KAMIENIOŁOMY W REGULICACH (REGULICE QUARRIES)



Commune: Alwernia (pow. chrzanowski, woj. małopolskie)

Framework element or context represented:
Post-Variscan volcanic activity.

Primary geological/geomorphological interest:
Melaphyres of Lower Permian, two lava flows separated by a volcanic breccia.

Comparative assessment justification:
Typical locality of the Lower Permian in the Southern Poland. Middle and Western Sudets, a few abandoned quarries of melaphyre outside protection.

Protection status and accessibility:
Candidate for protection.

Character of site: Quarries.

Area: 15 ha

Altitude: 290 m a.s.l.

Lithology: melaphyres, porphyries, conglomerates, breccias

Discipline: Petrography

Process Age: *all periods

Bedrock Age: Permian, *all periods




Description of primary interest:
Lower Permian melaphyres crop out in a few abandoned quarries on the eastern slope of the hill in Regulice. Melaphyre rests on a thin bed of Myślachowice conglomerate (Lower Permian). Two lava flows separated by the melaphyre breccia were distinguished and dated by a palaeomagnetic method. Massive, vertically jointed melaphyre passing upward into vesicular and amygdaloidal melaphyre occur in a small quarry (50 m long, 12 m high), situated in the lower part of the slope (the first lava flow). The volcanic breccia covering this the next flow is well exposed in the upper quarry. Melaphyres from Regulice represent the post-Variscan volcanic activity, typical of the eastern margin of the Upper Silesian Basin.

Literature:

ALEXANDROWICZ S.W., ALEXANDROWICZ Z. 1999–Selected geosites of the Cracow Upland. Polish Geol. Institute. Special Papers 2: 53-60.     BIRKENMAJER K. & NAIRN A.E.M. 1964–Palaeomagnetic studies of Polish rocks. 1. The Permian igneous rocks of the Kraków district and some results from the Holy Cross Mountains. Rocz. Pol. Tow. Geol., 34: 225-244.     SIEDLECKI S. 1951–Utwory stefańskie i permskie we wschodniej części Polskiego Zagłębia Węglowego (Polish only). Acta Geol. Pol., 2: 300-348.     SIEDLECKI S. 1952–Podłoże melafiru w Regulicach i problem genezy zlepieńców myślachowickich (Polish only). Biul. Panst. Inst. Geol., 80: 103-129.