Quartz arenites and laterites in the Moesian Group (Upper Triassic), northwestern Bulgaria: possible evidence for the effect of the Carnian Humid Episode

Quartz-rich sandstones and ironstone crusts occur in the lowermost part of the Upper Triassic Moesian Group exposed in the western Balkanides. On the basis of performed field studies, micropetrography, X-ray diffraction, and major-element chemistry, these deposits are defined as first-cycle quartz arenites and laterites, respectively. The former were deposited in an alluvial environment, while the latter developed in gravel-dominated fluvial sediments. The main control on their formation was warm to hot humid climate conditions combined with low relief, quiescent tectonic setting, mixed source area, and slow sedimentation rate. The decreasing compositional maturity of the sandstones forming the Glavatsi Member (quartz arenites→feldsarenites→litharenites), the disappearance of the lateritic crusts upwards in the continental succession, and the presence of thick overlying fluvial and playa deposits in the Komshtitsa Formation (or Chelyustnitsa Formation) reflect gradual transition from humid to subhumid climate, and then to persistent semi-arid climate regime. This irreversible trend correlates with other Upper Triassic strata deposited in the Western Tethys realm and adjacent areas. The coeval formation of quartz arenites and laterites must have been related to the most distinctive climate change during the Triassic, i.e., the global Carnian Humid Episode. The new results and interpretations appear to be the first geological record for the effect of pronounced mid-Carnian humidity reported from Eastern Europe. They also present indirect sedimentological evidence for the stratigraphical range of the Moesian Group in NW Bulgaria.