Carpathian Foredeep; Neogene; neotectonics; mesostructural analysis; teledetection; synsedimentary faults; strike-slip; faults; tectonic breccias

Abstract

Structural analysis of the Miocene deposits of the northern marginal part of the Carpathian Foredeep, from the Nida Trough in the west to Tarnobrzeg in the cast shows that three tectonic phases affected Neogene deposits of the Carpathian Foredeep: (1) an Early Styrian phase - Early Badenian synsedimentary movements, (2) a Moldavian phase (Late-Styrian) - Early/Late Badenian, after deposition of gypsum and during deposition of the lower part of the Pecten Beds, (3) an Attican phase - Sarmatian-Pliocene(?), after deposition of the Krakowiec Beds. The two Badenian phases involved reactivation of NW-SE basement faults Early-Styrian phase activity along these faults; resulted in facies changes and thickness variability in the Baranów Beds. Reactivation of these faults during the Moldavian phase resulted in a considerable increase of their throws. Strata in the footwalls of faults were antithetically rotated to form structural traps far subsequent hydrocarbon and sulphur deposits. During the Attican phase, a horizontal compression stress field (compression direction – 30-50°) produced transverse and oblique faults (NE-SW and ENE-WSW) with strike-slip and oblique-slip movements. These faults were responsible for "pumping" hydrocarbons into the earlier formed traps. Minor deformations within gypsum deposits and seismotectonic features of the Witów Gravels are also discussed