Palaeomagnetic age constraints on folding and faulting events in Devonian carbonates of the Kielce Fold Zone (southern Holy Cross Mountains, Central Poland)

Abstract

The results of numerous palaeomagnetic studies performed in the last three decades in Devonian carbonates of the Holy Cross Mountains (HCM) have documented the occurrence of several episodes of remagnetisation. This knowledge was applied in this study to determine the temporal relationships between the acquisition of particular secondary palaeomagnetic components and the formation of tectonic structures. This made it possible to estimate the timing of several episodes in the multistage tectonic evolution of particular folds and faults. We show that the westernmost part of the southern HCM was rotated clockwise after the early Permian. Detailed palaeomagnetic analysis documented also shape modifications in some map-scale and minor folds. This tectonic overprinting of originally Carboniferous folds postdated the early Permian. It was furthermore shown that the N–S trending dextral strike-slip faults studied were active between the early Permian and the Permo/Triassic. Our recent data show also the post-early Permian age of breccia that covers the deformed Devonian strata.