Keywords
preglacial
fluvial-aeolian interaction
heavy minerals
quartz grain morphology
sedimentology
palaeoclimate
How to Cite
Abstract
Deposits formed between the Neogene/Pleistocene transition and into the Early Pleistocene have been studied, mainly on the basis of drillings and at rare, small outcrops in the lowland part of Polish territory. At the Bełchatów lignite mine (Kleszczów Graben, central Poland), one of the largest opencast pits in Europe, strata of this age have long been exposed in extensive outcrops. The present paper is based on our field studies and laboratory analyses, as well as on research data presented by other authors. For that reason, it can be seen as an overview of current knowledge of lowermost Pleistocene deposits at Bełchatów, where exploitation of the Quaternary overburden has just been completed. The results of cartographic work, sedimentological, mineralogical and palynological analyses as well as assessment of sand grain morphology have been considered. All of these studies have allowed the distinction of three Lower Pleistocene series, i.e., the Łękińsko, Faustynów and Krzaki series. These were laid down in fluvial environments between the end of the Pliocene up to the advance of the first Scandinavian ice sheet on central Poland. The following environmental features have been interpreted: phases of river incision and aggradation, changes of river channel patterns, source sediments for alluvia, rates of aeolian supply to rivers and roles of fluvial systems in morphological and geological development of the area. The two older series studied, i.e., Łękińsko and Faustynów, share common characteristics. They were formed by sinuous rivers in boreal forest and open forest environments. The Neogene substratum was the source of the alluvium. The younger series (Krzaki) formed mainly in a braided river setting, under conditions of progressive climatic cooling. Over time, a gradual increase of aeolian supply to the fluvial system can be noted; initially, silt and sand were laid down, followed by sand only during cold desert conditions. These fluvio-periglacial conditions are identified in the foreground of the advance of the oldest ice sheet into this part of central Poland. The series studied have been compared with other fluvial successions which accumulated in the Kleszczów Graben during subsequent glaciations so as to document general changes in fluvial systems as reactions to climatic evolution. Thus, a palaeoenvironmental scenario has emerged which could be considered to be characteristic of central Poland during the Early Pleistocene.
References
Amsler, M.L., Ramonell, C.G. & Toniolo, H.A., 2005. Morphologic changes in the Parana River channel (Argentina) in the light of the climate variability during the 20th century. Geomorphology 70, 257-278.
Ashley, G.M. & Hamilton, T.D., 1993. Fluvial response to Late Quaternary climatic fluctuations, central Kobuk Valley, NW Alaska. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 63, 814-827.
Balwierz, Z., Goździk, J. & Marciniak, B., 2008. Geneza misy jeziornej i warunki środowiskowe akumulacji limniczno-bagiennej w interglacjale mazowieckim w rowie Kleszczowa (środkowa Polska) [The origin of a lake basin and environmental conditions of lacustrine- boggy depositon in the Kleszczów Graben (central Poland) during the Mazovian Interglacial]. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 428, 3-22.
Baraniecka, M.D., 1991. Section Różce against main sections of preglacial deposits in southern Mazowsze. Przegląd Geologiczny 39, 651-665.
Baraniecka, M.D. & Sarnacka, Z., 1971. Stratygrafia czwartorzędu i paleogeografia dorzecza Widawki [Quaternary stratigraphy and palaeogeography of Widawka catchment]. Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego 254, 157-270.
Beechie, T.J., Liermann, M., Pollock, M.M., Baker, S. & Davies, J., 2006. Channel pattern and river-floodplain dynamics in forested mountain river systems. Geomorphology 78, 124-141.
Biernat, S., 1971. Budowa geologiczna i ukształtowanie podłoża kenozoiku w rejonie Bełchatowa [Cenozoic geology and substrate morphology in Bełchatów area]. Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego 254, 37-46.
Bridge, J.S., 2003. Rivers and Floodplains. Forms, Processes, and Sedimentary Record. Blackwell Science (Oxford), 1-491.
Brierley, G.J., 1996. Channel morphology and element assemblages: a constructivist approach to facies modelling. [In:] P.A. Carling & M.R. Dawson (Eds): Advances in Fluvial Dynamics and Stratigraphy. Wiley & Sons Ltd., 263-298.
Brodzikowski, K., 1987. Charakterystyka oraz interpretacja paleogeograficzna osadów Formacji Chojny [Lithology and palaeogeographical interpretation of Chojny Formation]. [In:] Czwartorzęd rejonu Bełchatowa. II Sympozjum. Plejstoceńskie serie rzeczne i jeziorne oraz bieżące kierunki badań [2nd Symposium ‚Quaternary of Bełchatów region’. Pleistocene fluvial and lacustrine series - current researches], Warszawa - Wrocław, 47-62.
