Content

The evolution of the landscape in the Pliocene and Quaternary was strongly influenced by climatic and tectonic changes. These changes were particularly pronounced in the highly dynamic area of the European Alps and their foreland, where Pliocene to Quaternary terrestrial sediments were deposited. In the area of the Southeastern Alpine foreland (Slovenia), fluvial sediments from the Pliocene and Quaternary were deposited in several intermontane basins. The sediments are preserved in terrace systems, with the older terraces from the Pliocene and early Pleistocene in the highest areas and the younger middle and late Pleistocene terraces in the lowest areas. The study of such sediments requires a holistic approach that includes geomorphological analyses, sediment composition analyses and age determinations.
The main objective of the postdoctoral project is to fill the gap in the Slovenian Quaternary stratigraphy by formalizing the allostratigraphic units in the intermontane basins of Slovenj Gradec, Nazarje, Celje, Velenje and Drava-Ptuj Basins using morphometric, geomorphological, sedimentological and chronological methods. The project will be the first quantitative chronological study in most of the investigated basins. The results will allow the correlation of the Pliocene to Quaternary succession not only in Slovenia but also in the Alpine foreland. The calculations of sedimentation and uplift rates will contribute to the field of active tectonics and thus to the earthquake hazard.

Project phases
•    Review of existing data (WP0): finished
•    Quantitative morphometric analyses (WP1): in progress
•    Sedimentological analyses (WP2): in progress
•    Provenance analyses (WP3): in progress
•    Numerical dating (WP4): in progress
•    Establising allostratigraphy (WP5): in progress
•    Project management (WP6): in progress
•    Dissemination of results (WP7): in progress

Bibliographic references resulting directly from the project

Original scientific paper 
Mencin Gale, E., Jamšek Rupnik, P., Akçar, N., Christl, M., Vockenhuber, C., Anselmetti, F.S., Šmuc A. The onset of Pliocene – Early Pleistocene fluvial aggradation in the Southeastern Alpine Foreland (Velenje Basin, Slovenia) and its paleoenvironmental implications. Journal of quaternary science. 2024, vol. 39, no. 5, str. 691–709. ISSN 0267-8179. DiRROS – Digitalni repozitorij raziskovalnih organizacij Slovenije, DOI: 10.1002/jqs.3623. [COBISS.SI-ID 196119555]
Mencin Gale, E., Kralj, P., Trajanova M., Gale, L., Skaberne, D. Petrology dataset of Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments in northeastern Slovenia = Podatki o petrologiji pliocensko-pleistocenskih sedimentov severovzhodne Slovenije. Geologija. [Tiskana izd.]. 2024, letn. 67, št. 1, str. 157-160. ISSN 0016-7789. DiRROS – Digitalni repozitorij raziskovalnih organizacij Slovenije, DOI: 10.5474/geologija.2024.008. [COBISS.SI-ID 200244739]

Published abstract of scientific contribution on a conference
Mencin Gale, E., Neuhuber, S., Fiebig, M., Lüthgens, C. Establishing chronology of fluvial terrace sequence in the Drava-Ptuj basin (NE Slovenia). V: COSMO 2024 : 6th Workshop on Cosmogenic Nuclides : Cologne, 20-24 May 2024 : conference programme. Cologne: [org. odb.], 2024. Str. 56. [COBISS.SI-ID 197857795]
Mencin Gale, E., Jamšek Rupnik, P., Atanackov, J., Bavec, M., Cline, M. L., Neuhuber, S., Braumann, S.M., Wieser, A., Marchart, O., Christl, M., Vockenhuber, C., Akçar, N. Chronology of Pliocene-Pleistocene fluvial terraces in south-eastern Slovenia (Krško and Velenje basins). V: OROS SRŠEN, Ankica (ur.), NOVAK, Vibor (ur.). Karst research and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mirko Malez : 7th Regional Scientific Meeting on Quaternary Geology : November 14th – 15th 2024, Zagreb, Croatia : abstract book. Zagreb: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2024. Str. 24. ISBN 978-953-347-593-6. [COBISS.SI-ID 216811267]
Mencin Gale, E., Jamšek Rupnik, P., Atanackov, J., Bavec, M., Cline, M. L., Akçar, N., Neuhuber, S., Braumann, S.M., Wieser, A., Marchart, O., Christl, M., Vockenhuber, C. A review on chronology of Pliocene-Pleistocene fluvial terraces in southeastern Alpine foreland (Slovenia). V: Quaternary stratigraphy and terrestrial carbonates: climate, tectonic and humans driven landscape changes : SEQS 2024 – Gavorrano, Southern Tuscany, Italy : abstract book. Utrecht: International Union of Quaternary Research (INQUA), 2024. Str. 6. [COBISS.SI-ID 210813955]
Completed research data collection
Mencin Gale, E., Kralj, P., Trajanova, M., Gale, L., Skaberne, D. Podatki o petrologiji pliocensko-pleistocenskih sedimentov severovzhodne Slovenije. Ljubljana: DiRROS, 2024. 1 spletni vir. https://doi.org/10.5474/geologija.2024.008, DiRROS – Digitalni repozitorij raziskovalnih organizacij Slovenije. [COBISS.SI-ID 199210755]
Other works performed (invited lecture)
Mencin Gale, E. Geološki in geomorfološki razvoj medgorskih bazenov v severovzhodni Sloveniji: vabljeno predavanje pri Geomorfološkem društvu Slovenije, NTF – Oddelek za geologijo, 14. 3. 2024. [COBISS.SI-ID 189643011]
Mencin Gale, Eva. Rečni sedimenti in geomorfologija medgorskih bazenov : vabljeno predavanje pri predmetu Geologija kvartarja za študente na 1. stopnji študija geologije na Oddelku za geologijo na Naravoslovnotehniški fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, 16. 4. 2025. [COBISS.SI-ID 239587075]