Most significant geosites of the Cieszyn Foothills, Outer flysch Carpathians, Poland and Czech Republic

The article provides a review of the most important geotouristic attractions within the Cieszyn Foothills, Outer Flysch Carpathians in Poland and adjacent part of the Czech Republic. The best geosites, which can be visited during a short 1-2 day visit in the Polish Carpathians were selected. The present paper contains the description of the classic localities exposing the oldest deposits and igneous rocks of the Silesian Unit. The geotouristic objects are important because the represent scenic sites as well as geosites with educational values supplying limitless information about the geological history, as well as the history of earth sciences research

An Entzia-dominated marsh-type agglutinated foraminiferal assemblage from a salt marsh in Tubli Bay, Bahrain

A salt-marsh assemblage of agglutinated foraminifera was recovered from a salt marsh on the east side of Tubli Bay in eastern Bahrain. This locality is one of the last remaining patches of salt marsh on the east coast of Tubli Bay. The salt marsh is covered by a single marsh plant species, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum. Samples were collected from beneath the Arthrocnemum canopy in two transects beginning at the maximum landward extent of halophytic plants in the high marsh and extending to a tidal channel at the seaward side of the low marsh. A distinct elevation-related zonation in foraminifera is observed from the high marsh to the low marsh. The trochamminids Entzia macrescens and Trochammina inflata are characteristic of the high marsh, whereas Ammonia, Elphidium, Peneroplis and smaller miliolids become common in the middle part of the marsh transect. The tidal channel at the lower limit of the marsh contains an assemblage dominated by Ammonia, Elphidium, adult specimens of Pen-eroplis, and smaller miliolids, with Clavulina and Agglutinella as the only agglutinated taxa. Living specimens of Entzia and Trochammina were observed during the winter 2019–2020 sampling season, whereas samples collect-ed in Autumn 2019 contained only dead specimens. One new species, ?Sigmoilina canisdementis sp. nov., is de-scribed herein. This is the first report of a live Entzia-dominated salt marshassemblage in the Arabian Gulf region

Neoproterozoic crystalline exotic clasts in the Polish Outer Carpathian flysch: remnants of the Proto‑Carpathian continent?

Crystalline exotic boulders within the sedimentary sequences of the Outer Carpathians likely represent Proto-Carpathian basement, which was exposed and eroded during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of the Western Carpathian basin. The majority of the boulders were derived from the Silesian Ridge, which separated the Magura Basin and the Silesian Domains, and which became a source region during Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene tectonism. Felsic crystalline clasts within the Silesian Nappe yield U–Pb zircon magmatic protolith ages of 603.7 ± 3.8 Ma and 617.5 ± 5.2 Ma while felsic crystalline clasts within the Subsilesian Nappe yield an age of 565.9 ± 3.1 Ma and thus represent different magmatic cycles. The U–Pb zircon data also imply that the Silesian Ridge was a fragment of the eastern part of the Brunovistulia microcontinent. The presence of inherited zircon cores, dated at 1.3 and 1.7 Ga, suggests a Baltican source for the clasts, as opposed to Gondwana. We infer that Late Neoproterozoic felsic magmatism within the Proto-Carpathian continent represents a long-living magmatic arc, which formed during prolonged Timmanian/Baikalian rather than Pan-African/Cadomian orogenesis. Mafic exotic blocks, found within the Magura Nappe, yield U–Pb zircon ages of 613.3 ± 2.6 Ma and 614.6 ± 2.5 Ma and likely represent a fragment of an obducted ophiolitic sequence. The protolith of these mafic boulders could represent Paleoasian Ocean floor located to the east of Cadomia, obducted during later orogenic processes and incorporated into the accretionary prism. All analysed exotic clasts show no evidence for younger (Variscan) reworking, which is characteristic of both western Brunovistulia and the Central Western Carpathians and the Cadomian elements of Western Europe. The Silesian and Subsilesian basins thus had a likely source area in the eastern part of Brunovistulia, while the source of the Magura Basin was the Fore-Magura Ridge, whose basement potentially represents an accretionary prism on the margin of the East European Craton

Selective agglutination of tourmaline grains by foraminifera in deep-water flysch environment (Eocene Hieroglyphic beds, Silesian Nappe, Polish Outer Carpathians)

Detrital fragments of automorphic tourmaline crystals are commonly incorporated in tests of simple agglutinated foraminifera that lived in the deep-marine Carpathian turbidite basin, in which deposition of the Hieroglyphic beds (Eocene) took place. Such grains were observed in the tests of 37 taxa representing 20 species. However tourmaline occurs in the Carpathian Flysch sediments as an accessory mineral, still it was selected by the foraminifera as the only heavy mineral to be incorporated in their tests. The proportion of tourmaline-bearing specimens in an assemblage usually amounts to a few percent, but may reach 29% in extreme cases. The particular preference for tourmaline segregation and incorporation in the test walls is shown by the following genera: Psammosiphonella, Reophax, Bathysiphon and Nothia

