From marginal outcrops to basin interior: a new perspective on the sedimentary evolution of the eastern Pannonian Basin

Sedimentary successions exposed at basin margins as a result of late-stage inversion, uplift and erosion usually represent only a limited portion of the entire basin fill; thus, they are highly incomplete records of basin evolution. Small satellite basins, however, might have the potential of recording more complete histories. The late Miocene sedimentary history of the Șimleu Basin, a north-eastern satellite of the vast Pannonian Basin, was investigated through the study of large outcrops and correlative well-logs. A full transgressive–regressive cycle is reconstructed, which formed within a ca. 1 million-year time frame (10.6–9.6 Ma). The transgressive phase is represented by coarse-grained deltas overlain by deep-water lacustrine marls. Onset of the regressive phase is indicated by sandy turbidite lobes and channels, followed by slope shales, and topped by stacked deltaic lobes and fluvial deposits. The deep- to shallow-water sedimentary facies are similar to those deposited in the central, deep part of the Pannonian Basin. The Șimleu Basin is thus a close and almost complete outcrop analogue of the Pannonian Basin’s lacustrine sedimentary record known mainly from subsurface data, such as well-logs, cores and seismic sections from the basin interior. This study demonstrates that deposits of small satellite basins may reflect the whole sequence of processes that shaped the major basin, although at a smaller spatial and temporal scale.