Hyperpycnites within the Devonian-Carboniferous flysch of the Carpatho-Balkanides (Kostadinovica, eastern Serbia)

This study presents new discoveries of vascular plants and the trace fossil Dictyodora liebeana (GEINITZ) from the Devonian-Carboniferous Kuaaj-Zvonce flysch of the Carpatho-Balkanides and the implications of this fossil association for its sedimentary setting. The occurrence of the described plant debris in a deep-marine environment indicates the presence of hyperpycnites within the siliciclastic turbidites exposed at the Kostadinovica locality. The sedimentological data and the characteristics of the fossil material support the proposed model in which the sediment was at least partially transported by hyperpycnal currents. Furthermore, based on the assessment to similar palaeofloras from comparable formations, the age of the fossil plants can be determined as Early Carboniferous. This can be used as an additional biostratigraphic criterion given the relative abundance of vascular plants in other localities of the Kuaaj-Zvonce flysch described in previous studies. The age and the depositional setting of the succession is further better constrained by the first observation of Dictyodora liebeana (GEINITZ) in the Carpatho-Balkanides of Serbia.