Bruj, M. & Krysiak, Z., 2009. Struktury glacitektoniczne w osadach plejstoceńskich kopalni węgla brunatnego Bełchatów [Glaciotectonic structures in Pleistocene deposits of the Bełchatów brown coal open pit]. Prace Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 194, 7-26.
Bujak, Ł., Woronko, B., Winter, H., Marcinkowski, B., Werner, T., Stachowicz-Rybka, R., Żarski, M., Woźniak, P.P. & Rosowiecka, O., 2016. A new stratigraphic position of some Early Pleistocene deposits in central Poland. Geological Quarterly 60, 238-251.
Burge, L.M. & Lapointe, M.F., 2005. Understanding the temporal dynamics of the wandering Renous River, New Brunswick, Canada. Earth Surface Processes & Landforms 30, 1227-1250.
Cordier, S., Frechen, M. & Harmand, D. 2014. Dating fluvial erosion: fluvial response to climate change in the Moselle catchment (France, Germany) since the Late Saalian. Boreas 43, 450-468.
Czarnecki, L. & Kuszneruk, J., 1993. Struktury paleoosuwiskowe odsłniete w KWB Bełchatów [Mass movement structures in the Bełchatów brown-coal mine]. Przegląd Geologiczny 41, 841-844.
Czarnecki, L., Frankowski, R. & Ślusarczyk, G., 1992. Syntetyczny profil litostratygraficzny utworów trzeciorzędowych złoża „Bełchatów” dla potrzeb Bazy danych geologicznych [Synthetic lithostratigraphic profile of ‘Bełchatów’ Tertiary deposits for the Base of Geological Data]. Górnictwo Odkrywkowe 34, 103-111.
Cailleux, A., 1942. Les actions éoliennes périglaciaires en Europe. Memoir Société Géologique de France 21, 46, 176 pp.
Donders, T.H., Kloosterboer van Hoeve, M.L., Westerhoff, W., Verreussel R.M.C.H. & Lotter, A.F., 2007. Late Neogene continental stages in NW Europe revisited. Earth-Science Reviews 85, 161-186.
Farrell, K.M., 2001. Geomorphology, facies architecture, and high-resolution, non-marine sequence stratigraphy in avulsion deposits, Cumberland Marshes, Saskatchewan. Sedimentary Geology 139, 93-150.
Gao, C., Boreham, S., Preece, R.C., Gibbard, P.L. & Briant, R.M., 2007. Fluvial response to rapid climate change during the Devensian (Weichselian) Lateglacial in the River Great Ouse, S England, UK. Sedimentary Geology 202, 193-210.
Gibling, M.R. & Rust, B.R., 1993. Alluvial ridge-and-swale topography: a case study from the Morien Group of Atlantic Canada. International Association of Ssedimentologists, Spec. Publ. 17, 133-150.
Gotowała, R. & Hałuszczak, A., 2002. The Late Alpine structural development of the Kleszczów Graben (Central Poland) as a result of reactivation of the pre-existing, regional dislocations. EGU Stephan Mueller Special Publication Series 1, Copernicus Publications (Katlenburg-Lindau), 137-150.
Goździk, J., 1973. Geneza i pozycja stratygraficzna struktur peryglacjalnych w środkowej Polsce [Origin and stratigraphical position of periglacial structures in Middle Poland]. Acta Geographica Lodziensia 31, 117 pp.
Goździk, J., 1980. Zastosowanie morfoskopii i graniformametrii do badań osadów kopalni węgla brunatnego “Bełchatów” [Analyses of sand-grain morphology in researches of deposits in the ‘Bełchatów’ browncoal mine]. Studia Regionalne 4, 101-114.
Goździk, J., 1986. Structures de fentes à remplissage primaire sableux du Vistulien en Pologne et leur importance palèogèographique. Biuletyn Peryglacjalny 31, 71-105.
Goździk, J., 1992. Prewarciańskie osady eoliczne w stropie rzecznych utworów formacji “Chojny” w kopalni “Bełchatów” [Pre-Warthian aeolian deposits in the top of Chojny Formation in Bełchatów mine]. Acta Geographica Lodziensia 63, 7-19.
Goździk, J., 1995. Vistulian sediments in the Bełchatów open cast mine, central Poland. Quaternary Studies in Poland 13, 13-26.
