As a crucial segment of the geological structure of the Western Carpathians, the Meliata Superunit represents a remnant of the closure of the Meliata Ocean. Its composition is defined by the blueschist facies Bôrka Nappe, a low-grade Jurassic sedimentary complex with olistostromes that constitutes the Meliata Unit sensu stricto, and a polygenous mélange including blocks of both unmetamorphosed and metamorphosed rocks. This study focused on the origin and processes associated with development of the Meliata Superunit, specifically examining the fine-grained marine sediments that form the matrix of the polygenous mélange. Our results from the Honce and Dobšiná localities indicate that the matrix of the polygenous mélange can be differentiated into two groups that are similar in lithology, but differ in their metamorphic overprint. The first group consists of unmetamorphosed or low-grade shales containing Upper Jurassic radiolarians. The second group is composed of phyllites, which exhibit a medium- to high-grade mineral assemblage, together with phantoms of radiolarians. A common sign of both groups is the presence of euhedral monazites, which were dated by electron probe microanalysis U–Th–Pb methods to an Early Cretaceous age of 150–95 Ma. We conclude that the sedimentation of the studied marine sediments occurred during the Jurassic and that these sediments were partially involved in the subduction process. Subsequent exhumation and the formation of an accretionary wedge led to their mixing with unmetamorphosed deposits during the Early Cretaceous, followed by reworking into a mélange. This mixing was accompanied by the incorporation of lithologically variable blocks of older, more resistant rocks and is recorded by the growth of post-kinematic monazite porphyroblasts.
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February 12, 2025
Th–U–Pb dating of euhedral monazites in radiolarian-bearing deposits: implication for the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Meliatic mélange in the Western Carpathians Available to Purchase
Tomáš Potočný;
Tomáš Potočný
*
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
Correspondence: [email protected]
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Marína Molčan Matejová;
Marína Molčan Matejová
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
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Štefan Méres;
Štefan Méres
3
Department of Geochemistry
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
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Dušan Plašienka
Dušan Plašienka
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
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Tomáš Potočný
*
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
Marína Molčan Matejová
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
Štefan Méres
3
Department of Geochemistry
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
Dušan Plašienka
1
Department of Geology and Paleontology
, Faculty of Natural Sciences
, Comenius University
, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6
, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
Correspondence: [email protected]
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Received:
24 Oct 2024
Revision Received:
03 Jan 2025
Accepted:
08 Jan 2025
First Online:
21 Jan 2025
Online ISSN: 2041-479X
Print ISSN: 0016-7649
Funding
- Funder(s):Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja
- Award Id(s): APVV-17-0170
- Award Id(s):
- Funder(s):Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja
- Award Id(s): APVV-21-0281
- Award Id(s):
- Funder(s):Agentúra Ministerstva Školstva, Vedy, Výskumu a Športu SR
- Award Id(s): VEGA 1/0435/21
- Award Id(s):
- Funder(s):Agentúra Ministerstva Školstva, Vedy, Výskumu a Športu SR
- Award Id(s): 2/0012/24
- Award Id(s):
© 2025 Comenius University Bratislava. Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights, including for text and data mining (TDM), artificial intelligence (AI) training, and similar technologies, are reserved. For permissions: https://www.lyellcollection.org/publishing-hub/permissions-policy. Publishing disclaimer: https://www.lyellcollection.org/publishing-hub/publishing-ethics
© 2025 Comenius University Bratislava
Journal of the Geological Society (2025) 182 (3): jgs2024-230.
Article history
Received:
24 Oct 2024
Revision Received:
03 Jan 2025
Accepted:
08 Jan 2025
First Online:
21 Jan 2025
Citation
Tomáš Potočný, Marína Molčan Matejová, Štefan Méres, Dušan Plašienka; Th–U–Pb dating of euhedral monazites in radiolarian-bearing deposits: implication for the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Meliatic mélange in the Western Carpathians. Journal of the Geological Society 2025;; 182 (3): jgs2024–230. doi: https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2024-230
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- absolute age
- accretionary wedges
- blueschist facies
- Carpathians
- Central Europe
- clastic rocks
- Cretaceous
- depositional environment
- Europe
- facies
- Jurassic
- Lower Cretaceous
- marine environment
- melange
- Meliata Unit
- Mesozoic
- metamorphic rocks
- metamorphism
- microfossils
- mineral assemblages
- monazite
- phosphates
- Radiolaria
- radiolarite
- sedimentary rocks
- sedimentation
- Slovakia
- tectonics
- tectonostratigraphic units
- U/Th/Pb
- Upper Jurassic
- Western Carpathians
- Dobsina Slovakia
- Borka Nappe
- Honce Slovakia
Latitude & Longitude
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