Facies types and depositional environments of a morphologically diverse carbonate platform : a case study from the Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) of Upper Silesia, southern Poland

The detailed sedimentological study of the 150-m-thick Muschelkalk succession, deposited on a small (~200 by 80 km), morphologically diverse Upper Silesian carbonate platform during four major marine-transgressive pulses of the Tethys Ocean, enhanced the understanding of the depositional history, palaeogeography, and facies distribution. A total of thirty-five lithofacies types were identified, described and interpreted in terms of depositional settings. These different lithofacies represent various shallow-marine environments along the platform transect, from peritidal to offshore areas. The vertical and lateral organization of the lithofacies delineated was caused by the interplay of platform morphology, third-order eustasy and the long-term tectonic evolution of the area. Accordingly, the carbonate system studied is a good example of the influence of large-scale processes on the facies architecture of carbonate platforms. In general, all of the four Transgressive Systems Tracts are characterized by similarity in lithofacies composition and vertical succession and by minor lateral change, indicating only limited influence of the three large-scale factors mentioned on lithofacies development and distribution during transgressions. In contrast, each of the four associated Highstand Systems Tracts comprises an individual (unique) lithofacies assemblage displaying substantial regional and local variation, which indicates that the filling of accommodation space during highstands strongly depended on the extrinsic processes

Reefal environments and sedimentary processes of the Anisian Karchowice Beds in Upper Silesia, southern Poland

The Anisian shallow-marine Karchowice Beds of the Upper Silesia represent reefal habitats and circum-reefal environments, where biological-mechanical interactions determine sedimentary processes and facies pattern. The purpose of this study was recognition of the interaction between biological and mechanical controls of carbonate deposition. Such interdependence resulted in considerable lateral variability of thickness and lithological features, observed at a distance of 25 km. The western part of the basin is dominated by proximal facies (reefal facies), whereas the eastern one represents distal facies (fore-reef). Sedimentary succession in the western area is twice as thick than the eastern one. It resulted from different rate of subsidence owing to block tectonics, controlled by reactivated ancestral Silesian-Moravian Fault. Small-scale synsedimentary faults confirm syndepositional tectonic activity in the region. Palaeogeographical position caused that the Upper Silesia was strongly affected by monsoon climate, generating storms. These storms contributed to episodic deposition, prevailing during the sedimentation of Karchowice Beds. However, most of time was represented by prolonged non-deposition periods, recorded as interstratal hiatuses, but also by forming of firmgrounds, micritization and coating of bioclasts or substrate recolonisation by organisms

Sedimentology of the "ore-bearing dolomite" of the Kraków-Silesia region (Middle Triassic, southern Poland)

The depositional history and facies heterogeneity of the epigenetically dolomitized Middle Triassic carbonates of southern Poland are poorly recognized, and existing concepts of fluid circulation entirely overlook the primary lithology as a factor controlling fluid flow. This study reconstructs the consecutive phases of Kraków-Silesia Sub-basin history in the Anisian and highlights their influence on the development of the so-called “ore-bearing dolomite”. Extensive fieldwork and microfacies analyses were carried out in order to decipher the original depositional fabric of the ore-bearing dolomites. As a rule, epigenetic dolomitization affected a horizon of porous strata, 35 m thick and resting directly on impermeable, wavy-nodular clay-rich calcilutites of the Gogolin Formation, which represent the interval of deepest and fully marine (offshore) sedimentation. The sedimentary succession of the porous strata is bipartite. The lower part (Olkusz Beds) is composed of Balanoglossites and Thalassinoides micritic firmgrounds and peloidal packstones-grainstones, representing shoreface-foreshore facies assemblages, whereas the upper part (Diplopora Beds) consists of dolocretes, rhizolites, cryptalgal laminites, peloidal packstones-grainstones and bioturbated fine-grained dolostones, formed in a system of tidal flats and lagoons. These two parts are separated by a subaerial disconformity, which marks a sequence boundary. During emersion, the underlying deposits were subjected to meteoric diagenesis, which led to the development of moldic porosity. This combination of depositional history and diagenetic alteration determined the routes of initial migration of dolomitizing solutions on the one hand, and the location of cavern formation on the other. Owing to progressive dissolution, small caverns were changed into large karstic forms, in which the ore minerals precipitated ultimately. These findings emphasize the importance of sedimentological analysis to the understanding of the evolution of the Kraków-Silesia ore province

Depositional conditions of vertebrate remains within the Lower Muschelkalk (Anisian) peritidal carbonates of the "Stare Gliny" quarry near Olkusz (Kraków-Silesia region, southern Poland)

A detailed sedimentological study of the Lower-Middle Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) carbonate succession exposed at the “Stare Gliny” quarry near Olkusz (Kraków-Silesia region, southern Poland) revealed numerous vertebrate remains within its lowermost sedimentary unit. This 7-m-thick package onlaps a gently-inclined surface of a paleoisland made of the Devonian (Givetian) dolostones, and was deposited during a transgressive phase of the second Middle Triassic transgression onto the southern Poland. The package consists largely of: 1) unfossiliferous dolosiltites and fine-grained dolarenites, the tops of which commonly contain root molds and small-scale karstic forms; 2) breccias (minor conglomerates) with lithoclasts of Givetian dolostones; 3) dolocretes; and 4) dolomitic shales. This lithofacies association represents a restricted lagoon which experienced longer periods of emersion. A minor occurrence of cryptalgal laminites reflects only temporary sedimentation in the intertidal zone of a tidal flat. The bone fragments occur within all types of lithofacies, but the macroscopically distinguishable specimens have been found exclusively in the dolocretes. The poor preservation and advanced disarticulation of bones hinder unequivocal assessment of their affinity. The small size of bones suggests that they represent prolacertiforms (perhaps juvenile Macrocnemus) or other small archosauromorphs similar in sizes to Protorosaurus or Czatkowiella whose remains were found in the 1950s within cave deposits, in the same outcrop. Macrocnemus widely inhabited Middle Triassic lagoons and tidal flats across Paleo-Europe and thus seems to fit well to the peritidal setting surrounding the “Stare Gliny” paleoisland. The bone-bearing package occurs 30 metres below the 5-m-thick oncolitic package that is widely regarded as a correlation horizon over the entire Kraków-Silesia region, and 15 metres below the sequence boundary marking the top of the Górażdże Beds in the Opole region and the Olkusz Bedsin the Kraków-Silesiaregion.On the basis of the secor relations,a conclusion can be made that the vertebrate assemblage is Bithynian/Pelsonian (middle Anisian) in age

