Fluvial sedimentology of the Biały Kamień Formation (Upper Carboniferous, Sudetes, Poland)

Abstract

The Biały Kamień Formation (Namurian B-C) is part of a molasse sequence deposited in the post-Variscan Intra-Sudetic basin. The formation differs from the adjacent deposits by its coarse-grained nature and possession of fining-up cycles, consistent with deposition in a braided gravel-bed river (GII and GIII facies of Miall's 1978 classification). Fine-grained sediments and coal seams are present in the upper part of the formation. The cyclicity mostly seems to reflect autocyclic depositional mechanisms within the tectonically controlled Intra-Sudetic molasse basin.