Most of the thickness of Frasnian sediments in the central segment of the Lublin Basin, i.e. up to 300 metres, is represented by a single transgressive-regressive Cycle VIa, developed in the carbonate-sulphate platform facies. The age of the transgressive part falls into the interval between the upper part of the Upper hassi Zone and the jamieae Zone, whereas the upper boundary runs between the upper part of the Lower rhenana Zone and the lower part of the Upper rhenana Zone. Basin architecture and conodont biostratigraphic data confirm the tectonic nature of the cycle, which represents a short-term increase in Frasnian subsidence and depositional rates. Based on the conodont data, it is plausible that the onset of the tectonic subsidence in the Lublin Basin and the incipient Pripyat Graben rifting correspond closely in age. They can thus be attributed to the common tectonic mechanism of regional extension in the south-west part of the East European Platform. The lack of any Late Devonian magmatic activity in the Lublin Basin and the synchronous development of this basin with the Pripyat Graben favour the idea that intraplate stresses were the primary factors controlling subsidence in both depocentres during themid Frasnian to Famennian. The hypothetical mantle plume could have merely amplified the effects of crustal extension in the Pripyat Graben, thus facilitating a typical rift development.
