The Tatras – nappes and landscapes

Geological structure of the Tatra Mts is a result of long-lasting processes. The key nappes have already been completed some 65 Ma ago. However as a mountain range the Tatras has emerged at the surface only 5 Ma ago, when a piece of continental crust separated from African continent at the beginning of Mesozoic era ultimately collided with Europe. Thus, the crystalline core of the Tatras, which builts also the highest crest is a fragment of Africa. This monumental mountains are, however, not an effect of the overthrusting but they resulted from young, vertical tectonic movements, which are still active and which sometimes shake the whole Podhale region. The following paper explains how the Tatras were formed. The figures enclosed illustrate the succeeding formation stages of the mountain range and the photographs allow the Reader to compare drawings with the field. Welcome to the Tatras.//Struktura geologiczna Tatr formowała się bardzo długo, a kluczowe dla niej płaszczowiny były już gotowe przed 65 milionami lat. Pomimo tego jako góry Tatry zaczęły się wyraźnie zaznaczać na powierzchni dopiero 5 mln lat temu. Trzeba było aby kawał skorupy kontynentalnej, oderwany od Afryki z początkiem ery Mezozoicznej, ostatecznie wbił się w kontynent Europejski. Jego fragmentem, okruchem Afryki, jest trzon krystaliczny tworzący m. in. Tatry Wysokie. Ich imponujący wygląd nie jest wszakże efektem ruchów nasuwczych a młodych przesunięć pionowych, które do dziś czasami trzęsą Podhalem. Jak to się stało opisuje poniższy artykuł. Zamieszczone w nim rysunki ilustrują kolejne stadia rozwoju Tatr. Liczne zdjęcia pozwalają porównać papierowe konstrukcje z rzeczywistymi dziełami natury. Zapraszam do lektury i wycieczki w Tatry. Autor

The Tatra Mts – rocks, landforms, weathering and soils

The trip gives insight into geology and landforms as well as into past and present dynamic geological, geomorphologic and soil-forming processes in the central part of Polish Tatra Mts. The area is easily accessible from Zakopane. However not the highestand not the most impressive of all parts of the mountains it offers a concise review of all sites crucial for understanding the geologic history of the Tatras and their forefield. Crystalline core has not only been covered by overthrusted sedimentary rocks but also forms tectonically displaced bodies like crystalline islands over the sediments. Post-orogenic erosion strongly differentiated the mountains landscape. High valleys shaped in resistant granitoids of the High Tatras were much better reservoirs of snow and ice during the Pleistocene then the West Tatras valleys deeply cut into softer sediments and metamorphic rocks. Therefore, the High Tatric glaciers were longer and thicker than the West Tatric ones. Post-glacial weathering, mass movements and accumulation of organic matter resulted finally in formation of rich variety of specific mountain soils.//Trasa wycieczki prowadzi przez środkową część Tatr Polskich: Dolinę Bystrej, Kasprowy Wierch, przełęcz Karb i Dolinę Suchej Wody (Fig. 1). Różnice między dwiema głównymi częściami tych gór: Tatrami Zachodnimi i Wysokimi są stamtąd wyjątkowo dobrze widoczne. Teren ten jest ponadto przedmiotem intensywnych badań od przynajmniej 200 lat, a najnowsze doniesienia pojawiają się co roku. Stamtąd pochodzą liczne datowania moren, wreszcie, to w Dolinie Suchej Wody L. Zejszner pierwszy rozpoznał w 1849 r. ślady zlodowacenia. Przemierzając Tatry podczas planowanej wycieczki będzie można zaobserwować tak wyraźnie widoczne w górach efekty działania procesów prowadzących do niszczenia gór, bardziej szczegółowo przyjrzymy się przejawom wietrzenia. Wietrzenie jest bardzo ważnym procesem warunkującym powstawanie gleb a co za tym idzie wpływającym na rozwój roślin i zwierząt czyli na środowisko życia człowieka

Late Jurassic facies succession of the Kleszczów Graben area (southern border of the Łódź Depression, peri-Tethyan shelf, central Poland)

Numerous fully cored boreholes completed in the last years in central Poland (Kleszczów Graben area, southern border of the Łódź Depression) enabled the researchers to obtain new sedimentological data on the Oxfordian-Tithonian continuous sedimentary record in the Polish part of the northern Tethys shelf. Twenty-two facies were distinguished in the sedimentological succession. The facies represent the outer-, mid- and inner-ramp environments, including evaporitic episodes and palaeosols. The facies document that the Oxfordian-Lower Kimmeridgian (up to Hypselocyclum) carbonate ramp has evolved to the Upper Kimmeridgian-Tithonian carbonate-siliciclastic ramp. Among the Kimmeridgian deposits, numerous hardgrounds, tidal channel deposits and gravity flow sediments were identified. The Kleszczów Graben sedimentary succession is discussed along with the lithostratigraphical units known from the adjacent regions of southern and central Poland

Colorectal Adenocarcinomas Harboring ALK Fusion Genes : a Clinicopathologic and Molecular Genetic Study of 12 Cases and Review of the Literature

This study determined the frequency, clinicopathologic, and genetic features of colorectal carcinomas driven by oncogenic fusions of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (ALK). Out of 8150 screened tumors, 12 (0.15%) were immunohistochemically ALK-positive with D5F3 antibody. These cancers harbored CAD-ALK (n=1), DIAPH2-ALK (n=2), EML4-ALK (n=2), LOC101929227-ALK (n=1), SLMAP-ALK (n=1), SPTBN1-ALK (n=4) and STRN-ALK (n=1) fusions as detected by an RNA-based NGS assay. ALK fusion carcinomas were diagnosed mostly in older patients with a 9:3 female predominance (median age, 72 years). All tumors, except a rectal one, occurred in the right colon. Most tumors were stage T3 (n=7) or T4 (n=3). Local lymph node and distant metastases were seen at presentation in 9 and 2 patients. These tumors showed moderate (n=6) or poor (n=3) glandular differentiation, solid medullary growth pattern (n=2), and pure mucinous morphology (n=1). DNA mismatch repair deficient phenotype was identified in 10 cases. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were prominent in 9 carcinomas. In 4 carcinomas, tumor cells showed strong, focal (n=3) or diffuse PD-L1 immunoreactivity. CDX2 expression and loss of CK20 and MUC2 expression were frequent. CK7 was expressed in 5 tumors. Four patients died of disease within 3 years and 7 were alive with follow-up ranging from 1–8 years. No mutations in BRAF, RAS and genes encoding components of PI3K-AKT/MTOR pathway were identified. However, one tumor had a loss-of-function PTEN mutation. Aberration of p53 signaling, TP53 mutations and/or nuclear accumulation of p53 protein was seen in 9 cases. ALK fusion colorectal carcinomas are a distinct and rare subtype of colorectal cancers displaying some features of mismatch repair-deficient tumors