Commune: Gródek nad Dunajcem (pow. nowosądecki, woj. małopolskie)
Framework element or context represented:
Carpathian loess-like deposits.
Primary geological/geomorphological interest:
Vistulian slope deposits with fauna of molluscs.
Comparative assessment justification:
Profile of loess-like deposits malacofauna and TL dating. Similar profiles of loess-like deposits are in Sienna, Tęgoborze and Dąbrowa.
Protection status and accessibility:
Projected documentary site of inanimate nature.
Character of site: Natural outcrop.
Area: 0.2 ha
Altitude: 258 m a.s.l.
Lithology: silts, clays
Discipline: Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, Stratigraphy of Quaternary
Process Age: Pleistocene, *all periods
Bedrock Age: Pleistocene, *all periods
Description of primary interest:
Loess-like deposits occur on the high terrace (14-18 m above river channel) of the Dunajec River. The loess-like deposits developed as structureless silts and faintly laminated sandy silts, showing subvertical jointing. The thickness of these deposits is about 9 m. The age of the mentioned sediments was established using TL dating (27±4 ka BP - 17±2.5 ka BP). Loess-like deposits contain a rich fauna of molluscs. Malacofauna is characterized by the presence of species typical for steppe environment. In the lower part of the profile the assemblage is the richest one. Cold-tolerant snails preferring insignificant humidity and high insolation habitats prevail. The fauna dominated by “loess species” characterize middle and upper part of the sequence. It corresponds with maximum intensity of accumulation of silts during the main phase of Pleniglacial. Lithological, mainly granulometrical and malacological properties of these deposits are similar to the numerous loess profiles described in various regions of Southern Poland.
Literature:
ALEXANDROWICZ S.W. 1988–Malacofauna of Late Quaternary loess-like deposits in the Polish Carpathians Acta Geol.Pol. 38 (1-4): 85-106. ALEXANDROWICZ S.W., ZUCHIEWICZ W. 1988–Profil i malakofauna gliniastych osadów vistulianu w Roztoce koło Rożnowa (Polish only). Spraw. Pos. Kom. Nauk. PAN 32. ALEXANDROWICZ S.W., BUTRYM J., KRYSOWSKA-IWASZKIEWICZ M., ZUCHIEWICZ W. 1991–On New Sections of Loess-Likie Deposits of the Rożnów Foothills, West Carpathians, Poland. Ann. UMCS, Sec. B 46 (1): 1-19. ZUCHIEWICZ W. 1985–Configuration of Quaternary deposits i the middle part of the Dunajec drainage basin (English sum.) Biul. IG 348: 45-87.