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With a total remaining area of approximately five thousand hectares, after the existence of approximately 6900 ha with cherries was shown in 2013, Romania continues to be a country with relatively good productivity in terms of obtaining cherries. The cherry tree germplasm fund is part of the plant biodiversity that has developed over time in nature in a spontaneous and controlled way and that is the basis for the permanent improvement of cultivated varieties. The activity of collecting and preserving biological material in organized collections has a long tradition. The importance of this biological material is substantial, especially when we talk about the interaction of these genotypes with quarantine viruses, especially Plum pox virus, considered the most devastating. The pollination scheme used under SCDP Baneasa Bucharest conditions included one pollinating variety, Boambe de Cotnari, and four controlled pollinated varieties, Daria, Izverna, Superb and Severin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the calcareous nannofossils assemblages identified in samples recovered from 5 boreholes, drilled on the western side of the Olt River, in the Băbeni area. These boreholes crossed the Lower Oligocene-Lower Miocene sedimentary successions. The identified assemblages were included in the following intervals: (i) upper part of NP21 calcareous nannofossil zone to the lower part of NP23 biozone, corresponding to the early Rupelian, (ii) upper part of NP23 biozone up to NP25 biozone, spanning the late Rupelian-Chattian interval, and (iii) NN1 up to NN3 biozones, covering the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The diversity and abundance of the identified nannofossil assemblages allow paleoenvironmental reconstructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the results of a sedimentologic investigation of Albian sandstones and conglomerates from the eastern extremity of the Southern Carpathians, the area between the Ialomița and Dâmbovița rivers. Lithofacies analysis, paleotransport, provenance and paleoenvironment of these clastic sediments are the main focus of the paper. An important component of the study is the part played by Ialomița-Dâmbovița Albian sediment accumulation in the Albian sedimentary history of the Carpathian Bend zone. Two major lithofacies occur in the Ialomița-Dâmbovița Albian sedimentary succession: medium- and coarse-grained sandstones and sandstones with conglomerate interbeds. These deposits are intercalated with a third significant lithofacies, rhythmic finer grained deposits of silty clay and silty and finegrained sandstones. Some of the coarser grained Albian sediments (both sandstones and conglomerates) are structureless, poorly sorted, have a relatively large amount of sandy matrix and include oversize clasts, features indicative of accumulation by sediment gravity flow. The normal graded sandstones and the conglomerates with poor sorting, abundant matrix and oversize clasts suggest sediment transport by high density turbidity currents. The accumulation of the rhythmic, alternating silty clay and silty fine-grained arenite sediments is ascribed to low density turbidity currents. According to their relationship with the underlying, younger deposits, the monocline structure and their presence within a succession of clastic sediments forming a coarsening-upward stacking pattern, it is proposed here that the Albian deposits in the Ialomița-Dâmbovița area were involved in a very active, large-scale progradation process, with deposition occurring on the continental rise. The Albian deposits in the Ialomița-Dâmbovița area are genetically and stratigraphically correlated with the deposits of the Babele Sandstone and the Scropoasa-Lăptici Sandstone units in the Bucegi Mountains. The Babele-Dâmbovița sedimentary basin is distinct and different from the depositional basin of the deep-water Albian conglomerate fan from the Carpathian Bend zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the microfaunal assemblages of lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits intercepted by 10 hydrocarbon wells from the Blejești hydrocarbon field, S Romania. The identified microfaunas are typically for two Volhynian foraminifera zones: Varidentella reussi Zone and Elphidium reginum Zone. At the contact with the underlying Cretaceous or Middle Miocene (= Badenian) units, the Sarmatian studied samples, containing foraminiferal assemblages with abundant Ammonia beccarri, may not be assigned to a certain biozone. Besides, the identified ostracod assemblages were assigned to the NO 11 Cytheridea hungarica – Aurila mehesi. The composition and the abundance of microfaunal assemblages allow us to advance paleoecological