DACIAN BASIN - GeoEcoMar

2.4. Conclusions
The Dacian Basin size is close to that of the smallest marginal seas which are
part of the Mediterranean Sea. The Dacian Basin in the open sea stage (Middle –
Late Sarmatian s.l.) is comparable to the Thyrrenian and Ionian Seas, which have a
large marine frontier towards the central Mediterranean Sea. The semi-enclosed
Dacian Basin (Maeotian, Pontian, and Early Dacian) had the shape of the Adriatic
Sea, which communicates through a narrow marine frontier with the Ionian Sea.
The Dacian Basin is a component unit of the Oriental Paratethys. As suggested
by its location – peripheral and partly detached – the Dacian Basin has the characters
of a marginal sea (Mediterranean type) within the major Euxinian Basin marine
body. The island (later peninsula) represented by the Dobrogean High, marks the
basin limit of the Dacian Basin as a marginal sea.
2.4. CONCLUSIONS
Paleogeographic evolution. The Dacian Basin formed as a geographically distinct basin
during the upper half of the Sarmatian (s. l.) (Saulea et al., 1969), as a remnant of
the Carpathian foredeep.
During its initial evolution (Late Sarmatian s. l.), the Dacian Basin displayed the
characteristics of an open marginal sea, and the connection with the eastward Euxinian
Basin was wide.
During the second paleogeographic phase (Maeotian-Pontian-Early Dacian),
the Dacian Basin evolved as a semi-enclosed sea, and the connection with the
Euxinian Basin was through a narrow strait (Galaţi seaway).
The final closed basin paleogeographic phase (Late Dacian-Romanian), with
dominant fluvial sedimentation, established after the sediment infill of the brackish
Dacian Basin.
Dacian Basin extent. Dacian Basin varied in extent through time. The most abrupt
change was during post-Sarmatian (s. l.) with significant southward enlargement of
the basin area, which affected the central and central-eastern parts of the southern
basin.
The southward area enlargement appears as a continuous Maeotian-Early Dacian
migration according to Saulea et al. (1969) paleogeographic maps. The paleogeographic
maps of Papaianopol et al. (1987), and Marinescu and Papaianopol
(1989) suggest that only during the Late Pontian the southern shift was significant.
Paleo-morphology factors might have controlled the southward Dacian Basin
enlargement.
Dacian Basin: lake or sea. The relevant characters pointed out by the lake-sea
classification criteria (Fig. 2.15) suggest that the Dacian Basin was a small brackish,
inland water body. Being part of the larger marine basin of the Oriental Paratethys
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