SZWAJCARIA



Commune: Suwałki (pow. suwalski, woj. podlaskie) , Suwałki (pow. Suwałki, woj. podlaskie)

Framework element or context represented:
Pleistocene ice-sheet sediments.

Primary geological/geomorphological interest:
The Eemian Interglacial organogenic lake sediments and tills of the Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation.

Comparative assessment justification:
The profile of the Eemian Interglacial sediments at Szwajcaria is the most important one for Pleistocene stratigraphy in the north-eastern part of Poland.

Protection status and accessibility:
The site is protected since 1996 as a monument of an inanimate nature. It represents high scientific values and a good sightseeing accessibility.

Character of site: Artificial outcrop (brickyard).

Area: 0.01 ha

Altitude: 192 m a.s.l.

Lithology: tills, silts, clays, peats, other organic rocks

Discipline: Palaeobiology, Stratigraphy of Quaternary

Process Age: Quaternary, *all periods

Bedrock Age: Quaternary, *all periods




Description of primary interest:
The Szwajcaria site is situated within the extent of the youngest, Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation. The deposits of the Eemian Interglacial are unusually exposed on the ground surface in the loam pits of the old brickyard, 192 m a.s.l. Interglacial deposits are represented in the profile by a 3.5 m thick peat bed, a 30-40 cm thick gyttja and a 60 cm thick sequence of light-grey silt layers. Palynological analysis of the peat gives a full picture of the floral succession of tundra, coniferous forest, leafy forest, and again coniferous forest flora of the Eemian Interglacial. The interglacial peat is underlain by the thick lower unit of glacial till and covered with 40 cm of gyttja and, in some places, of light-grey silt and clayey silt. The silts are in turn overlain by sandy, gravely and clayey till deposits of the Vistulian (Weichselian) Glaciation — of the Pomorze-Leszno Stadial.

Literature:

BER A. 1973 — Geological setting of Eemian Interglacial localities in Suwałki Lake District. Prz. Geol., 21: 363-366     BER A. 1981 — Pojezierze Suwalsko-Augustowskie. Przewodnik Geologiczny, 96-97. Wyd. Geol. Warszawa.     BER A. 1996–The new geological monuments in the Suwałki Lake Region and their conservation. Prz. Geol. 44, 3: 262-264.     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     BER A. 2001–Ważne czwartorzędowe stanowiska geologiczne Polski północnej i środkowej (Polish only). In: W trosce o Ziemię. Księga ku czci Prof. S. Kozłowskiego: 224-239. KUL Lublin.     BORÓWKO-DŁUŻAKOWA Z., HALICKI B. 1957 — Interglacial sections of the Suwałki region and of the adjacent territory (English sum.). Acta Geol. Pol., 7: 361-401.