Keywords:Volcanoclastic rocks, Pannonian Basin System, Radiometric dating, Neogene, Paleogene, Mineraology, Petrology, Geochemistry.

 

Education of the Young Researcher:
2020:  BSc of geology, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of natural science and engineering. Title: Characterization of natural stone specimens in the geology collection of the Department of Geology
2023: MSc of geology, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of natural science and engineering. Title:  Geochemical and mineralogical properties of selected Slovenian bauxites 

 

Content:

As part of my PhD thesis, I am studying volcaniclastic rocks in ​​Slovenia. The research of volcanoclastic rocks is fundamental geological research, as it includes various geological approaches that help us to understand geological processes in the past, paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical changes, which enables the reconstruction of past geological events. Knowledge of volcanoclastic rocks properties is the basis for all further research in the fields of hydrogeology, geothermal energy, construction (as a building material and in the production of concrete), in decorative use and also in agriculture. As part of my doctoral thesis, I will analyse the occurrence of volcanoclastic rocks in ​​the Slovenian part of the Pannonian Basin System and determine their properties. The research will include petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical analyses, to perform the petrological properties, mineral composition and geochemical characteristics of the investigated rocks. Depending on the type and amount of minerals in the samples, radiometric dating of the rocks will also be performed using the K-Ar, Ar-Ar, U-Pb or Rb-Sr method. The results of the analyses will be used to determine the age and the origin of the magma for the formation of tuffs. Furthermore, correlations with the geodynamic processes that enabled the volcanic activity, will be highlighted. The aim of the doctoral thesis is to determine the similarities between the studied volcanoclastic rocks from the Paleogene and Neogene and the similarities with the volcanoclastic rocks that occur in the vicinity of Slovenia (Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy), as well as the connection with the original volcanic activity.

Selected bibliography:

1. MENCINGER, Lara, ZUPANČIČ, Nina, TERAN, Klemen. Rare earth element (REE) contents in selected Slovenian bauxites. In. Razprave, poročila = Treatises, reports : 26. posvetovanje slovenskih geologov = 26th Meeting of Slovenian Geologists, Ljubljana, October 2023. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Geology, 2023. pp. 102-104. Geological Proceedings, 26/1. ISSN 0352-3802. [COBISS.SI-ID 178429955]

2. MENCINGER, Lara, BAUMAN, Ana Tiana, TERAN, Klemen, KÓSZÓ, Bence, DOLENEC, Sabina. Critical raw materials (CRMS) in bauxites - the Slovenian case study. V: 14th Students' Congress of the Society of Chemists and Technologists of Macedonia, 30th September - 2nd October 2021, Skopje : book of abstracts. Skopje: [org. union], 2021. Pp. 14. [COBISS.SI-ID 94033155]