Pieniny Klippen Belt - Geological Structure

Geological Structure

The Pieniny Klippen Belt is divided into numerous tectonic units, but only few of them occur throughout the entire belt. The oldest rocks of the Klippen belt are Middle Jurassic to upper Cretaceous. They are in normal stratigraphical positions, with only minor hiatus. Large scale crustal shortening caused rocks of different tectonic units and origin to be thrusted over each other and now lying juxtaposed. These tectonic units are:

1. The Czorsztyn unit, named after Czorstyn in Poland, is found in the most northern part of the Klippen Belt. It consists of shallow marine sediments, usually Jurassic nodular limestones and Cretaceous so called couches rouges marlstones.
2. The Kysuca unit (also known as Kysuca-Pieniny unit). The Jurassic sediments of this unit are mostly deep marine in origin (typical radiolarites). Most of the other tectonic units were deposited between the shallow Czorsztyn and deep marine Kysuca unit.
3. the Pruske unit (also known as the Niedzice or Czertezice unit) has a transitional facies between shallow and deep marine environments.
4. The Klape unit composed of cretaceous turbiditic sediments containing exotic conglomerates with pebbles from an unknown source area. It is probably an acretionary wedge or some unknown terrane carried by the Fatric, but its origin is still a subject of discussion.
5. Orava unit with typical limestones with unique ammonite fauna, typical klippes occur only in Orava region.
6. The Manín unit contains typical Urgonian limestone. It has only partially a tectonic style of klippes, It is usually assigned to the Fatricum as well as the Drietoma and Haligovce units. Its origin is still disputed, because some geologists consider it a proximal part of the Tatric sedimentary cover.

The Czorsztyn unit has the shallowest marine facies. Together with smaller continental slope units and the deep marine Kysuca unit it forms a continental domain called the Oravicum, which is geometrically equivalent to the Briançonnais microcontinent in the Western and Central Alps.