considerations for the lower Sarmatian deposition interval of the studied area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Detailed lithological and micropaleontological studies were performed on several cores from the Romanian Black Sea shelf, located in front of the Danube Delta, in front of the Razelm–Sinoe lagoonal complex, close to the Eforie beach, as well as on the Romanian inner shelf. All the studied cores are situated at a water depth varying between 12m and 67m. The purpose of the investigations was to reveal Upper Holocene lithological changes and the associated calcareous nannoplankton fluctuations in a very shallow marine setting such as the Romanian Black Sea inner shelf. The youngest Holocene unit or “Shallow Unit” is composed of alternating sequences of mud, silt, clay and coquina layers, containing marine mollusc faunas. The upper part of the Shallow Unit contains blooms of the nannoplankton species Emiliania huxleyi, while its lower part yields, besides common E. huxleyi, rare specimens of Braarudosphaera bigelowii. The Shallow Unit overlies a “shell hash layer”, mainly made by coquinas, containing mixing marine and brackish mollusc faunas. Towards the upper part of this level, monospecific assemblages with B. bigelowii were observed in a layer rich in carbonate acicular crystals. The Shallow Unit partly corresponds to the Unit 1 (finely laminated coccolith ooze) and Unit 2 (sapropelic sediments) of slope and basinal settings of the Black Sea. The layer rich in carbonate acicular crystals could be a shallower equivalent of the oldest layer of aragonite bands placed at the lower part of the Unit 2 in deep parts of the Black Sea. In the analyzed cores, the oldest lithological unit (Unit 3, the muddy clay sediments deposited in a brackish to freshwater environment) is characterized by the deposition of green-yellowish clay devoid of any Holocene calcareous nannoplankton species and containing brackish mollusc faunas. Based on nannofloral fluctuations, an increasing salinity from the base towards the upper part of the Shallow Unit may be supposed, together with the progressive establishment of a stable marine setting, similar to today. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study focused on the Cretaceous black shale successions, followed by red shales that crop out at the outer regions of the Romanian Carpathians, in the Moldavids. The oldest parts of the black shale units deposited in an abyssal plain during Late Valanginian–Late Barremian time; they are mainly characterized by hemipelagic and pelagic muddy siliciclastic rocks and carbonates, commonly intercalated with fine-grained turbidites. During the sedimentation of the middle part of the black shale units in the Late Barremian–Early Albian interval, the depth of the basin increased, as the carbonate hemipelagic sedimentation was replaced by a mainly siliceous one. Only a few thin turbidite intercalations are present. The youngest part (Albian pro parte) of the black shale units is characterized by a turbiditic sedimentation, with mainly sandy sequences of middle and lower deep-water fans. We may assume that the depth of the basin continuously decreased. The presence of authigenic glauconite in the Albian sandstones suggests a palaeoenvironmental change, linked to the occurrence of oxygenated turbidity current circulation. A significant shift in the sedimentation regime in the Eastern Carpathian Moldavids took place in the Late Albian, when Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORB) occurred. This type of sedimentation lasted up to the Coniacian. The lower part of the CORBs that contains radiolarites intercalated with variegated shales, pyroclastic tuffs and thin sandstones is interpreted as a hemipelagic and pelagic sedimentation in the abyssal plain environment, where rarely turbidites occurred. Upwards, there are mainly burrowed variegated red and green shales. The youngest parts of CORBs are characterized by increased thickness and frequency of the turbidites. While the main part of the CORB is carbonate free or has very low carbonate content, the upper part of these strata becomes rich in marl and mudstone strata, indicating a decrease of the basin-depth. The accumulation of black shales in the Eastern Carpathians during the Late Valanginian–Late Albian interval is linked to the existence of a small, silled basin of the Moldavian Trough, in which restricted circulation led to the density stratification of the water column, resulting in the deposition of anoxic Lower Cretaceous sediments (i.e., the black shales). Because of the tectonic deformation that took place within the Lower–Upper Cretaceous boundary interval, the restricted circulation had changed to an open circulation regime in the Moldavian Trough. Hence, the