Pleistocene periglacial and periglacial-soil structures in the western part of the Holy Cross Mts

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Vol. 26, No. 3

LESZEK LINDNER

acta geOloglca polonica Warszawa 1976

Pleistqcene p'etiglacial' and periglacial-soil

; structures 'ln the western part of ' the Holy Cross Mts

ABSTRACT: Rubble festoons developed on tectonicaEy loosened Uassic sandston.es are reported .:fll'.om the: Western pa.rt at· the :aoly

cross '

Mts, Cenrbra.l IPoland. These structures. u well as ice-:wedee. oas~ and ·~l,..ghflped ,structures occurring dn Qua,temary ,deposilts,. originated· uriderthe Pf:'I'.i,g].a.ciad . conditions of Pleistocene

palbOlly 'tundra.

INTRODUcrION

The paper reports on the occurrence of Pleistocene periglacial and periglaciai-soil structures in the western part of the· Holy Cross Mts in Central Poland (cf. lAndner 1971, 1977). ThesestructU!'es iJnctlude frost deformations developed within· the belt of Jurassic outcrops, as well as frost-ground deformations developed in Quaternary deposits.

PERIGLACIAL FORMS

North of Brody village, 4 km SW of KoD.skie, there . are exposed Liassic sandstones (strike 70°-80°; dip smaller than 10°), the splitting of which markedly increases towards the top parts of small quarries (PI. I, Figs 1-2). The .sandBtones are covered by a thin layer of sands with silts and Scandinavi'8.Il boulders end angular fragments of local rocks; this layer 'represents a residuum of Mid-Poldsh Glaciation tills (lindner 1971).

QuurywlaJ..ls s-hoQlW strong spldtting and loosening .as well as a marked upliif-t of sandstone :layers at .0.51-1.6 m bellow rI:he .ground surlface (Pt I, Figs iI.~). T!b.ese distU!"baru:es gave origin -k, a sys.'bem of festocms typi'Cal of the .perlglacial climate (c!!. Wa'Shibur·n 1956, Dylik 1956, RMycki 11957, LaskaM!ka 1961, Jahn .1975~. The fonns

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4011 L. LI!NDNEB

studied are 'Characterized by ooincid:ence :of the zooe of maximum upliIft of individual soodS'tonebeds and the course of their jooint fractures (PI. 1I., Fiog. 1). Tbe fractures are arranged in two directions almost perpendicular .to one another (3'5- 4'5° and 110-1130°), at the dd,ps '1.IiP to 70-410° in various direcltions.

The joint ~oosen!ing of the sandsWnes was the factor facilitating development of festoon forms when the climate turned to periglacial (vide Fig. 1). In those tim:es vegetational cover was lacking and water accumu- lating and freezing in fissures oontributed to the manifestarbion of bedding in suhsurface parts of the' sandstones (Fig. lA). The origin of permafrost

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J!1.ig. 1. Sucoe&slVve sta.ges(A-D) CIf development of !\ire rubble fe&t£lonis .in ,the ex.pI)- sures at Liassic sandstones at Brody nea'l" Konskie (cl. PI. 1, figs 1-2)'

MlU'ked blalck is p-ound ice; detailed eX!planaUon in the text

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IPLE'IS'l'OCENE PEmGLAc.r:A1L .A.NlD' PERrGLACIAL-SOIL STRUCTUBES 407

led to an increase of ground-ice volume within joint fractures and inter- bedding surfaces, and to the uplift of individual layers (Fig. lB). Short- -lasting paI'ltial melting of ground-ice facilitated deposition of sand, and r.epeated freezing and thawmg led ^·tofurther widening of' fractures (Fig.

le), and their preservation to. the present time (Fig. ID).

