Olistostromes of the Pieniny Klippen Belt, Northern Carpathians

Abstract

The olistostromes form two belts within the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) in the Northern Carpathians. They mark an early stage of the development of the accretionary prism. The first belt was formed during Late Cretaceous time as a result of subduction of the southern part of the Alpine Tethys. The fore-arc basin originated along this subduction zone, with synorogenic flysch deposits. Huge olistoliths deposited within the Cretaceous–Palaeogene flysch of the Złatne Basin, presently located in the vicinity of the Haligovce village (eastern Slovakia), provide a good example of the fore-arc olistostrome setting. The second belt is related to the movement of the accretionary prism, which overrode the Czorsztyn Ridge during Late Cretaceous–Paleocene time. The destruction of this ridge led to the formation of submarine slumps and olistoliths along the southern margin of the Magura Basin. The Upper Cretaceous – Paleocene flysch sequences of the Magura Basin constitute the matrix of olistostromes. The large Homole block in the Jaworki village represents the best example of the Magura Basin olistolith. Numerous examples of olistoliths were documented in western Slovakia, Poland, eastern Slovakia and Ukraine. The olistostromes formed within the Złatne and Magura basins orginated during the tectonic process, forming the olistostrome belts along the strike of the PKB structure.

Paleogene of the Magura Nappe adjacent to the Pieniny Klippen Belt between Szczawnica and Krościenko (Outer Carpathians, Poland)

“…This subunit includes uppermost Cretaceous-Oligocene flysch rocks in the area adjacent to the Pieniny Klippen Belt in Poland known as the peri-Pieniny klippen zone (Watycha 1963, Golonka & Sikora 1981. The older, Jurassic-Cretaceous deposits, are known only from the olistoliths within the flysch (e.g., Cieszkowski et al 2009, Golonka et al 2010, 2015, and citation therein).…”

“…Thick conglomerates and sandstones of the Magura type occur also in this area, however, the separate thick-bedded Życzanów Member cannot be distinguished here. Part of the Szczawnica Formation consist of an olistostrome (Golonka et al 2015). The matrix is not very well exposed.…”

The geotourist attractions in the vicinity of Szczawnica spa

“…The Krynica subunit includes the uppermost Cretaceous-Oligocene fl ysch rocks in the area adjacent to the Pieniny Klippen Belt in Poland. The older, Jurassic-Cretaceous deposits, are known only from the olistoliths within the fl ysch (Cieszkowski et al, 2009;Golonka et al, 2010Golonka et al, , 2015 and papers cited therein).…”

“…The primary task in the framework of Geopark project will be an inventory and valorization of geosites. The Pieniny Geopark covers the area of Pieniny, Little (Małe) Pieniny, Spisian Pieniny, Podhale, Ljubovnianska Pahorkatina and Oravska Magura (Golonka et al, 2015).…”

“…This is 9,5 m high rock built of red nodular limestones (so-called Ammonitico Rosso facies) of the Czorsztyn Limestone Formation (Upper Jurassic in age) and white Calpionella-bearing limestones of the Dursztyn Limestone Formation (the uppermost Jurassic-lowermost Cretaceous) of the Czertezik Succession (Birkenmajer, 2007). Kotuńka klippe present probably one from many olistoliths within the fl ysch succession (Golonka et al, 2015). According to the local legend, this rock was dropped by a devil directly to the river.…”