Geologiczna regionalizacja Polski — zasady ogólne i schemat podziału w planie podkenozoicznym i podpermskim

Abstract

Geological regional subdivision of Poland: general guidelines and proposed schemes of sub-Cenozoic and sub-Permian units.A b s t r a c t . The regional subdivisions of major structural complexes distinguished in the Polish territory have been systematically corrected and updated parallel with accumulation of new geological and geophysical data. Regional units are established not only basing on their tectonic characteristics but also on other criteria including sedimentary and subsidence development, magmatism, metamorphism and crustal structure. In future, new units should be defined and older ones redefined in a possibly objective, descriptive way. However, the interpretative approach is unavoidable particularly when older, largely concealed structural complexes are concerned. Therefore, the establishment of formal criteria and “official” regional subdivisions analogous to formal stratigraphic units, seems inappropriate. Proposed schemes or modifications of previous subdivisions will serve as consistent and clear regional reference framework in geological and geophysical studies if they will meet few basic methodological and terminological requirements. Among the most important prerequisites is a clear definition of boundaries of particular units against most recent solid geological maps in a scale of 1:1 000 000 or larger. In accordance with the outlined guidelines the authors’ version of the regional framework of Polish sub-Cenozoic and sub-Permian (Variscan) geological units is presented. The subdivisions are based on the modified scheme published by Dadlez (1998) and that by Narkiewicz (2007), respectively. We did not attempt to present a pre-Variscan (Caledonian) regional framework, except for the stable area of the East European Platform devoid of the Devonian-Carboniferous cover. Given the present state of research, such subdivision would be very speculative, reflecting only one of several possible interpretative variants of the Polish Lowlands deep structure.