Commune: Międzyzdroje (pow. kamieński, woj. zachodniopomorskie) , Wolin (pow. kamieński, woj. zachodniopomorskie)
Framework element or context represented:
The coastal zone of the Baltic Sea.
Primary geological/geomorphological interest:
Biggest Polish island with highest cliff coast, glacial deposit sequence and postglacial relief.
Comparative assessment justification:
Similar geological formations create the cliffs of the neighbouring Uznam Island along the German part of the Baltic Sea coast.
Protection status and accessibility:
Wolin Island is protected since 1960 as the Wolin National Park (10 937.4 ha). This area comprises a very valuable complex of geosites with a good sightseeing accessibility. A lot of nature-didactic paths conduct to interesting places.
Character of site: Sea - coast.
Area: 10937.4 ha
Altitude: 1 - 115 m a.s.l.
Lithology: tills, other siliceous rocks, marls, sands, peats
Discipline: Geomorphology, Stratigraphy of Quaternary, Stratigraphy of Phanerozoic
Process Age: Holocene, Quaternary, *all periods
Bedrock Age: Quaternary, *all periods
Description of primary interest:
Wolin Island is situated within the limits of the youngest, Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation, in the sublitoral zone of the Pomorze Bay. The ridge of a terminal moraine (115 m a.s.l.) connected with the latest phase of the last glaciation is the main element of the relief. It is bordered with a high cliff. A few huge blocks of Cretaceous deposits (chalk, opoka, marl) abounding in foraminifera occur within the moraine and outcrop in the old quarries series and in the cliff. These blocks were transported as rafts by the last ice-sheet from the bottom of the Baltic Sea and the background of the island area. Active abrasion and accumulation processes can be observed along the seashore. The 11.7 km long Wolin cliffs form the most beautiful part of the Baltic Sea coast and the Wolin. Till cliff sections are built of two series of till: brown Vistulian till and grey Middle Polish till. Overlying the till series are glacifluvial sands and aeolian covers separated by two horizons of fossil soils. The oldest cover of the sand series lies on a shear plane represented by a residual pavement. In the cliff coast sections with a sandy structure the sand-gravel series reaches a thickness of up to 40 m. The top part of the fluvioglacial sand-gravel series comprises aeolian sand covers with fossil soil horizons. In outcrops of the cliff near Świętoujście the fauna of Eemian marine mollusc occur. Three generations of dunes occur: oldest dunes brown (5000 - 1800 BP), yellow dunes (V - XVII centuries) and youngest dunes white (XVII c. up today). The backward delta of Świna with the archipelago of numerous small islands from the unique landscape in the western part of National Park.
Literature:
ALEXANDROWICZ Z. 1966–Cretaceous deposits in glacial floes on the Island Wolin and the vicinity of Kamień Pomorski (English sum.). Prace Geologiczne Komis. Nauk Geol. PAN, Oddz. w Krakowie, 35: 1-104. BER A. 1999–Preliminary list of the Quaternary geosites in Northern and Central Poland, their age and geological position. Pol. Geol. Inst., Spec. Papers, 2: 77-85. BORÓWKA R.K., BELCZYŃSKA A. 1998–Aeolian coversands and fossil soils in geological structure of the Wolin Island cliffs near Międzyzdroje - Grodno and Świętoujść. Field Symp. INQUA. Ex. Guide: 15-18. BORÓWKA R.K., GONERA P., KOSTRZEWSKI A., ZWOLIŃSKI Z. 1982–Orgin, age and palaeogeographic significance of cover sands in the Wolin and moraine area, North West Poland. Quaestiones Geographicae 8: 19-36. BORÓWKA R.K., GONERA P., KOSTRZEWSKI A., NOWACZYK B., ZWOLIŃSKI Z. 1986–Stratigraphy of eolian deposits in Wolin Island and surrounding area. North-West Poland. Boreas 15: 301-309. BORÓWKA R.K., GOSLAR T., PAZDUR A. 1998–Age of glaciotectonic structures on the Wolin Island. Ibidem: 19-22. BORÓWKA R.K., MAKOWSKA A., CEDRO B. 1999–Interglacial marine sediments traces in the area of Świętoujście (Wolin Island) (English sum.). In: Borówka R.K, Młynarczyk Z., Wojciechowska A. (eds). Ewolucja geosystemów nadmorskich południowego Bałtyku: 49-54. Bogucki Wyd. Nauk. Poznań-Szczecin. KOCYŁA J., RUMIŃSKI J. 2004–Geological-turist map of Wolin Island (English sum.). Polish Geological Institute, Warszawa. KOSTRZEWSKI A., ZWOLINSKI Z. 1995–Present-day morphodynamics of the cliff coast of Wolin Island. In: Polish Coast: Past, Present and Future. Spec. Issue, CERF, 22: 292-303.