Mikulov, Czech Republic — We have been very fortunate with the weather on our long IBA field excursion. Dazzling sunlit days and relatively cool evenings. Above is our first stop of the day — the Sandberg site with Miocene fossils in a loosely-bound sand.
This is a cool geological setting where a Miocene shoreline is preserved against Jurassic carbonate cliffs. The Miocene sand is the yellowish unit above superimposed on the blue limestones.
Some of the Jurassic carbonates are exposed as boulders that tumbled down the slopes. This boulder has a surface that was exposed to the Miocene ocean and accumulated round bivalve borings (ichnogenus Gastrochaenolites, which has been seen a lot in this blog).
The limestones also have external molds of snails and bivalves.
Another castle! This one very dramatic in its position commanding the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers. It is the Devin Castle, which was destroyed by Napoleon himself in 1809.
This is the Maiden Tower, a cultural symbol of Slovakia.
River confluences are so cool. The Morava on the right is joining the Danube.
At this important confluence, at the border between what was Czechoslovakia and Austria during the Cold War, is a moving memorial to the over 400 people shot while trying to escape through the Iron Curtain.
The long list of names of those killed by the Soviets and their allies along the border.
The last stop of the day was the type section of the Hartl Formation (Middle Miocene, Badenian) near Eisenstadt, Austria. It is another loose sand, this time with common brachiopods and some bryozoans. This section is eroded back, forming a cave. The roof will collapse some day.
These are beach sands with spectacular cross-beds. I collected some sediment to challenge my sedimentology students next year.
Tonight we stay in the historic Czech city of Mikulov on the border with Austria.
