ON CONNECTIONS BETWEEN BASINS OF THE EASTERN PARATETHYS AND ADJACENT SEAS IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE MIOCENE

Abstract

The history of hydrologic and faunal changes in the Eastern Paratethys during the middle and late Miocene is briefly outlined. An effort is made to establish the location of straits, through which marine waters penetrated from the adjacent seas with normal salinity. The analyzed distribution of the most diverse polyhaline assemblages of the Eastern Paratethys at different stages of its development showed that the adjacent seas communicated with southeastern areas of the Eastern Paratethys in the early Tshokrakian, middle Karaganian (Varnian time), Konkian (Sartaganian and Veselyanka times), Maeotian, and most likely in the Tarkhanian. Communications with the Western Paratethys took place in the Tarkhanian, Sarmatian, and probably at the end of the Veselyanka period.