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Cretaceous shallow-marine carbonate rocks of SW Slovenia were deposited in the northern part of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform. A 560-m-thick continuous Upper Cenomanian to Santonian carbonate succession has been studied near Hrušica Village in Matarsko Podolje. With regard to lithological, sedimentological, and stratigraphical characteristics, the succession has been divided into nine lithostratigraphic units, mainly reflecting regressive and transgressive intervals of larger scale. During the latest Cenomanian and Early Turonian, hemipelagic limestones were deposited on top of shallow-marine lagoon and peritidal Upper Cenomanian deposits indicating relative sea-level rise. Subsequently, the deeper marine depositional setting was gradually filled by clinoform bioclastic sand bodies overlain by peritidal and shallow-marine low-energy mainly lagoonal lithofacies. Similar lithofacies of predominately inner ramp/shelf depositional settings prevail over the upper part (i.e., Coniacian to Santonian) of the succession. In the area, the Upper Cetaceous carbonate rocks are separated from the overlying Lower Eocene (Upper Paleocene?) carbonate sequence by regional unconformity denoted by distinct paleokarstic features. On the Adriatic Carbonate Platform the deeper marine carbonate setting, developed at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary, is usually correlated with OAE2 and related eustatic sea-level rise. Similarly, subsequent reestablished shallow-marine conditions are related to Late Turonian long- and short-term sea-level fall. However, we are suggesting that deeper marine deposits were deposited in a tectonically induced intraplatform basin formed simultaneously with the uplift of the northern and northeastern marginal parts of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the unsaturated zone in the karst aquifer hydraulic behaviour was brought into focus in these studies of the catchment of the Hubelj spring (SW Slovenia). The variations of natural tracers in precipitation and in groundwater during a summer storm event made it possible to trace local flow and solute transport in the observed aquifer. The results produced data on the aquifer recharge, storage and discharge processes, as well as on mechanisms that affected them, which reflects a karst groundwater dynamics also at a regional scale. They point out the significance of effects of the fast preferential flow—epiflow that is the main factor controlling solute/contaminant transport towards the aquifer saturated zone. Numerous arguments indicate that the karst aquifer flow and solute transport mechanisms depend on the hydraulic behaviour of the epikarst zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paleoecological and sedimentological study was carried out on shallow-water carbonates of the Kras Plateau (SW Slovenia) with the goal of reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions and evolution of foraminiferal communities on the northwestern Adriatic Carbonate Platform (AdCP) during the Late Paleocene–earliest Eocene. Three facies have been recognized and summarized in a carbonate ramp model. Within these facies, six foraminiferal assemblages, representing different ramp sub-environments, have been defined: during the Late Paleocene sedimentation took place in a protected innermost ramp with (1) smaller miliolids- and (2) small benthic foraminifera-dominated assemblages thriving on partly vegetated, soft substrates. In the Uppermost Paleocene, sedimentation primarily occurred along a mid ramp. The upper mid-ramp was sporadically influenced by storms/currents and occupied by (3) Assilina-dominated assemblage occurring on a soft sandy substrate. The deeper mid-ramp was characterized by (4) ‘bioconstructors’- and (5) orthophragminids-dominated assemblages, colonizing biotopes with substrates of different nature. During the earliest Eocene, deposition occurred in an inner-ramp setting with (6) alveolinids-nummulitids assemblage thriving on muddy and sandy substrate, partly covered or close to seagrass beds. The Late Paleocene–earliest Eocene environmental conditions, coupled with the long-term evolution of larger benthic foraminifera (LBF), seem to have favored this low-light dependent group as common sediment contributors. By comparing the evolution of the shallow-water biota from the Adriatic area with data from the Pyrenees and Egypt, a general latitudinal trend can be recognized. However, on a smaller geographical scale, local conditions are likely to have played a pivotal role in promoting the evolution of biota characterized by suites of unique features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]