DACIAN BASIN - Depositional architecture and sedimentary history of a paratethys sea

The sedimentogenetic study of the Dacian Basin has been a scientific adventure for several decades. The first presentation of the general features of the Basin was made a couple of years ago, with a book in the Romanian language (Jipa, ed., 2007). The present publication on Dacian Basin expands and develops the main aspects presented in the Romanian book. Some chapters have been dropped, some chapters have been rewritten and new chapters added.

At the present time, the Dacian Basin investigation is far from being complete. The sedimentogenetic information we have in this book refers especially to the outcropping deposits (the littoral zone of the Basin). The deposits in the central and southern part of the Dacian Basin are not treated comprehensively enough, as our subsurface information is fragmented, scarce or non-existent.

The authors’ team is made of two scientists from different generations, giving hope that the Dacian Basin sedimentological study will be continued and enhanced by future researchers.

The authors are grateful to Radu Olteanu (Geological Institute of Romania), Sorin C. Radan (Geological Institute of Romania), Liviu Maţenco (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) and Cristina Poenaru (GeoEcoMar, Bucharest) for their expert contributions in the chapter regarding the Dacian Basin presentation.

Several colleagues read parts of the manuscript and suggested significant improvements. They are W. Anthony (Tony) Nicholas (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia), Ion Andreescu (Geological Institute of Romania), Claudia Sliwinski (Peachtree, Georgia, US), Gabriela Maximov (GeoEcoMar, Bucharest) and Camelia Cazacu (GeoEcoMar, Bucharest).

Our Dacian Basin understanding was influenced by stimulating and challenging discussions we had in front of the outcrops with Ron Steel (University of Texas at Austin), Henk Weerts (National Service for Archeology, Utrecht), Liviu Maţenco (Vrje Universiteit, Amsterdam), Radu Olteanu (Geological Institute of Romania), Marius Stoica (University of Bucharest), Victoria Lubenescu. (Prospectiuni S.A., Bucharest) and Ion Andreescu (Geological Institute of Romania).

We wish to acknowledge the help of Viorela Anastasiu (atlas author) and Dan Dumitru (editor), who permitted the use of the Editura Didactica Printing House maps as basis for some of our figures. Dorina Tambrea (Danubian Energy Consulting, Bucharest) and Corneliu Dinu (University of Bucharest) kindly allowed use of some of their Black Sea figures.

The senior author is deeply indebted to Joe Gencarelli (Lynchburg, Virginia, US). Joe’s support and constant encouragement were important for the achievement of the present book. He read the entire manuscript and improved the English language of the book.

Special thanks go to the „task force” represented by Sorin Rădan, Cristina Poenaru, Joe Gencarelli and Carmen Biriş for their patience and commitment in the final, long phase of manuscript correction.

The senior author acknowledges the basic support for publishing this book from the National Authority for Scientific Research – Romania. Part of the data presented in the book comes from the scientific projects developed within the Romanian National Research and Development Plan CERES 4-246/2004 (“Global factors influence on the evolution of the Dacian Basin”) and IDEI 144/2007 (“The effect of the Messinian desiccation on the evolution of the Dacian Basin”).