PERIGLAClAL-80IL FORMS

EXPOSURES AT 8IER<>SLA WlCE

In SW part of SieroslaJWice village, 3 km of Konskie, there occurs a hill made up of. sandy-gravel deposits encapping a culmination of liassic sand9.l:ones covered with tills. The hill represents a fragment of the

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Fig. 2. Funnel-sh8lPEld struotures lin. g.a'Ve1ous sands at SieroslaWi-ce neaT K-qnskJe

I gravelous sand, ~ clilclum carbona.tej 2 d_lc1fie4 sand :with tltre-.of 11'on com- pound8j '3 cementatimw of ca.lct1.llD earbolDMej • Itre~ of iron ~j • 80il

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408

basal part of a sander-cone end; along with neighbouring forms of glacial origin it marks the zone of recessional stop of the front of the Mid-Polish Icesheet (Lindner 1971). The saOO.-pit situated in the uppermost part of the hill displays numerous wedge- and funnel-shaped forms developed in subsurface pal't of the sandy-gravel deposits (Text.;.figs 2-3 and PI. 2, Fig: I).

The funrlel-shaped forms (PI. 2, Fig. 1) are more common than the wedge-shaped Qnes, and more differentiated in dimensions, extending to the depths varying from 0.5 ·to 4 m. Their central parts are made up of the same sandy-gravel. material as the deposit in which they occur; and they even display sometimes the same type of sedimentary rhythms as the deposit forming the sandy-gravel sUbstrate. The funnel-shaped forms are distingU!i.shoo taking primarily :into account their decalcified interior (2 in F1ig. 2), and precipitation of ferruginous (4 in Fig. 2) and carbonate solutions (3 in Flig. 2) washed lOut of them ·in the zone of their contact with the substrate (1 in F.ig. 2); whereas, the differ~nces'in litholdgical compo- sition in respect to the ^~uhgtrateare considered of secondary importance.

The funnel~shaped forms do not continue in t~e horizontal direction, as a rule being represented ·by vertical or almost vertical structures nar-

rowing alo~g with d e p t h . '

The frwlnel-shaped forn'ls are'. slightly' Simil~ to the structures re- portedfrom the-northern and ~orrt;h-easterri. parts· of the USSR (e.g. Suslov 1954, Tyrtikov' 195-6, Krejda' 1958) and ,&andinavia (J9hnsson 1959). Ana- 10gou1$ '.~nn'l!l recorded in Poland were interpreted' as structures. typical of the;perlgIa,cial conditions of· patc1?y tundra (e.g. MarUBzczak 1959, 1960;

Uggla

'&

I.; Przedwojskd. 1973). • Funnel.;Jjke mode of migration •• of ferruginous and carllon~te' Solutio~ under theooriditioDs' of psJtchy. tundra is determined ~

'VvaVY

shape of the top surfac~ ofpermafr~t. Deeper infiltration of the

solutions was

limited ,to the areas devoid of vegetiltional cover and thUBs~jected to more intense -and deeper thawing; the infiltration, in turn, was'shallower in areas

with

vegetBltional cover and, consequently,

$ha1lower thawing.

The ice-wedge casts developing above the substrate thawing each year (cf. Pissart 1970, Romanovskij 1970) predomiinate among wedge- -shaped forms at Sieroslawice. In Poland, such forms' were UBually des- cribed as fisswres with secondary infilliDg (cf. GoZd.zik 1973). One of such casts is characterized by a marked, symmetric widening of the upper part (Fig. 3) which may be interpreted as being a result of permafrost degradation by solar radiation (cf. Pewe & al. 1969, Jahn 1975). The wedge . casts extend to the depth of 1.5-2 m, and ;their spatial distribution indica-

tes tlllitthey vresiunably :reF.~ent fragments of polygons abo,ut 20-30 m in diameter. The wedges ai'e usually mfilled wiIth unsorted sand with silt

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ACTA GEOLOGlICA :POLONICA, VOL. 26 L. Lr 0 ER, PLo 1

1-2 Rubble 1esltoons at Brody near Konskie (cf. Text-fig. 1).

