The youngest deposits infilling the Gdów “embayment” (Carpathian orogenic front, south Poland) are not older than late Sarmatian-Pannonian

Abstract

The Gdów “embayment” is the most pronounced deflection along the northern boundary of the Carpathians. It is filled by the sandy clay deposits which used to be named the Skawina Formation or Chodenice beds or, locally, conglomerates (of Sypka Góra). Their stratigraphic position according to studies of foraminifers had been determined as Badenian. New results obtained from micropalaeontological material sampled at three exposures near Wiatowice, Jawczyce (Giewont) and Gdów (Sypka Góra), and based on boreholes, indicate a much younger age of for the deposits infilling the Gdów “embayment”. These studies show that the surface deposits are not older than Late Sarmatian/Pannonian (Serravalian/Tortonian). They also suggest a much later time for the last stages of the thrusting of the Carpathian Mountains over the Carpathian Foredeep