anoxic regime was progressively replaced by an oxic one, across the Albian–Cenomanian boundary interval. The beginning and the end of the CORBs in the Moldavid units depend thus on various palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental settings, and it was controlled by the regional tectonic activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study presents carbon and oxygen isotope fluctuations identified in marine red marlstones and claystones of the Fizeşti Formation from the SE Haţeg area (Southern Carpathians, Romania). Biostratigraphy based on calcareous nannoplankton allow the identification of nannofossil standard zones and subzones CC16–CC17 up to CC20, and respectively UC11c up to UC15b, indicating that the investigated deposits are latest Coniacian–late Early Campanian in age. Throughout the studied succession, δ13C values fluctuate between 1.4‰ and 2.65‰, while δ18O values are between −3‰ and −4‰. In the middle Santonian (within the UC12 calcareous nannofossil zone), we found a slight positive carbon isotope excursion, with values increasing by 0.3‰, up to a value of 2.44‰, which we assume to represent the regional expression of the Horseshoe Bay Event, originally recognized in the English Chalk. In the uppermost Santonian, just below the first occurrence of the crinoid Marsupites testudinarius (within the UC13 calcareous nannofossil zone), we recorded a δ13C increase, from 2.38‰ up to 2.63‰, correlative with the Hawks Brow Event, firstly described in UK. The most significant δ13C increase identified by us, up to 2.63‰, is coincident with the last occurrence of the crinoid Marsupites testudinarius (=the Santonian–Campanian boundary) and represents the regional expression of the worldwide distributed Santonian/Campanian Boundary Event. The Santonian–Campanian boundary is associated with a slight positive excursion for δ18O. In the lower part of the Campanian stage, δ13C values progressively decrease to around 1.5‰. A decrease of the water surface temperature in the region is suggested for the lower part of the Santonian, an assumption based on the significant shift to less negative values of δ18O and on the mixed (Tethyan and Boreal) character of the identified nannofloras. From the Santonian–Campanian boundary interval upwards, the temperatures were rising, leading to an arid and warm climate in the region. This climate mode continued probably into the Maastrichtian, when the Haţeg area became part of an island situated in the Northern Tethys Realm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the lithological and biostratigraphical (mainly based on calcareous nannofossils) record of the marine sediments which crop out in the NW and SE Haţeg regions. Upper Cretaceous marine deposition starts in these two regions in the Early Cenomanian (both in the CC9 calcareous nannofossil zone, and within UC1–UC2 biozones, respectively). In NW Haţeg, a hemipelagic sequence composed of red shales and marlstones, followed by white marlstones, probably associated with a deep-water paleoenvironment, marked the beginning of Upper Cretaceous marine sedimentation. In the SE, marine deposition started with sandstones and calcarenites, interlayered with Actaeonella and Ytruvia coquina, indicating an infralittoral paleoenvironment. From the Cenomanian up to the Coniacian, the marine setting becomes progressively shallower in the two Upper Cretaceous marine depositional Haţeg areas; this change is marked by the occurrence of outer shelf deposits in the NW and inner shelf sediments up to infralittoral ones in the SE. These deposits are followed by lower Santonian–upper Campanian turbidites in the NW, and by Lower Santonian–Campanian pro parte red marlstones and Upper Campanian turbidites, in the SE. The marine sedimentation ends, in NW Haţeg, with distal turbidites, Late Campanian in age (placed in the CC22 calcareous nannofossil zone, in the UC15d subzone respectively, slightly above the first occurrence of the nannofossil Uniplanarius trifidus). Towards the end of the Campanian, conglomerates and sandstones with Actaeonella and Ytruvia coquina, yielding reworked nannofloras (including Late Campanian taxa), occur in SE Haţeg. Associated with the paroxysmal Laramian tectonic phase, continental deposition started, probably within the Campanian/Maastrichtian boundary interval, both in the NW and SE parts of the Haţeg region. During the Late Cretaceous interval, different paleoenvironmental settings may be distinguished in the NW Haţeg (where a deep marine basin developed for most of the Early Cenomanian up to the Late Campanian interval), and in the SE Haţeg (characterised by an outer oscillating basin with an episodic shallow-water deposition in the same interval). Despite the various backgrounds of