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GEODIVERSITY AND RAW MATERIALS VALUES IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE HOLY CROSS MOUNTAINS

Angelika Musial

Abstract

The Holy Cross Mountains are one of the oldest mountain ranges in Europe. The south-eastern part of the Holy Cross Mountains (the south-central part of Poland) is characterized by high geodiversity. Sediments from Proterozoic to Paleozoic (Cambrian, Ordovician, Devonian and Cambrian) are discovered on the surface. The younger sediments (from Permian to Cretaceous) occur in the west, north and northwest part. The whole area is covered by Quaternary sediments. Selected objects, deposits and high valuable geotouristic places have been indicated and described in the paper. These are castles (i. a. Szydlow and Rembow castle from XIV century or Krzyztopor in Ujazd built in XVII century), palaces and city walls and gates built from local minerals (sandstones and dolomites). The unique natural exposures, a. k. a. Pieprzowe Mountains near by Sandomierz are built from shales, sometimes separated by quartzites, sandstones and Middle Cambrian conglomerates. Gorges belong to special and notable places as well and they are built from Quaternary sediments. They were channeled by water contained in loess and loess with sands. The longest gorge is about 0,5 km long and its scarps are about even 15 meters high. The geotouristic attractions can be both inactive, closed quarries and active mines, where the exploitation is still being carried out. The remains of former and modern mining works enable tracking geological processes, e.g. erosive, karst, tectonic, alteration and sedimentary. The eastern part of the Holy Cross Mountains is a region with a very large geotouristic potential. It is caused by the variety of the geological attractions, rich history and mining traditions.

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