Stratigraphy of the Hieroglyphic Beds with “Black Eocene” facies in the Silesian Nappe (Outer Flysch Carpathians, Poland)

The lithologic variation and biostratigraphy of the Hieroglyphic Beds were examined in the Szczyrzyc Depression, where four lithologic complexes were distinguished. The biostratigraphy is based on agglutinated foraminifera and supported by scarce planktonic foraminifera. The lower part of the Hieroglyphic Beds contains non-characteristic, Ypresian foraminifers, including assemblages of small-sized Trochammina and at successively higher levels representatives of the Bartonian Ammodiscus latus Zone and the Priabonian Reticulophragmium gerochi Zone. The upper part of the Hieroglyphic Beds, composed of dark shales enriched in TOC (1–2%), corresponds to the deposits of the so-called Black Eocene, known from the Fore-Magura group of nappes. Redeposited flysch rocks resulting from episodes of subaqueous mass flow occur in the lower Bartonian part of the section

The Eocene Hieroglyphic beds of Silesian Nappe in Western Polish Carpathians : development and foraminiferal record

The sedimentation of Hieroglyphic beds of the Silesian Nappe took place between the Lower and Middle Eocene and Upper Eocene within the Carpathian Silesian Basin. These beds are represented by thin-bedded flysch containing – at various stratigraphic positions – sandstone-less complexes with variegated shales and bentonite laminae developed in conditions of calm sedimentation with a limited supply of material from the land. The profiles of Hieroglyphic beds of the Silesian Nappe are diversely developed. Their variability and borderline sequences, transitory into overlying and underlying divisions, are presented. In the Ypressian, during the sedimentation of Hieroglyphic beds, foraminiferal associations with numerous small sized Trochammina developed, which formed in the Silesian Basin after the PETM crisis. Since the Lutetian, in slightly more favourable conditions, more differentiated associations have occurred, with Reticulophragmium amplectens (Grzybowski), Ammodiscus (Dolgenia) latus (Grzybowski), and Reticulophragmium gerochi Neagu et al., which preferred cool waters, being index fossils for stratigraphy. Hieroglyphic beds developed during an interval of the gradually cooling climate. The gradual decrease in temperature stimulated the transfer of species: in the Eocene associations of Hieroglyphic beds a number of thermophilous forms, whose optimum of development came in the Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene, disappeared whereas new species appeared which prefer cold waters commonly occurring in boreal basins. The deep restructuring of foraminiferal assemblages took place in the Priabonian, when massive numbers of calcareous benthonic and planktonic forms occurred

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

The present authors investigated the Paleogene deposits of the internal zone of the Magura Basin known as the Krynica Subunit or Krynica zone in Poland. These deposits crop out in the peri-Pieniny zone, in the area between Szczawnica and Krościenko. The oldest flysch deposits belong to the Paleocene - Lower Eocene Szczawnica Formation. This formation is covered by thin-bedded turbidites of the Eocene Zarzecze Formation locally with intercalations of the thick-bedded sandstones of the Krynica Member and Łęcko-type marls. The youngest rocks in this area belong to the Eocene-Oligocene Magura Formation. The Zarzecze Formation occupies a large part of the Krynica zone of the Magura Nappe border structure. Some deposits previously distinguished as the Szczawnica Formation were transferred to the Zarzecze Formation. The foraminiferal assemblages confirm the Eocene age of these deposits

Świadectwa środowisk głębokomorskich w piaskowcach skałek Ciężkowicko-Rożnowskiego Parku Krajobrazowego (Karpaty Zewnętrzne)

The rocky forms of the Ciężkowice-Rożnów Landscape Park form the remains of the solid cover of the Ciężkowice Sandstone. Deposits in rocky forms represent different types of facies. Numerous and genetically diverse sedimentary structures in the sandstones are typical for a deep-sea flysch environment. Analysis of these well preserved features makes it possible to interpret the paleoenvironment of their sedimentation in the Eocene. These features have also become unusually valuable, in terms of both research methodology, known as sedimentological facies analysis, as well as in popularising geological knowledge.Skałki Ciężkowicko-Rożnowskiego Parku Krajobrazowego są obiektami, które pozostały po zwartym kompleksie piaskowca ciężkowickiego. Na ich powierzchniach czytelne są liczne i zróżnicowane genetycznie struktury sedymentacyjne oraz litofacje, które są typowe dla fliszowych środowisk głębokomorskich. Stopień wyrazistości tych struktur na powierzchniach skałek jest wysoki, dlatego stanowią one nie tylko obiekty cenne dla interpretacji paleośrodowisk, ale również cenne dla popularyzacji wiedzy geologicznej