Commune: Stryszawa (pow. suski, woj. małopolskie)
Framework element or context represented:
Rocky landforms of the Outer Carpathians.
Primary geological/geomorphological interest:
Rocky edge formed of the Ciężkowice Sandstones of the Magura Nappe, an unique litotype with Lithothamnium.
Comparative assessment justification:
Tors formed of the Ciężkowice Sandstones Formation of the Magura Nappe characterised by the calcareous matrix are exceptional between many other ones known in the Polish Outer Carpathians.
Protection status and accessibility:
A few sandstone tors called Goat’s Rocks are protected since 1968 as the nature monument, but now the whole ridge-crest is proposed as a nature reserve. It is well accessible by two tourist trails.
Character of site: Sandstone tors.
Area: 8 ha
Altitude: 729 m a.s.l.
Lithology: sandstones, conglomerates, breccias, shales, silstones, claystones, clays
Discipline: Geomorphology, Palaeoenvironment, Stratigraphy of Phanerozoic
Process Age: Quaternary, *all periods
Bedrock Age: Paleogene, *all periods
Description of primary interest:
The row of sandstone tors 2-15 m high borders the ridge-crest of the Żurawnica Mt. as an edge about 750 m long. Tors are situated close to one another forming a rocky wall exposed to NW which stretches parallel to the strike of beds inclined 2-25o to SE. It is composed of 25 more or less isolated forms, the highest ones (10-15 m) occur in their middle and eastern part. The edge is build of the Ciężkowice Sandstone Formation of the Magura Nappe. These are coarse- and middle-grained sandstones, poorly sorted, locally intercalated with polymictic conglomerates. They contain small fragments of red algae (Lithothamnium). The content of calcium carbonate reaches 15-45%. Thick resistant beds of sandstones characterised by sedimentary structures typical of fluxoturbidites are rarely separated by mudstones and thin-grained sandstones. The shape and size of tors depend on the density of bedding surfaces and the joint system. This has an effect on fragmentation of the rocky edge and on stability of tors. Particular monoliths divided along joint incline little by little and even fall down. Sandy loams with shells of subfossil (Late Holocene) snails occur on the bottom of enlarged fissures and small rock-shelters. The edge of the Żurawnica Mt. generated by Pleistocene periglacial climate culminates above the intermontane denudation level
Literature:
ALEXANDROWICZ S.W. 1995–Ruins of Carpathian castles as refuges of land snails (English sum.). Ochrona Przyrody 52: 3- 18 ALEXANDROWICZ S.W. 1997–Malacofauna as an element of geosites evaluation (English sum.). Chrońmy Przyr. Ojcz. 53, 5: 46-56. ALEXANDROWICZ S.W., ALEXANDROWICZ Z. 2005–Rocky edge and malacocoenoses of the Żurawnica Ridge (Polish Western Carpathians). Ecology (Bratislava). ALEXANDROWICZ Z. 1978–Sandstone tors of the Western Carpathians (English sum.). Prace Geol. Kom. Nauk Geol. PAN Oddział Kraków, 113: 1-87. BAUMGART-KOTARBA M. 1974–Development of mountain ridge in the Polish Carpathians (English sum.). Prace Geograficzne Inst. Geogr. PAN, 106: 1-136. JAKUBSKA O. 1978–Landslide in the Tarnawka valley (north-east in Beskid Makwski) (English sum.). Geographica Studia et Dissertationes 2: 46-53. KSIĄŻKIEWICZ M. 1935–Sur la structure des marginales de la nappe de Magura entre Sułkowice et Sucha (French sum.). Rocznik Pol. Tow. Geol. 11: 104-122. KSIĄŻKIEWICZ M. 1951–Objaśnienia arkusza Wadowice (Polish only). Państwowy Inst. Geol., 283 pp. NOWAK J. 1965–The lichens of the Beskid Mały (Polish Western Carpathians) (English sum.). Fragmenta Florist. et Geobotanica 11, 3: 421-462.