Goździk, J., 1999. Sediments of periglacial environment from Pleistocene deposits in Bełchatów open-cast mine. [In:] ‘Periglacial environments: past, present and future’. Łódź Periglacial Symposium, 75-82.
Goździk, J., 2001. Stratygrafia i paleogeografia osadów czwartorzędowych w środkowo-zachodniej części kopalni Bełchatów z wykorzystaniem morfoskopii ziarn kwarcowych [Stratigraphy and palaeogeography of Quaternary sediments in central-western part of the mine Bełchatów with the use of quartz grains analysis]. [In:] E. Mycielska-Dowgiałło (Ed.): Eolizacja osadów jako wskaźnik stratygraficzny czwartorzędu [Aeolization of sediments as an indicator of Quaternary stratigraphy]. Warsaw University Press, Warszawa, 93-124.
Goździk, J. & Krzyszkowski, D., 1987. Osady formacji “Piaski” w rejonie kopalni węgla brunatnego “Bełchatów” [Deposits of Piaski Formation in Bełchatów brown-coal mine area]. [In:] Czwartorzęd rejonu Bełchatowa. II Sympozjum. Plejstoceńskie serie rzeczne i jeziorne oraz bieżące kierunki badań [2nd Symposium ‚Quaternary of Bełchatów region’. Pleistocene fluvial and lacustrine series - current researches], Warszawa - Wrocław: 63-68.
Goździk, J. & Zieliński, T., 1996. Sedymentologia vistuliańskich osadów małych dolin środkowej Polski - przykład z kopalni Bełchatów [Sedimentology of Vistulian deposits of small valleys in central Poland: a case study from Bełchatów]. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 373, 67-77.
Goździk, J., Kenig, K. & Skórzak, A., 2010. Zmiany kształtu ziaren kwarcowych oraz składu mineralnego piaszczystych osadów miocenu, pliocenu i niższego czwartorzędu w rowie Kleszczowa [Changes in the shape of quartz grains and mineral composition of Miocene, Pliocene and Lower Quaternary sand deposits in the Kleszczów Graben]. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 438, 33-50.
Hałuszczak, A., 1982. Zarys budowy geologicznej czwartorzędu w rejonie Piaski oraz Buczyna-Chojny. I Sympozjum „Czwartorzęd regionu Bełchatowa” [Outline of Quaternary geology in Piaski and Buczyna-Chojny regions. 1th Symposium ‚Quaternary of Bełchatów region’], Warszawa - Wrocław, 14-35.
Hałuszczak, A., 1987. Zarys litostratygrafii trzeciorzedu rejonu odkrywki Belchatów. II Sympozjum. Plejstoceńskie serie rzeczne i jeziorne oraz bieżące kierunki badań [Outline of Tertiary lithostratigraphy in Bełchatów mine area. 2nd Symposium ‘Quaternary of Bełchatów region’. Pleistocene fluvial and lacustrine series - current researches], Warszawa - Wrocław, 199-205.
Hałuszczak, A., 2004. Cenozoic dynamics of the Dębina Salt Dome, Kleszczów Grabem, inferred from structural features of the Tertiary-Quaternary cover. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae 74, 311-318.
Harms, J.C. & Fahnestock, R.K., 1965. Stratification, bedforms, and flow phenomena (with an example from the Rio Grande). [In:] G.V. Middleton (Ed.), Primary Sedimentary Structures and their Hydrodynamic Interpretation. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Spec. Publ. 12, 84-115.
Head, M.J. & Gibbard, P.L., 2015. Early Middle Pleistocene transitions: Linking terrestrial and marine realms. Quaternary International 290,7-46.
Hjellbakk, A., 1997. Facies and fluvial architecture of a high-energy braided river: the Upper Proterozoic Seglodden Member, Varanger Peninsula, N Norway. Sedimentary Geology 114, 131-161.
Kasse, C., Huijzer, A.S., Krzyszkowski, D., Bohncke, S.J.P. & Coope, G.R., 1998. Weichselian Late Pleniglacial and Late-glacial depositional environments, Coleoptera and periglacial climatic records from central Poland (Bełchatów). Journal of Quaternary Science 13, 455-469.
Kemna, H.A. & Westerhoff, W.E., 2007. Remarks on palynlogy-based chronostratigraphical subdivision of Pliocene terrestial deposits in NW-Europe. Quaternary International 164-165, 184-196.
Kossowski, L., 1974. Budowa geologiczna złoża węgla brunatnego Bełchatów ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem tektoniki podłoża [Geology of Bełchatów brown-coal deposit with account of basement tectonics]. Górnictwo Odkrywkowe 16, 336-341.
