ORIGINAL PAPER Cyclostratigraphic dating in the Lower Badenian (Middle Miocene) of the Vienna Basin (Austria): the Baden-Sooss core J. Hohenegger Æ S. C ´ oric ´ Æ M. Khatun Æ P. Pervesler Æ F. Ro ¨gl Æ C. Rupp Æ A. Selge Æ A. Uchman Æ M. Wagreich Received: 27 October 2006 / Accepted: 23 November 2007 Ó Springer-Verlag 2007 Abstract The scientific borehole Baden-Sooss penetrates a succession of Badenian (Langhian, Middle Miocene) sediments at the type locality of the Badenian, the old brickyard Baden-Sooss in the Vienna Basin. The sedimen- tary succession of the 102-m-cored interval consists of more than 95% bioturbated, medium-to-dark gray marly shales with carbonate contents between 11 and 25% and organic carbon contents between 0.35 and 0.65%. Biostratigraphic investigations on foraminifera (mainly lower part of Upper Lagenid Zone) and calcareous nannoplankton (standard zone NN5) indicate an early Badenian (Langhian) age. Cycles in carbonate content, organic carbon content, and magnetic susceptibility have been identified by power spectra analysis. Correlations between the three variables are extremely significant. Using cross-correlation, periods around 40 m correlate significantly with the 100 kyr -1 eccentricity cycle, the *20 m periods with the obliquity cycle, and the 15 to 11-m periods with both precession cycles. Wavelet transformation and decomposition of composite periodic functions were used to obtain the posi- tion of the cycle peaks in the profile. Cross-correlation with orbital cycles (La2004) dates the Baden-Sooss core between -14.379 ± 1 and -14.142 my ± 9 kyr. Keywords Cylcostratigraphy  Middle Miocene  Badenian  Astronomical tuning Introduction The Vienna Basin constitutes a classical area of geological and paleontological investigations of Miocene strata. The basin is situated at the junction of the Eastern Alps and the Western Carpathians (e.g. Decker 1996; Hamilton et al. 2000; see Fig. 1) and formed during Neogene lateral extrusion within the Eastern Alps (Ratschbacher et al. 1991; Decker 1996). A wealth of data for the Vienna Basin has been gathered by the oil industry, mainly OMV AG. Due to the bad outcrop situation, however, detailed sedimentological and paleon- tological investigations are restricted to a few natural outcrops and a handful of active pits. Therefore, a scientific borehole was drilled in 2003 near the western margin of the southern Vienna Basin. The aim was a detailed sampling of a longer succession of Miocene sediments. The scientific borehole Baden-Sooss penetrated a succession of Badenian (Langhian, Middle Miocene) deposits, starting from the type section of the Badenian stage, the old brickyard Baden- Sooss near Baden (Papp et al. 1978; see Fig. 1). The whole 102 m of the Baden-Sooss borehole were cored for the application of multidisciplinary methods, including J. Hohenegger (&)  P. Pervesler Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria e-mail: johann.hohenegger@univie.ac.at S. C ´ oric ´  C. Rupp Geological Survey of Austria, Vienna, Austria M. Khatun  M. Wagreich Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria F. Ro ¨gl Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria A. Selge Paleomagnetic Laboratory Gams, Institute of Geophysics, MU Leoben, Austria A. Uchman Institute of Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Oleandry 2a, 30-063 Krako ´w, Poland 123 Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) DOI 10.1007/s00531-007-0287-7