0.08Tb0.05…)0.98 (P0.96As0.04)1.00O4 [“xenotime-(Gd)”] and (Y0.71Gd0.43Dy0.23Sm0.22Tb0.06Er0.04Nd0.06…Ca0.06)1.96 (☐0.87Fe0.132+)1.00(Be1.82B0.18)2.00(Si1.90As0.10)2.00O8(OH1.70O0.30)2.00 [hingganite-(Y)]. The MREE-rich monazites, xenotimes, and hingganite-(Y) precipitated in response to the alteration of primary uraninite, brannerite, and fluorapatite by low-temperature hydrothermal fluids of heterogeneous compositions on a microscale. These are responsible for the strong enrichment of individual MREE, especially Gd in the secondary minerals. This is accompanied by the advancing development of the W-type tetrad effect on REE through monazite species. The substantial incorporation of Gd into both REE-selective monazite and xenotime structures that are accompanied by LREE vs. HREE segregation indicates the possibility of differently sized REE3+ miscibility in REEPO4 solid solutions, as well as the stabilization of the Gd-rich orthophosphate structure by substitution of the remaining A-site cations with smaller HREE+Y in the xenotime-type, and/or larger LREE in the monazite-type structure.

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The study aims to reconstruct the crystalline parent rock assemblages of the Eocene Strihovce Formation (Krynica Unit) and Mrázovce Member (Rača Unit) deposits, based on the heavy mineral suites, their corrosive features, geochemistry of garnet and tourmaline, zircon cathodoluminescence (CL) images, and exotic pebble composition. Both units are an integral part of the Magura Nappe belonging to the Flysch Belt (Outer Western Carpathians). Corrosion signs observable on heavy minerals point to different burial conditions and/or diverse sources. The compositions of the detrital garnets and tourmalines as well as the CL study of zircons indicate their origin in gneisses, mica schists, amphibolites, and granites in the source area. According to observed petrographic and mineralogical characteristics, palaeoflow data and palaeogeographical situation during the Eocene may show that the Tisza Mega-Unit crystalline complexes including a segment of the flysch substratum could represent the lateral (southern) input of detritus for the Krynica Unit. The Rača Unit might have been fed from the northern source formed by the unpreserved Silesian Ridge. The Marmarosh Massif (coupled with the Fore-Marmarosh Suture Zone) is promoted to be a longitudinal source.

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The provenance of the Proč and Strihovce sandstones is crucial for understanding the relationship between the Pieniny Klippen (PKB) and Flysch (FB) belts in the easternmost part of the Western Carpathian realm. Detrital Cr-spinels in these tectonic units were assertively interpreted as sourced from the southern sources representing the Meliata mélange. In this study, we use the geochemistry of detrital chromian spinels to identify the mafic and ultramafic source of the sediments and to compare them each other. Simultaneously, we compare their chemical compositions with those from the different Western Carpathian geological units, which could feed the Proč and Krynica basins during the Paleogene, where the Proč and Strihovce formations (fms), respectively, were deposited. Chromian spinels from the Proč and Strihovce fms exhibit similar geochemical characteristics (Cr# = 0.44–0.88 and 0.29–0.89, Mg# = 0.17–0.68 and 0.2–0.72, TiO2 = 0.0–3.67 and 0.01–2.08 wt.%, respectively). The spinels show both supra-subduction zone (SSZ) peridotite signatures and volcanic origin. Whereas volcanic spinels from the Proč Formation (Fm.) were formed under an ocean island basalt (OIB) and back-arc basin basalt (BABB) geodynamic setting, those from the Strihovce Fm. suggest a predominantly mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) origin. To avoid mistakes in the provenance interpretations, the data from garnet geochemistry of both formations is supplied. The analysed Cr-spinels do not absolutely overlap with spinels reported from the Meliata Unit, and their composition indicates at least two independent sources.

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