Between 19th and 23th of April 2017 our chapter organized “Permian of South-Western Poland” field trip. The major topic of the field trip was Permian geology of the North-Sudetic Synclinorium and Intra-Sudetic Synclinorium, two structural units in the Sudetes Mountains and its Foreland located in the SW Poland.
The group of 32 participants representing reaserchers, professionals and students from Poland (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan), Romania (University of Bucharest and Babes Bolyai University) and the Netherlands (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology and EBN) took part in field trip. Our guide was Dr. Wojciech Śliwiński from the University of Wrocław.
On the first day of the field trip (19th April) we visited two outcrops, Leszczyna and Płóczki Dolne in the North-Sudetic Synclinorium to observe succeeding stages of the Zechstein marine transgression, both are the complex of abandoned quarries. It was the shortest day in the field, because of the large distance we had to cross during this day from the starting point (Poznań).
On the second day we visited the KGHM company Rudna and Polkowice-Sieroszowice mines. It was a great opportunity to see how the Permian rocks look in fresh underground subcrops. Also we take a look at Wielisławka Organs – a rhyolitic volcanities buliding phenomenal wall and Rożana quarry with basaltic andesites with occurrences of agates.
On 21th April we visited two abandoned quarry: Świerzawa and Wojcieszów where are visible fluvial cylothemes and Cambrian methamorphosed limestones. We did a short tour around Bolków medieval castle ruins, and moved to Intra-Sudetic Synclinorium, to outrcrops in Wałbrzch (in the past .a big center of coal-mining) and to quarry Czarny Bór – Grzędy with Rotliegend-age trachyandesites .
In the evening, we had an oral session with eight talks. It was composed of two parts: the first, student session concerned mainly our M.Sc theses and topics associated with educational courses and second – presentations of professionals.
On 22th April we visited several inactive quarries: Nowa Ruda-Bieganów, Tłumaczów and Golińsk we had an opportunity to look at several different rock types of Rotliegend: mudstones, sandstones, conglomeratic and also succession of volcanic and pyroclastic rocks.
Łączna – the Czartowskie Skały (the Devilish Rocks) was a picturesque set of outcrops built by the Lower Triassic arcose sandstones. The last point of the day – Kochanów was the outcrops of massive dolomites which are interpreted to have primary travertine orgin. After the geological stops, we visited magnificent Krzeszów monastery – the pearl of Silesian baroque architecture.
On the last day of the field trip, we visited Radków which is an exposure built of clastic rocks with limestone intercalations interpreted as caliche deposits. The last point of the field trip was Karłów in the Stołowe Mountains, i. e. “the Table Mountains”, we did a touristic trail to the Szczeliniec Wielki, the highest peak of the range (919 m a.s.l.) the weather surprised us! Nobody expected a snowfall in the end of a April!
