Rocky Sandstone Landforms in Istebna, Silesian Beskid (Outer Carpathians, Poland)

Abstract

The rocky sandstone landforms, which are interesting geotouristic objects, occur in the eastern part of Istebna village. The series of rock walls and pulpits is located on the southern slopes of the Karolówka Range. Fragments of the upper sandstones of Istebna Formation (Upper Cretaceous–Paleocene) crop out within these rocks. They represent the period of intensive supply of the clastic material into the Outer Carpathian Silesian Basin leading to the origin of thick-bedded , very coarse-grained sandstones and conglomerates. The occurrence of large, numerous crystalline rocks is a particular and unique feature of these outcrops. These magmatic and metamorphic rocks were derived from the basement of the Carpathian basins. This paper describes the detailed characteristics of these rocky landform objects.