Elemental and organic carbon proxies for redox conditions of the Oligocene formations in the Ropa Tectonic Window (Outer Carpathians, Poland) : palaeoenvironmental implications

The Oligocene Grybów Succession is recognized as a counterpart of the anoxic Menilite Formation. Its comprehensive geochemical investigations are made in the key sections of the Ropa Tectonic Window (the Grybów Unit, Polish Outer Carpathians). The maceral assemblages, dominated by land-plant liptinite, vitrinite and intertinite, correspond to kerogen types II and III. A Tmax vs. HI diagram shows terrestrial kerogen type II with various additions of type III and algal kerogen type I. A variation in δ¹³C_org. (from –25.21 to –27.38‰) may have resulted from variations in the composition of organic matter (the content of terrestrial vs. marine organic matter), controlled by depositional setting (turbidite vs. hemipelagic). The highest TOC contents are associated with an enhanced influx of land-derived organic matter. The redox-sensitive trace elements positively correlate with TOC and TS contents. Redox conditions varied between oxic and anoxic, as was concluded from TOC-TS, V/(V+Ni) and U/Th. The turbidity currents might have ventilated the bottom waters, especially more efficiently in the proximal zone of turbidite sedimentation. Moreover, oxygenated bottom waters may have also affected the concentration of trace metals, owing to migration of the redox interface downward within the sediments.