Surface Water Quality Analysis Using CORINE Data: An Application to Assess Reservoirs in Poland

Reservoirs are formed through the artificial damming of a river valley. Reservoirs, among others, capture polluted load transported by the tributaries in the form of suspended and dissolved sediments and substances. Therefore, reservoirs are treated in the European Union (EU) as “artificial” or “heavily modified” surface water bodies. The reservoirs’ pollutant load depends to a large extent on the degree of anthropogenic impact in the respective river catchment area. The purpose of this paper is to assess the mutual relation between the catchment area and the reservoirs. In particular, we focus on the e ects of certain land use/land cover on reservoirs’ water quality. For this study, we selected twenty Polish reservoirs for an in-depth analysis using 2018 CORINE Land Cover data. This analysis allowed the identification of the main triggering factors in terms of water quality of the respective reservoirs. Moreover, our assessment clearly shows that water quality of the analysed dam reservoirs is directly a ected by the composition of land use/land cover, both of the entire total reservoir catchment areas and the directly into the reservoir draining sub-catchment areas

Diversity of vertebrate remains from the Lower Gogolin Beds (Anisian) of southern Poland

Middle Triassic (Muschelkalk) limestones and dolostones of southern Poland contain vertebrate remains, which can be used for palaeoecological and palaeogeographical analyses. The results presented concern vertebrate remains uncovered at four localities in Upper Silesia and one on Opole Silesia, a region representing the south-eastern margin of the Germanic Basin in Middle Triassic times. The most abundant remains in this assemblage are fish remains, comprising mostly actinopterygian teeth and scales. Chondrichthyan and sauropsid remains are less common. Reptilian finds include vertebrae, teeth and fragments of long bones, belonging to aquatic or semi-aquatic reptiles, such as nothosaurids, pachypleusorosaurids, and ichthyosaurids. Also, coprolites of possibly durophagous and predacious reptiles occur. In the stratigraphic column of Mikołów, actinopterygian remains are the most numerous and no distinct changes of the taxonomic composition occur. Although this assemblage differs from those described at other localities (Ząbkowice with numerous chondrichthyans, Żyglin, and Płaza with common sauropsid fossils), sampling bias has to be considered

Inventory of reservoirs of key significance for water management in Poland – evaluation of changes in their capacity

Dam reservoirs constitute an important element of protection against floods and hydrological droughts, and they ensure the possibility of producing electricity. Loss of reservoirs’ storage capacity has a significant impact on the management of their water resources, including flood protection and counteracting the effects of drought and the possibility of producing electricity. The paper presents changes in the capacity of 47 reservoirs in Poland that have the status of key objects of protection against floods and hydrological drought. Based on the collected, unpublished data, the changes in capacity from the beginning of the reservoirs’ existence to 31 March 2021 were calculated, which allowed us to determine the total amount of lost capacity and the pace of the processes taking place. From the beginning of operation (average operation time 48 years), the capacity has decreased by about 5%, which means that almost 200 million m3 less water is stored. Detailed analyses of the lost capacity also allowed for an illustrative presentation of forecasts for further changes in the short and long term. The results obtained represent a unique contribution to future national strategies for the management of sediment and reservoirs’ flood reserve and reduction of drought. The presentation of this problem seems to be important also in the context of climate chang

Time-calibration of carbonate diagenesis and regional tectonism in the Norwegian Barents Sea

Diagenesis plays a crucial role in carbonate reservoir properties, for example through the dissolution or precipitation of carbonate minerals, with burial history and fluid migration thought to play an important role in the timing of these events. To better understand these relationships and the local manifestation of regional events, we study carbonate sedimentary rocks and associated diagenetic cements from the Loppa High and Finnmark Platform using in-situ U–Pb carbonate geochronology and C–O stable isotope ratios, combined with burial history modelling. The results indicate a complex history of diagenesis: analyzed dolomicrite samples from the Loppa High typically yield ages that are older than their biostratigraphic age, in contrast to dolomicrite samples from the Finnmark Platform that yielded younger ages; this regional offset may be reflective of different styles of early diagenesis, as well as heterogeneous and re-deposited origin of some studied materials. While many diagenetic calcite cements coincide with modelled burial or uplift events, other events have no cements associated with them, although the possibility that some diagenetic carbonate phases were unsampled cannot be ruled out. Some calcite cements are not associated with burial events at all and may instead be related to hydrocarbon ‘charging’, supported by strongly negative δ13C values recorded in these cements. Broadly, these results highlight the value of integrating petrographic observations, burial history modelling, carbonate U–Pb geochronology, and C–O isotope ratios, as well as the complexity of untangling diagenetic histories

The 42nd Symposium Chromatographic Methods of Investigating Organic Compounds : Book of abstracts

The 42nd Symposium Chromatographic Methods of Investigating Organic Compounds : Book of abstracts. June 4-7, 2019, Szczyrk, Polan