Advances in sedimentology and basin analysis provide the foundation for a comprehensive
basin-fill model and lithostratigraphic framework of Lake Pannon, Central Europe,
highlighting the dynamical changes of the depositional environments. The lake's ca.
8 Myr long evolution began with transgression and deepening, followed by normal regression,
forming up to 7 km thick sediment fill. Initial coarse-grained coastal deposits are
overlain by offshore to deep-water marls, with varying carbonate- and organic-matter
content and include both anoxic laminites and sediment gravity-flow deposits. Later
confined and unconfined turbidite systems developed due to interactions between basin-floor
relief and shelf-slope progradation. Stacked deltaic cycles followed by clayey alluvial
plain deposits with anastomosing and meandering sandy channel fills comprise the upper
part of the succession. Repeated aggradational to progradational clinothem architectures,
thickness and distribution of muddy to sandy delta lobes on the shelf, and distribution
of turbidite lobes in the deep basins reflect lake-level fluctuations. While climate
primarily controlled lake level, coastal sedimentation is identified as a new factor
driving long-term lake-level rise. Therefore, Lake Pannon's stratigraphy demonstrates
that, in contrast to marine systems, in supply-dominated endorheic lakes accommodation
space is created by sedimentation.
