The Neogene of the Vienna Basin: a synthesis

We present a revision of geological and palaeontological data of the Vienna Basin. The deposits comprise Miocene terrestrial, lacustrine and marine sediments, corresponding to the Ottnangian, Karpatian, Badenian, Sarmatian and Pannonian regional stages (=Burdigalian to Tortonian). New 3D seismics and the analyses of hundreds of core samples resulted in a wealth of information. Absolute ages were published for two tuffs and the lithostratigraphy was largely formalized. The evolution of the palaeoenvironments in the Vienna Basin strongly reflects the impact of global climatic events such as the Miocene Climatic Optimum, the Middle Miocene Climate Transition and the Tortonian Thermal Maximum. Global third-order sea-level cycles are reflected in the successions of marine depositional environments. Major drops of the relative sea-level caused strong erosion along the basin margins, with up to 300 m of palaeorelief. The strongest phase of erosion was linked to tectonics. Around the Early/Middle Miocene boundary, Lower Miocene strata became tilted during the Styrian Tectonic Phase. Subaerial canyons up to 600 m deep incised the basin at that time. A second phase of basin-wide erosion occurred during the Late Miocene when more than 200 m of upper Pannonian strata became removed from large parts of the Vienna Basin after 9 Ma.