the two regions, some common regional events, such as the Early–Middle Cenomanian and the Early Santonian–Early Late Campanian sea level highstand, as well as the Late Cenomanian–Coniacian sea-level lowstand were recognised in both investigated areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The middle Cenomanian–lower Turonian deposits of Ohaba-Ponor section (Southern Carpathians) were studied from biostratigraphic and isotopic points of view. Both the qualitative and semiquantitative nannofloral analyses, as well as the stable isotope (δ13C and δ18O) data support significant palaeoenvironmental changes in the investigated interval. Two δ13C positive excursions were recognized: (1) an excursion up to 1.8‰ (PDB) within the middle/late Cenomanian boundary; (2) an excursion up to 2.2‰ (PDB) in the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval. The oldest δ13C positive excursion recorded (placed within the Acanthoceras jukes-brownei/Eucalycoceras pentagonum Ammonite Zone boundary interval, and in the NC11 Calcareous Nannofossil Zone respectively) could be assigned to the middle Cenomanian Event II (MCEII). During the above-mentioned event, significant increase in abundance of Watznaueria barnesae, followed by successive blooms of Biscutum constans and Eprolithus floralis, were observed. The youngest δ13C positive excursion was identified in the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval (in the NC12 and lower part of the NC13 Calcareous Nannofossil Zones). Even the amplitude of this δ13C positive excursion is lower in the Ohaba-Ponor section, as generally reported, this may represent the regional record of the OAE2. The successive peaks of the nannofossils Biscutum constans, Zeugrhabdotus erectus and Eprolithus floralis indicate episodes of cooler surface water and high fertility, which preceded and lasted the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary event. Additionally, fluctuations of δ18O values between −2 and −6‰ suggest also cooler conditions within the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary interval. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fluctuation in calpionellid, foraminiferal, and nannofossil diversity and abundance are documented in two successions located in the eastern part of the Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform of the Southern Carpathian area, Romania. The lower part of the studied sections consists of upper Tithonian–upper Berriasian bioclastic limestones. This age is supported by the presence of the calpionellid assemblages assigned to the Crassicollaria, Calpionella, and Calpionellopsis Zones. Based on biostratigraphical data, a gap was identified within the uppermost Berriasian–base of the upper Valanginian (the interval encompasses the Boissieri, Pertransiensis, Campylotoxum, and lower part of the Verrucosum ammonite Zones). Hence, the upper Tithonian–upper Berriasian bioclastic limestones are overlain by upper Valanginian–lower Hauterivian pelagic limestones (the interval covered by the NK3B and NC4A nannofossil Subzones). A detailed qualitative and semiquantitative analysis of the nannoflora was carried out over this interval. To estimate the surface water fertility conditions, the nannoplankton-based nutrient index (NI) was calculated. The fluctuation pattern of NI allow us to recognize four phases in the investigated interval, as follows: (1) phase I (covering the lower part of the NK3B nannofossil Subzone and the upper part of the Verrucosum ammonite Zone, respectively) is characterized by low values of the NI (below 20%), by the dominance of the genus Nannoconus in the nannofloral assemblages (between 60–70%), and moderate abundance of Watznaueria barnesae (up to 23%), while the high-fertility nannofossils constitute a minor component of the assemblages; (2) phase II (placed in the NK3B nannofossil Subzone, extending from the top of Verrucosum ammonite Zone, up to the lower part of the Furcillata ammonite Zone) is characterized by increase of NI above 30%, a decrease of nannoconids (up to 50% at the top), while Watznaueria barnesae increases in abundance up to 27%. The fertility proxies (Diazomatolithus lehmanii, Zeugrhabdotus erectus, Discorhabdus rotatorius, and Biscutum constans) represent again a minor component of the recorded nannofloras (less than 7% in both sections), but they have an ascending trend; (3) phase III (which encompasses the boundary interval of the NK3B and NC4A nannofossil Subzones, corresponding to the upper part of the Furcillata ammonite Zone) contains higher NI values (over 35%, and up 52% towards the base of this phase), an abrupt nannoconid decrease (down to 20%), higher abundance of Watznaueria barnesae (over 30%), while the fertility nannofossils became an important