Provenance and morphostratigraphy of the PlioceneQuaternary sediments in the Celje and Drava-Ptuj Basins (eastern Slovenia)

Abstract

This study presents the results of the first systematic morphostratigraphic and provenance analyses of the Pliocene-Quaternary fluvial sediments in the Celje and Drava-Ptuj intramontane basins. Based on the degree of terrace preservation, the dip of the terrace surfaces and fans, and the composition and degree of weathering of the sediments, low-, middle-and high-level terrace groups were constrained and tentatively attributed to Late Pleistocene, Middle Pleistocene and Plio-Early Pleistocene, respectively. The provenance analysis focused on the sediments from the high-level terrace (Plio-Early Pleistocene) and encompassed clast lithological analysis and microfacies analysis of the clasts. The results indicate a local provenance with relatively short transport, which is consistent with the morphology of the clasts. The source rocks of the Plio-Early Pleistocene deposits in the Celje Basin are attributed to the formations outcropping in the southern Pohorje Massif and the Upper Savinja River Valley corresponding to the paleo-Savinja. The possibility of resedimentation of the clasts from Miocene clastic sedimentary rocks located north of the Celje Basin also needs to be considered. The sediments of the Drava-Ptuj Basin originate from the Pohorje Massif, the Kozjak mountain range, and the area south of the Pohorje Massif which were deposited by the paleo-Drava and paleo-Dravinja rivers. Our study indicates that the drainage systems of the paleo-Savinja, paleo-Drava and paleo-Dravinja during the Plio-Early Pleistocene roughly correspond to those of the present day. Izvleček Predstavljamo prve sistematične analize morfostratigrafije in provenience pliocensko-kvartarnih rečnih sedimentov na območju Celjskega in Dravsko-Ptujskega medgorskega bazena. Na podlagi stopnje ohranjenosti morfologije teras, naklona terasnih površin in sestave ter stopnje preperelosti sedimentov so bili opredeljeni trije terasni nivoji in interpretirane starosti teras in vršajev. Spodnjemu terasnemu nivoju je bila interpretativno določena poznopleistocenska starost, srednjemu terasnemu nivoju srednjepleistocenska, zgornjemu terasnemu nivoju pa plio-zgodnjepleistocenska starost. Analiza provenience je bila osredotočena na sedimente višjega terasnega nivoja (pliocen-zgodnji pleistocen) in je temeljila na litološki analizi klastov in analizi mikrofaciesov klastov. Rezultati nakazujejo, da gre za lokalno provenienco proda, kar dodatno potrjujejo sedimentološka opazovanja morfologije klastov. Izvor plio-zgodnjepleistocenskih sedimentov v Celjskem bazenu so domnevno formacije, ki izdanjajo na območju južnega Pohorja in Zgornjesavinjske doline, pri čemer pa moramo upoštevati

Revealing Subtle Active Tectonic Deformation: Integrating Lidar, Photogrammetry, Field Mapping, and Geophysical Surveys to Assess the Late Quaternary Activity of the Sava Fault (Southern Alps, Slovenia)

“…Our mapping revealed a series of fluvial landforms, including remnants of terraces, alluvial fans, and floodplains, the relative ages of which were estimated based on landform preservation and topographic correlation. The age of the terraces increases with their elevation, the degree of degradation, and the soil profile development, as has been shown for the Ljubljana Basin [110][111][112] and other intramontane basins of eastern Slovenia [113,114]. Via morphostratigraphic comparison we thus tentatively inferred that (a) Figure 2.…”

“…Our mapping revealed a series of fluvial landforms, including remnants of terraces, alluvial fans, and floodplains, the relative ages of which were estimated based on landform preservation and topographic correlation. The age of the terraces increases with their elevation, the degree of degradation, and the soil profile development, as has been shown for the Ljubljana Basin [110][111][112] and other intramontane basins of eastern Slovenia [113,114]. Via morphostratigraphic comparison we thus tentatively inferred that (a) strongly eroded remnants of terraces present at the highest elevations are presumably Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene, (b) lower-lying and less-eroded terraces and fans are presumably Middle to Late Pleistocene, (c) well-preserved fans at the lowermost elevations are presumably Late Pleistocene to Holocene, and (d) floodplains are presumably Holocene.…”

“…The Pliocene has not been mapped in the Ljubljana Basin [66,67], and there is probably a stratigraphic hiatus between the Oligocene and Quaternary in the northern part of the Ljubljana Basin. In the intramontane basins of Eastern Slovenia, however, fluvial sedimentation probably began in the latest Pliocene [113,114,116,117], which is why we tentatively allow the possibility that the beginning of fluvial sedimentation in the Ljubljana Basin could also be in the latest Pliocene. We therefore assume a Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene age for the oldest units we have mapped.…”

Geochemical and Mineralogical Approaches in Unraveling Paleoweathering, Provenance, and Tectonic Setting of the Clastic Sedimentary Succession (Western Central Paratethys)

“…Considering that the Central Paratethys covered the area south of the Tunjice Hills in the Early and Middle Miocene [38] and that the lowlands with Quaternary sediments to the east still exist [88,108], the origin from the eastern side is minimal. Lowlands to the west enabled a marine gateway through the so-called Trans-Tethyan Corridor during the Karpatian and the Badenian [38,44,109,110]. The intermediate origin points at the sediments originating from the Alps, more precisely from the Karawanks [111,112], the Eastern Alps [85] or Triassic igneous rocks [113].…”

Oral bioaccessibility of potentially toxic elements in various urban environmental media

“…The town of Maribor developed on the Drava River alluvial plain, which is represented by Quaternary glacio-fluvial and fluvial sediments, consisting mainly of metamorphic and igneous rock fragments (Mencin Gale et al, 2019;Mioč & Žnidarčič, 1989;Šoster et al, 2017;Trajanova, 2002;Žlebnik, 1982). The surroundings of the town are dominated by the hilly area of Slovenske Gorice, consisting of Miocene sedimentary rocks (mainly siliciclastic rocks), and by the Pohorje and Kozjak Mountains, consisting of a variety of metamorphic and igneous rocks (Hinterlechner Ravnik, 1971;Mioč, 1978;Mioč & Žnidarčič, 1989;Zupančič, 1994).…”