Clausthal, Techn. Universiẗat, Habil-Schr., 2003.

The Oligocene-Miocene Maikop Series in the South Caspian and Kura Basins is the key petroleum source rock for both offshore and onshore petroleum development in Azerbaijan. The Maikop is a thick (up to 3 km) succession of silty mudstones containing up to 15% total organic carbon (TOC), but is greatly lacking diagnostic microfaunal assemblages useful for dating and stratigraphically constraining the deposition of the mudstone. Current stratigraphic constraints relying on microfaunal assemblages, radiostratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy are robust, but key information is still missing. This study adds numerical age data to Maikop stratigraphy through Re-Os geochronology. Of five sample suites analyzed from the Kura Basin of eastern Azerbaijan, one Re-Os data set produced significant range in 187Re/188Os vs 187Os/188Os space to yield an isochron of 17.2± 3.2 Ma. Other sample suites yield imprecise Re-Os age constraints as a result of variable initial 187Os/188Os values and limited range in 187Re/188Os vs 187Os/188Os space. The initial 187Os/188Os values of these data sets were compared with the known 187Os/188Os of seawater values for the past 70 million years to provide the best qualitative age constraints. Pre-Maikopian strata studied at Perikeshkul was found to coincide in 187Os/188Os values with the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) Os excursion, indicating deposition initiation of Maikopian strata following the EOT. Preservation of organic matter in intervals with initial 187Os/188Os values that deviate significantly from global 187Os/188Os values indicate basin restriction and the development of anoxia. High Os abundances, enrichment in detrital elements Al, Ti, Ga, Sc, and La, and changing basin circulation during the deposition of Maikop strata at 17.2 Ma may indicate the initial episodic uplift of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, changes in sediment provenance, or changing proximity to sediment source.

Les changements paléoenvironnementaux se produisant pendant le Sarmatien dans la Paratéthys Centrale ont été reconstitués par l’étude des foraminifères (36 espèces) et des ostracodes (28 espèces) de deux forages, combinée à une analyse géochimique de leurs squelettes calcitiques, des coquilles aragonitiques de gastéropodes et des dents phosphatiques de rongeurs.La composition de la microfaune indique que la connexion entre la Paratéthys et la Méditerranée est interrompue ou réduite à la base du Sarmatien mais qu’un bras de mer persiste entre Paratéthys Centrale et Paratéthys Orientale jusqu’à la fin du Sarmatien. Le Sarmatien inférieur est caractérisé par des eaux saumâtres peu profondes (maximum 80 m), bien ventilées, des températures stables (~ 15°C), un riche couvert végétal (algues et/ou phanérogames) et des efflorescences phytoplanctoniques périodiques. Un événement transgressif y est observé (TST de 3ème ordre; TB 2.6 du cycle global). Les changements faunistiques qui se produisent à la limite entre Sarmatien inférieur et moyen sont expliqués par un évènement de type HST accompagné de conditions dysoxiques. A la fin du Sarmatien moyen, une baisse du niveau marin relatif d’environ 50 m se produit et des eaux tempérées chaudes, plus saumâtres (17-23‰) et bien ventilées se mettent en place. Après un court épisode régressif, une connexion est rétablie entre la Paratéthys et la Méditerranée au début du Sarmatien supérieur. Des eaux chaudes (15-21° C), bien ventilées, correspondant à des lagunes marines et des marécages avec de fortes variations de la salinité (15-43 ‰) s’installent alors avant un isolement ultime de la Paratéthys qui se produit à la fin du Sarmatien. / Palaeoenvironmental changes in the Sarmatian Central Paratethys were reconstructed by studying foraminifers (36 species) and ostracods (28 species) from two boreholes coupled with geochemical analyses of their calcite skeletons and of aragonite gastropod shells and phosphate rodent teeth.The composition of the microfauna suggests that the connection between the Central Paratethys and the Mediterranean was interrupted or limited at the base of the Sarmatian, but that a seaway between the Eastern and Central Paratethys existed until the end of the Sarmatian. The early Sarmatian is characterized by brackish littoral seawater (maximum 80 m), well ventilated, stable temperatures (~ 15°C), with rich algae and/or seagrass vegetation and periodic phytoplankton blooms. A transgressive event can be observed as part of a 3rd order transgressive systems tract (TST) corresponding roughly to the TB 2.6 global cycle. The faunal changes occurring at the boundary between the lower and the middle Sarmatian can be explained by a sea-level highstand with dysoxic conditions. A relative sea-level fall with a maximum depth of about 50 m, and well ventilated, warm temperate and more brackish (17-23‰) conditions is documented at the end of the middle Sarmatian. After a short regressive event, a marine connection between the Paratethys and the Mediterranean was established at the beginning of the upper Sarmatian. Warm (15-21°C), well-ventilated, corresponding to marine shallow lagoon and marsh environments with high fluctuations in salinity (15-43 ‰) then prevailed before a final isolation of the Central Paratethys that occurred at the end of the Sarmatian.

This thesis deals with the use of geochemical proxies on foraminifera for paleoceanographical, paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations in the fossil epicontinental sea - the Central Paratethys during the Langhian. It discusses the used methodologies and approaches that were specially chosen to fit the problematic of the studied area such as the single test analysis of carbon and oxygen stable isotopes on foraminifera. Other geochemical methods were represented by Mg/Ca based paleothermomethry and by several organic geochemistry proxies on whole rock samples (n-alkane indices, δ13 Corg, and carbon ratios - TOC/TIC/TC). These were further combined with foraminiferal paleoecological data, which allowed identification of particular water masses in the studied region as well as the prevailing circulation patterns/regimes during the studied interval in the Paratethyan marine realm. Additionally, there were interpreted various regional paleoenvironmental and paleoecological consequences. The Paratethys had similar hydrography of surficial waters with the Mediterranean, conversely to the bottom waters that were different, probably of a regional origin with their own evolution during the studied time interval. The anti-estuarine circulation regime, which was probably linked with the closure...