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ACTA GEOLOGDCA <POLO ICA, VOL. 26 L. LTNDNER, PLo 2

1-2 Funnel-shape{) SJtructures attributable to patchy tundra, exposed (1) a·t Siero- slawice near Konsk·ie 'fif l'ext-f.ig. 2), and (2) at Le&nica near Malogo5'Zcz.

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PLEISTOCEN'E PERIGLAICIAiL .A.NID PERlGLACIAL-SOIL STRUCTUoftES 409

and streaks of secondary ferrugineous precipitation (2 in Fdg. 3). Their shape is always accentuated ,by a distinct coating of ferrugineous precipi- tate (4 ,in Fig. 3) and, at some distance, by concentrations of calcium car-

bonate ,(3 in Fig. 3).

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1

2

Fig. 3. Ice-~dge with secondal'y inlillilog at Sieroslawice neal" KoDsolde

J gravelOU1 sand, conta~ caJ.dum ealrlbcmate; 2 suty sand with .treaD of iron CDIDIPOundl;

3 cemen-ta1;looB of calcium CIlI'bonate; 4 It.reakll of iron compounds; I BOll

EXlPOSUlRE AT LE8.NLCA

One of the elCpOsures from LeSnica near Malogoszcz displays sands and silts with horizontal bedding covered by a layer of debris of Upper JUrassic limestones, almost a meter thick. The. upper surface of this

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41(l ^{L •.}^L1NDNEB

layer is. featured by several funnel-shaped forms (PI. 2, Fig. 2) resembl- ing those from Sieroslawice. The funnel-shaped structures are filled with sandy material with marked admixture of ·silt. Ferruginous-carbonate precipitates accentuating these forms, and concentrated at their boundaries, form a kind of il1uVlial horizon which should also be recognized as developed under the conditions of patchy tundra.

FINAL REMARKS

The presented examples of periglac~al and periglacial-soil structures allow to conclude that the rubble festoons originated in result of over- la:pping of a process of frost seggregation and an already existing pattern of joint, that is, they are periglacial forms with locaiion, shape and size determined by micro tectonic features of the· bedrock-forming Liassic sandstones.

The presence of ferruginous and carbonate precipitates at the contact of wedge-shaped and furuiel-shaped structures and of sandy-gravel de- posits indicates that origin of both these structures was conriected with the existence of permafrost processes du.ril)g the Pleistocene glaciations.

Institute of Geology af the WaT8aw UniveTsity

Al. 2wiTJc.i i WiguTlI 93, 02-089 WMszawa, Poland

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Mdz.

GO:l:DZIK J. 1973. Origin and strarti..graphicafl posiiirul of periglacial structures d.~

Middle ~land. Acta GeogTaph. L0dzien8ia, 81,1-117. l.6dz.

JAHN /1. 1975. PToblems of the Pe1iglacial Zone. 223 pp. FiWN, Wa:rszawa.

JOHNSSON G. 1959. True and false ice-wedges m Sowther-n Sweden.. Geografi,Bka.

Annaler, 41 ~1'), 15-<33. S~hdl.m.

KREJDA N. A. 1958. 0 pochvakh vostochno-ev:ropejsk.ikh tundr. pochvovedenie.

No. 'I, 62-67. Moskva.

LASKOWSKA W. 1961. FoslSU periglacial structures and recent pattern ground in owe8lthered Umestone .oobris n~ar Cz~och9wa - Southern Poland. In: .P1ace o pZejstoce1l,ie Polski Srodkowe3, pp. 143-1/518 .. Wyd. Geol. Warszawa.

LINDNER L. 1m. Pleis·tocene 'Stratigraphy a.nd palaeogeomor-phoJ.agy of the m>rlh- -we.sltern ma'l"g~n ()f the Holy Cross Mounta1IlB, Nland. Studia Geoz. Pol., 35, 1-113. Warszawa. .

.1977. Pleis'tQ,cen.e ·glaciatioos ,in the western part ()f the Haly CrOSs Mts, Cen- 'tral Pala·nd. Sttldia Geol. Pol., 53. WaJl'IIIzawa.