Krumbein, W.C., 1941. Measurement and geological record significance of shape and roundness of sedimentary particles. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 11, 64-72.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1990. Middle and Late Weichselian stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments in central Poland. Boreas 19, 333-350.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1991. The Middle Pleistocene polyinterglacial Czyżów Formation in the Kleszczów Graben (central Poland): stratigraphy and paleogeography. Folia Quaternaria 61/62, 5-58.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1992. Quaternary tectonics in the Kleszczów Graben (Central Poland): a study based on sections from the ‘Bełchatów’ outcrop. Quaternary Studies in Poland 11, 65-90.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1993. Neogene fluvial sedimentation in the Kleszczów Graben, Central Poland. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 6, 204-217.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1994. A revision of the stratigraphic position of „Wola Grzymalina Series” in The Kleszczów Grben (Central Poland). Quaternary Studies in Poland 12, 5-19.
Krzyszkowski, D., 1996. Climatic control on Quaternary fluvial sedimentation in the Kleszczów Graben, central Poland. Quaternary Science Reviews 15, 315-333.
Krzyszkowski, D. & Nita, M., 1995. The intra-Saalian interstadial floras of the Chojny Formation of Belchatów, central Poland. Journal of Quaternary Science 10, 225-240.
Krzyszkowski, D. & Szuchnik, A., 1995. Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary in the Kleszczów Graben at Bełchatów, Central Poland. Journal of Quaternary Science 10, 45-58.
Krzyszkowski, D. & Winter, H., 1996. Stratigraphic position and sedimentary features of the Tertiary Uppermost Fluvial Member in the Kleszczów Graben, Central Poland. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae 66, 17-33.
Krzyszkowski, D., Böttger, T., Junge, F.W., Kuszell, T. & Nowicki, J., 1996. Ferdynandovian Interglacial climate reconstructions from pollen successions, stable- isotope composition and magnetic susceptibility. Boreas 25, 283-296.
Lewin, J. & Gibbard, P.L., 2010. Quaternary river terraces in England: Forms, sediments and processes. Geomorphology 120, 293-311.
Lewiński, J., 1928. Utwory preglacjalne i glacjalne Piotrkowa i okolic [Preglacial and glacial deposits of Piotrków and surroundings]. Sprawozdania z posiedzeń Towarzystwa Naukowego Warszawskiego, Wydz. III 21, 49-66.
Łanczont, M., Bogucki, A., Mroczek, P., Zieliński, P., Jacyszyn, A., Pidek, A.I., Urban, D., Kulesza, P. & Hołub, B., 2010. Zapis interglacjalno-glacjalnych cykli w sekwencji osadowej w Krużykach nad Dniestrem (Wschodnie Podkarpacie) [Interglacial-glacial cycles recorded in the deposit sequence at Kruzhyky on the Dniester River (E Carpathian Foreland)]. Annales UMCS B, 65, 37-56.
Makowska, A., 2015. Budowa geologiczna i stratygrafia formacji preglacjalnej południowego Mazowsza nad dolna Pilicą [The geological structure and stratigraphy of the preglacial formation in the southern Mazovia region, lower Pilica River area]. Prace Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 202, 7-52.
Marks, L., Dzierżek, J., Janiszewski, R., Kaczorowski, J., Lindner, L., Majecka, A., Makos, M., Szymanek, M., Tołoczko-Pasek, A. & Woronko, B., 2016. Quaternary stratigraphy and paleogeography of Poland. Acta Geologica Polonica 66, 403-427.
Miall, A.D., 1978. Lithofacies types and vertical profile models in braided rivers: a summary. [In:] A.D. Miall (Ed.), Fluvial Sedimentology. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 5, 597-604.
Miall, A.D., 1996. The Geology of Fluvial Deposits. Sedimentary Facies, Basin Analysis, and Petroleum Geology. Springer (Berlin), 582 pp.
Murton, J.B., Worsley, P. & Gozdzik, J., 2000. Sand veins and wedges in cold aeolian environments. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 899-922.
Nanson, G.C. & Knighton, A.D., 1996. Anabranching rivers: their cause, character and classification. Earth Surface Processes Landforms 21, 217-239.
Perez-Arlucea, M., Mack, G. & Leeder, M., 2000. Reconstructing the ancestral (Plio-Pleistocene) Rio Grande in its active tectonic setting, S Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, USA. Sedimentology 47, 701-720.
Pękala, A. & Hycnar, E., 2011. Minerały ciężkie w strefie kontaktu mezozoik/kenozoik w złożu węgla brunatnego Bełchatów [Heavy minerals in the Bełchatów lignite deposit from the Mesozoic/Cenozoic contact zone]. Biuletyn Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 444, 171-176.