nannofloral component, jointly amounting to almost 20%; (4) phase IV (identified within the NC4A Nannofossil Zone and corresponding to the boundary interval of the Furcillata and Radiatus ammonite Zones) is characterized by a decrease of NI to 25%, a recovery of the nannoconids up to 40%, a decline in abundance of Watznaueria barnesae to 25%, together with a pronounced drop of fertility taxa, which make together no more than 8%. We assume that maximum of eutrophication in the studied interval from the Southern Carpathians was in the Furcillata ammonite Zone. Notably, within the phases 2 and 3, the morphological changes identified in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages (the predominance of flattened morphologies, together with the presence of conical and trochospiral inflated forms), as well as the occurrence of the Zoophycos trace fossils and pyrite framboids, indicate dysaerobic conditions. In the Southern Carpathians, the late Valanginian–early Hauterivian biogeographical changes are coeval with the initiation of the carbonate platform drowning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Southeast Europe has played an important role in shaping the genetic diversity of sheep due to its proximity to the Danubian route of transport from the Near East into Europe, as well as its possible role as a post-domestication migration network and long tradition of sheep breeding. The history of Romania and, in particular, the historical province of Dobruja, located on the shore of the Black Sea, has been influenced by its geographical position at the intersection between the great powers of the Near East and mainland Europe, with the Middle Ages being an especially animated time in terms of trade, migration, and conflict. In this study, we analyzed the mitochondrial control region of five sheep originating from the Capidava archaeological site (Dobruja, Southeast Romania), radiocarbon dated to the Early Middle Ages (5–10th century AD), in order to better understand the genetic diversity of local sheep populations and human practices in relation to this particular livestock species. The analyses illustrate high haplotype diversity in local medieval sheep, as well as possible genetic continuity in the region. A higher tendency for North to South interaction, rather than East to West, is apparent, together with a lack of interaction along the Asian route. Continuous interaction between the First Bulgarian Empire, which occupied Dobruja starting with the 7th century AD, and the Byzantine Empire is indicated. These results might suggest expanding trade in Southeast Romania in the Early Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study designed to explore the dilution factor between the freshwater of the Danube-Black Sea Canal in the southeastern part of Romania and the Black Sea waters using the tritiated liquid effluents from CANDU type NPP Cernavoda as tracers. The study used tritiated water to simulate the transport and dispersion of solutes in the Danube-Black Sea Canal. Measured tracer-response curves from soluble tracer can provide an efficient method of obtaining necessary data.

Abstract: New field observations and fossil analyses complete and clarify the strong impact of the Mediterranean sea-level changes linked to the peak of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the Dacic Basin in southwestern Romania. In addition to the Gilbert-type fan delta already evidenced along the Danube River in the area of Turnu Severin, a new Gilbert-type fan delta is described northward. Early Zanclean bottomset beds are evidenced and dated based on nannofossils at the junction of the two coalescing Gilbert-type fan deltas. A clear sedimentological, morphological and chronologic differentiation is established in the area between the Carpathians Late Miocene piedmont alluvial fans and the early Zanclean Gilbert-type fan deltas. The early Zanclean age of the Hinova clays, where the bottomset beds of the Gilbert-type fan deltas are mostly developed, is confirmed by the occurrence of nannofossil markers of Subzone NN12b and a Bosphorian mollusk macrofauna. Early Zanclean inflow of Mediterranean marine waters into the Dacic Basin is also supported by the record of planktonic foraminifers. In the Dacic Basin, the Messinian Salinity Crisis resulted in the cutting of the Iron Gates by a Carpathians river. Fluvial erosion also affected the residual Pannonian Basin and probably catched the paleo-Tisza River which contributed to the erosion of the Iron Gates and to the fluvial drainage of the partly desiccated Dacic Basin. Arguments are reinforced in favor of a marine gateway between the Mediterranean and Dacic Basin through the Balkans before and after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]