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en 'PoIQgne du Nord et en Pologne Centr8:1e. Ann. Univ. M. C.-S., Sec. B, l4.

314-350. Lublin. .

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PLmSTOCENE PEltIGLA!CIAL A.NlD PERDGLACIAL-SOIL STRUCTURES 411

;1000. Fo.rmaJtion perdglacia:res de <!oovertu:re 'BU!l' la territoire des C()l-lines Szeskie. BiuZ. Pe7'1lfll., 7, 187~. l.6dZ.

p:8:m T. L., CHURCH R. E. & ANDERSON !M. J. 1969. Origin and ·'PalJ.eocldmatie:

s!gn.ifi(:ance od: large-scale :paI!;terned· ground i.n 1:Ihe Donnelly Dome ,area, Ala- ska, Geol. Soc. America, Spec. Paper 103, :1-87. New York.

PISSAIRT A. :1970. Lea phenomen'E!S pbisiques eSflentieLs lies a.n gel, iles structures periglaclad'l'es qui en !l'eswtant et leur mgnIficcmce cllmatique. Ann. SOC. Geot BeIg., 93 (1). Bruxelles.

ROMANOVSKIJ N. N. UnO. Vldjanie temperaturnogo rezhima gornykh pOi'od na mexrorroboinye treslbchinoobrazovallloie d razv.itie poUgODailnCHlhilnykh form.

Merzot. IssI., No .. 10. Moskva.

R6ZYCKI S. Z. 1957. Zones du modele et ·phenomenes pedglaciaires de la Terre de ToreD, Spltsbel'gen. Biul. Pef'1/gl., 5, '167-324. Udt.

SUSLOV S. P. 19054. Fizicheska;a. geografl;a SSSR. Azjatska;a chast. Moskva.

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Met. k osnovam ucheni;a 0 merzZ1lkh zonakh zemno; k07j/, 3, 65-J108. MosJtva.

UGGLA H. 1& IPIRZEIDWOJSKI R. 1978. Gleby przeksztalcone peryglacjalnie na te- renie Po.lski P6lnoCIDo-Wschodlmej. Plrzew.· Zjaoo.u Nauk. Po1. Tow. Glebozn ..

"Geneza gle'b Wllt'WOTZ0fl.1Ich Z utworow pTzeksztalconllch peTlIoZacjaZnie na.

Niiu PoZskim". b-GIIZ, Warezawa-Ql82'Ityn.

WASHBURN A. L. 1956. O1.assificatil()D of patterned gound. and revaew of suggested!

origin'S. BuZZ. Geol. Soc. Amer., 67 (7), 823-a66. New York.

L. LlNDNER

PLEJSTOCERSKlE STRUKTUBY PEBYGLACJALNE I PBBYGLAOJALNO- -GLBBOWE W ZACBODNIEJ CZlSSCI GOB SWDSTOKBZYSKlCB

(Streszozenie)

Przedmioiem !prlW:y SII struktl.lryperyglaojalne i perygllW:jalno-glebowe wy- 'S.t~uj~oCe w zachodniej 'CzElSci G6r Swd~to;km:YBk.1ch (poor. Lindne!l' .urn, HIm. W&r6ci struktUll." tych wyr6zn~ono: (1) peryglacjaline festony gruzowe T(7)w:itn.i~ w' strefie:

przypow!erzdlllliowej <Ciosowo sp~kalJlYtCh pi.as'koVII'C6w Uasowym (fig. 1 oraz plo 1),.

oraz {2) kIliny ZIDaIl'um'Owe i specyfiezne farmy lejkowe (fig. 2i-3 MU plo (2), TaE-·

wln.i~te w osadach oC2lWao:1iarlz~owydh, k/t6re uzna~ naiezy za powsiale w warunkach.

1P1ejsiocenskiej tund:ry plami'lJtej.