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Jurassic neptunian dikes at Mt Mangart (Julian Alps, NW Slovenia)

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Abstract

Jurassic neptunian dikes are common within Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic platform limestone of the Julian Alps. At Mt Mangart, the following geometries were observed: irregular dissolution cavities, thin penetrative fractures, larger fractures with sharp sidewalls, and laterally confined breccia bodies. Inside a complex neptunian dike system two main generations of infillings were differentiated. The first generation is heterogeneous and consists of bioclastic limestones, representing uniquely preserved sediments subdivided into five different microfacies. The second generation is more common and typically consists of coarse-grained breccias with host-rock clasts and marly limestone matrix containing echinoderms. Fracture formation and void filling of the first generation of neptunian dikes is dated as Pliensbachian and is interpreted to be caused by the Julian carbonate platform dissection due to widely recognized Lower Jurassic Tethyan rifting. The timing of formation for the second generation is only broadly constrained, ranging from the Pliensbachian to the Late Cretaceous.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported financially by the Slovenian Research Agency, project numbers P1-0008 and P1-0025. We thank Kata Cvetko-Barić for preparation of thin sections, Dragica Turnšek for coral determination and we are especially appreciative to Špela Goričan for numerous consultations. We are much obliged to Elias Samankassou and an anonymous reviewer for constructive criticism of the manuscript. Glenn Jaecks is gratefully acknowledged for English corrections of the final text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ivan Rakovec Institute of Palaeontology, ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Alenka Eva Črne

  2. Geology Department, University of Ljubljana, Privoz 11, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Andrej Šmuc

  3. Geological Survey of Slovenia, Dimičeva 14, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Dragomir Skaberne

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  1. Alenka Eva Črne
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  2. Andrej Šmuc
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Correspondence to Alenka Eva Črne.

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Črne, A.E., Šmuc, A. & Skaberne, D. Jurassic neptunian dikes at Mt Mangart (Julian Alps, NW Slovenia). Facies 53, 249–265 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-007-0102-8

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