Pisarska-Jamroży, M., Machowiak, K. & Krzyszkowski, D., 2010. Sedimentation style of a Pleistocene kame terrace from the Western Sudety Mountains, S Poland. Geologos 16, 101-110.
Premik, J., 1930. Badania nad dyluwium województwa łódzkiego. cz. I. O utworach preglacjalnych, glacjalnych i interglacjalnych w dorzeczu środkowej Warty, Widawki i Prosny [Studies on dilluvium of the Łódź district. Part I. Preglacial, glacial and interglacial deposits of Warta, Widawka and Prosna catchments]. Roczniki Polskiego Towarzystwa Geologicznego 6, 382-392.
Rice, S.P., Church, M., Wooldridge, C.L. & Hickin, E.J., 2009. Morphology and evolution of bars in a wandering gravel-bed river; lower Fraser river, B.C., Canada. Sedimentology 56, 709-736.
Saunderson, H.C. & Jopling, A.V., 1980. Paleohydraulics of a tabular, cross-stratified sand in the Brampton esker, Ontario. Sedimentary Geology 25, 169-188.
Stuchlik, L. & Szynkiewicz, A., 1998. General geological situation and palynological investigations of the brown coal deposits. [In:] Tertiary-Quaternary (Pleistocene) floras of Bełchatów (Middle Poland) and several localities in South-Western Poland. 5th European Paleobotanical and Palynological Conference. Guide to Excursion 2, 6-11.
Stuchlik, L., Szynkiewicz, A., Łańcucka-Środoń, M. & Zastawniak, E., 1990. Wyniki dotychczasowych badań paleobotanicznych trzeciorzędowych węgli brunatnych złoża „Bełchatów” [Results of palaeobotanical studies on Tertiary brown-coal deposits ‚Bełchatów’]. Acta Paleobotanica 30, 295-305.
Szmidt, A., 2012. Wpływ podłoża na rzeźbę i osady czwartorzędu na obszarze województwa łódzkiego w świetle wybranych metod GIS [Relationship of basement to landforms and deposits on Łódź Province area]. Thesis Łódź University, 225 pp.
Szynkiewicz, A., 2000. Wiek węgla brunatnego na tle pozycji geologicznej badanych próbek (KWB „Bełchatow” [Age of the brown coal deposits from Bełchatów lignite mine (central Poland)]. Przegląd Geologiczny 48, 1038-1045.
Therrien, F., 2006. Depositional environments and fluvial system changes in the dinosaur-bearing Sanpetru Fm. (Late Cretaceous, Romania): post-orogenic sedimentation in an active extensional basin. Sedimentary Geology 192, 183-205.
Vandenberghe, J., 2008. The fluvial cycle at cold-warmcold transitions in lowland regions: A refinement of theory. Geomorphology 98, 275-284.
Villard, P.V. & Church, M., 2005. Bar and dune development during a freshet: Fraser River Estuary, B.C., Canada. Sedimentology 52, 737-756.
Winter, H., 2015. Dynamika zmian klimatycznych w pliocenie i plejstocenie dolnym oraz granica neogen/czwartorzęd w osadach południowego Mazowsza (środkowa Polska) [The dynamics of climatic changes in the Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene, and the Neogene/Quaternary transition in sediments from S Mazovia (central Poland) on the basis of palynological data]. Prace Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego 202, 53-106.
Zagwijn, W.H., 1960. Aspects of the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene vegetation in the Netherlands. Mededelingen Geologische Stichting C-III, 1, 1-78.
Zagwijn, W.H., 1992. The beginning of the Ice Age in Europe and its major subdivisions. Quaternary Science Reviews 11, 583-591.
Zieliński, P., Sokołowski, R.J., Woronko, B., Jankowski, M., Fedorowicz, S., Zaleski, I., Molodkov, A. & Weckwerth, P., 2015. The depositional conditions of the fluvio-aeolian succession during the last climate minimum based on the examples from Poland and NW Ukraine. Quaternary International 386, 30-41.
Zieliński, T. & Goździk, J., 2001. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a Pleistocene alluvial succession in central Poland: sedimentary facies analysis as a tool for palaeoclimatic inferences. Boreas 30, 240-253.
Zieliński, T. & Pisarska-Jamroży, M., 2012. Jakie cechy litologiczne warto kodować, a jakie nie? [Which features of deposits should be included in the code and which not?]. Przegląd Geologiczny 60, 387-397.
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Jan Goździk, Tomasz Zieliński
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.