The geology of Slovakia is structurally complex, with a highly varied array of mountain ranges and belts largely formed during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. [1]
The geology of Slovakia is structurally complex, with a highly varied array of mountain ranges and belts largely formed during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. [1]
Most of Slovakia is situated within the West Carpathian orogenic belt, except for the east of the country which is in the East Carpathians. The Transdanubian Mid-Mountain Range occupies a small area in the south, forming the basement rocks of the Danube Basin. The Eastern Alps-Western Carpathian boundary runs through Slovakia.
In the Paleogene, at the beginning of the Cenozoic, a marine transgression flooded the region from the vicinity of the Flysch Belt into the area of the Central West Carpathians. Paleogene sediments are found in the Orava, Liptov, Spiš, Zilina and Podhale depressions. In the Peri Klippen Zone, sedimentation began in the Paleocene, such as the Kambühel Limestone. Conglomerate is common as the bottom strata, overlain by flysch. At the edge of the subducting Flysch Belt, sedimentary rocks are up to four kilometers thick. Central Carpathian rocks are not folded.
Molasse deposits laid down in the Oligocene span into southern Slovakia from the Pannonian Basin in Hungary. The back-arc molasse formed several large basins, including the Vienna Basin, Danube Basin, South Slovak Basin and East Slovak Basin in the Neogene (the Danuba, South Slovak and East Slovak are all subdivisions of the Pannonian Basin). The basins are filled with the sediments associated with the Paratethys Ocean, up to five kilometers thick. Marl is particularly common, intercalated with sandstone, tuff, conglomerate and algal limestone. Sediments became brackish over time as the Paratethys was isolated from the rest of the world's oceans. Overall, the basins are split up by numerous faults and small grabens, such as the Turiec Basin, Ziar Basin and Orava Basin filled with lake sediments.
There was limited volcanic activity in the Cenozoic, including a swarm of andesite dikes in the Outer Carpathians. Geophysical research and boreholes have shed light buried volcanic rocks in the southwest Danube Basin and volcanic rocks are found throughout the Central Western Carpathians and eastern Slovakia.
In the Upper Pliocene, prior to the Quaternary glaciations Slovakia had a subtropical climate akin to Mediterranean climate. [2]
The Quaternary glaciations identified in Slovakia are, from oldest to youngest: Donau, Günz, Mindel, Riss and Würm. [2] During these glaciations glaciers extender downhill from the High Tatras and nonglaciated uplands were subject to frost weathering and solifluction. [2] Deflation of soils is also evident in mountaineous locations. [2]
Peat, eolian wind-blown sands, fluvial sand and gravel and loess are all typical Quaternary sediments, formed in the past 2.5 million years old and dominating the surface of Slovak lowlands. [3] The loess sheets of Slovakia are named, from the lowest to the highest W1, W2 and W3. In between W1 and W2 lies a layer of black-earth soil and between W2 and W3 lies an incipient soil which in parts is gleyed or cryoturbated. [2]
The Váh River has up to seven terraces of sand and gravel. Travertine is also common, including travertine which preserved a cranial mold of a Neanderthal from Gánovce. Moraine formations remain in the high mountains from the Pleistocene glaciations. [3]
The moderately metamorphosed Spišsko-gemerské rudohorie hosts veins of siderite, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite along with the Veitsch-type magnesite, and the Kremnica-Štiavnica Mountains have polymetallic lead, zinc, copper, gold and silver veins. Permian rocks often hold uranium ore. Salt is found in the Neogene East Slovak Basin and brown coal is extracted from both the Handlová-Nováky Basin and the Modrý Kameň-Potor Basin. There are small deposits of natural gas and oil in the Neogene strata of the Vienna Basin together with older Triassic rocks. [4]
The Fatra-Tatra Area or the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains is a part of the Inner Western Carpathians, a subprovince of the Western Carpathians. Most of the area lies in Slovakia with small parts reaching into Austria and Poland. The highest summit of the whole Carpathians, the Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 m (8,711 ft), lies in the High Tatras range which belongs to this area.
The Pieniny Klippen Belt is in geology a tectonically and orographically remarkable zone in the Western Carpathians, with a very complex geological structure. It is a narrow and extremely long north banded zone of extreme shortening and sub-vertical strike-slip fault zone, with complex geological history, where only fragments of individual strata and facies are preserved. The Pieniny Klippen Belt is considered one of the main tectonic sutures of the Carpathians and forms the boundary between the Outer and Central Western Carpathians.
