Stratigraphy of the Hieroglyphic Beds with “Black Eocene” facies in the Silesian Nappe (Outer Flysch Carpathians, Poland)

Abstract

The lithologic variation and biostratigraphy of the Hieroglyphic Beds were examined in the Szczyrzyc Depression, where four lithologic complexes were distinguished. The biostratigraphy is based on agglutinated foraminifera and supported by scarce planktonic foraminifera. The lower part of the Hieroglyphic Beds contains non-characteristic, Ypresian foraminifers, including assemblages of small-sized Trochammina and at successively higher levels representatives of the Bartonian Ammodiscus latus Zone and the Priabonian Reticulophragmium gerochi Zone. The upper part of the Hieroglyphic Beds, composed of dark shales enriched in TOC (1–2%), corresponds to the deposits of the so-called Black Eocene, known from the Fore-Magura group of nappes. Redeposited flysch rocks resulting from episodes of subaqueous mass flow occur in the lower Bartonian part of the section.