Nature and origin of large-scale and intrasalt deformation within the Wieliczka salt mine, Poland

New research on the Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines challenges long-held assumptions about the origin of their distinctive geological structures. The study proposes that large-scale folds and thrusts, previously debated as either tectonic or soft-sediment deformation, are primarily the result of tectonic overthrust shear between a basal detachment layer and the Carpathian frontal thrust. This process, influenced by the mechanical stratigraphy of the evaporite sequence, led to decoupled structural styles within the mine. Additionally, small-scale structures were formed through early east-to-northeast-directed extension followed by northward contraction, suggesting syndepositional gravity gliding down a topographic slope into the Gdów depocenter, later overprinted by Carpathian shortening. The findings integrate field observations with mechanical stratigraphy analysis to reinterpret the mine's complex deformation history.

ROWAN, M. G., KRZYWIEC, P., BUKOWSKI, K., & PRZYBYŁO, J. (2020). Nature and origin of large-scale and intrasalt deformation within the Wieliczka salt mine, Poland. Geological Quarterly, 64(4). https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1557