From Khersonian drying to Pontian “flooding”: late Miocene stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Dacian Basin (Eastern Paratethys)

In the late Miocene, a large inland sea known as the Eastern Paratethys stretched out across the present-day Black Sea – Caspian Sea region. The basin was mostly endorheic and its water budget thus strongly dependent on regional climate. The basin was therefore prone to high-amplitude water-level fluctuations and associated turnovers in water chemistry and fauna. Profound palaeoenvironmental changes happened in the Eastern Paratethys during this...