The Western Carpathians are an arc-shaped mountain range, the northern branch of the Alpine-Himalayan fold and thrust system called the Alpide belt, which evolved during the Alpine orogeny. In particular, their pre-Cenozoic evolution is very similar to that of the Eastern Alps, and they constitute a transition between the Eastern Alps and the Eastern Carpathians.
The Carpathian Flysch Belt is an arcuate tectonic zone included in the megastructural elevation of the Carpathians on the external periphery of the mountain chain. Geomorphologically it is a portion of the Outer Carpathians. Geologically it is a thin-skinned thrust belt or accretionary wedge, formed by rootless nappes consisting of so-called flysch – alternating marine deposits of claystones, shales and sandstones which were detached from their substratum and moved tens of kilometers to the north (generally). The Flysch Belt is together with Neogene volcanic complexes the only extant tectonic zone along the whole Carpathian arc.
The geology of Germany is heavily influenced by several phases of orogeny in the Paleozoic and the Cenozoic, by sedimentation in shelf seas and epicontinental seas and on plains in the Permian and Mesozoic as well as by the Quaternary glaciations.
The geology of Georgia is the study of rocks, minerals, water, landforms and geologic history in Georgia. The country is dominated by the Caucasus Mountains at the junction of the Eurasian Plate and the Afro-Arabian Plate, and rock units from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are particularly prevalent. For much of its geologic history, until the uplift of the Caucasus, Georgia was submerged by marine transgression events. Geologic research for 150 years by Georgian and Russian geologists has shed significant light on the region and since the 1970s has been augmented with the understanding of plate tectonics.
The geology of Bosnia & Herzegovina is the study of rocks, minerals, water, landforms and geologic history in the country. The oldest rocks exposed at or near the surface date to the Paleozoic and the Precambrian geologic history of the region remains poorly understood. Complex assemblages of flysch, ophiolite, mélange and igneous plutons together with thick sedimentary units are a defining characteristic of the Dinaric Alps, also known as the Dinaride Mountains, which dominate much of the country's landscape.
The geology of Kazakhstan includes extensive basement rocks from the Precambrian and widespread Paleozoic rocks, as well as sediments formed in rift basins during the Mesozoic.
The geology of Laos includes poorly defined oldest rocks. Marine conditions persisted for much of the Paleozoic and parts of the Mesozoic, followed by periods of uplift and erosion. The country has extensive salt, gypsum and potash, but very little hydrocarbons and limited base metals.
The geology of Kyrgyzstan began to form during the Proterozoic. The country has experienced long-running uplift events, forming the Tian Shan mountains and large, sediment filled basins.
The geology of Uzbekistan consists of two microcontinents and the remnants of oceanic crust, which fused together into a tectonically complex but resource rich land mass during the Paleozoic, before becoming draped in thick, primarily marine sedimentary units.
The geology of Thailand includes deep crystalline metamorphic basement rocks, overlain by extensive sandstone, limestone, turbidites and some volcanic rocks. The region experienced complicated tectonics during the Paleozoic, long-running shallow water conditions and then renewed uplift and erosion in the past several million years ago.
The geology of Bulgaria consists of two major structural features. The Rhodope Massif in southern Bulgaria is made up of Archean, Proterozoic and Cambrian rocks and is a sub-province of the Thracian-Anatolian polymetallic province. It has dropped down, faulted basins filled with Cenozoic sediments and volcanic rocks. The Moesian Platform to the north extends into Romania and has Paleozoic rocks covered by rocks from the Mesozoic, typically buried by thick Danube River valley Quaternary sediments. In places, the Moesian Platform has small oil and gas fields. Bulgaria is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east.
The geology of Romania is structurally complex, with evidence of past crustal movements and the incorporation of different blocks or platforms to the edge of Europe, driving recent mountain building of the Carpathian Mountains. Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east.
The geology of Croatia has some Precambrian rocks mostly covered by younger sedimentary rocks and deformed or superimposed by tectonic activity.
The geology of Greece is highly structurally complex due to its position at the junction between the European and African tectonic plates.
The geology of the Czech Republic is very tectonically complex, split between the Western Carpathian Mountains and the Bohemian Massif.
The geology of Montenegro includes sedimentary and volcanic rocks from the Paleozoic through the Cenozoic, deposited atop poorly understood crystalline basement rock.
The geology of Italy includes mountain ranges such as the Alps and the Apennines formed from the uplift of igneous and primarily marine sedimentary rocks all formed since the Paleozoic. Some active volcanoes are located in Insular Italy.
The Krempachy Marl Formation is a geological formation in Poland and Slovakia, dating to about 179 million years ago, and covering the middle Toarcian stage of the Jurassic Period. It is among the most important formations of the Toarcian boundary on the Carpathian realm, being the regional equivalent of the Posidonia Shale.
