GPR method is perfectly suited for recognizing of sedimentary facies diversity in shallowly occurring sediments if there is a contrast of electrical properties between and/or within each layer. The article deals with the issue of the correlation between GPR surveys results and sedimentological analyses. As a result of this correlation a conceptual model of depositional systems of studied areas was developed. Studies were performed in two areas located in central Poland, where glacial deposits formed in the Middle Polish (Saalian) Glaciation are present. The study was based on 49 sediment samples and 21 GPR profiles. Analyses of lithofacies as well as granulometric and mineralogical composition of deposits of collected samples were carried out, showing the diversity of glacial deposits in both study sites. During GPR measurements shielded antenna with a frequency of 500 MHz was used which allowed high-resolution mapping of the internal structure of deposits and to identify four characteristic radar facies. Correlation of GPR profiles with point, one-dimensional sedimentological studies allowed the unambiguous interpretation of the GPR image and draw conclusions about the formation environment of individual units. Geophysical and sedimentological data obtained during study provide a new and detailed insight into selected glacial deposits in central Poland.
The Carpathian Orava Basin is a tectonic structure filled with Neogene and Quaternary deposits superimposed on the collision zone between the ALCAPA and European plates. Tectonic features of the south-eastern margin of the Orava Basin and the adjoining part of the fore-arc Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin were studied. Field observations of mesoscopic structures, analyses of digital elevation models and geological maps, supplemented with electrical resistivity tomography surveys were performed. Particular attention was paid to joint network analysis. The NE-SW-trending Krowiarki and Hruštinka-Biela Orava sinistral fault zones were recognized as key tectonic features that influenced the Orava Basin development. They constitute the north-eastern part of a larger Mur-Mürz-Žilina fault system that separates the Western Carpathians from the Eastern Alps. The interaction of these sinistral fault zones with the older tectonic structures of the collision zone caused the initiation and further development of the Orava Basin as a strike-slip-related basin. The Krowiarki Fault Zone subdivides areas with a different deformation pattern within the sediments of the Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin and was active at least from the time of cessation of its sedimentation in the early Miocene. Comparison of structural data with the recent tectonic stress field, earthquake focal mechanisms and GPS measurements allows us to conclude that the Krowiarki Fault Zone shows a stable general pattern of tectonic activity for more than the last 20 myr and is presently still active.