Late Pleistocene dip-slip faulting along the Dunajec Fault, West Carpathians: Insights from alluvial sediments

Abstract

This paper presents vertical movement along the Dunajec Fault during the Late Pleistocene and suggests Quaternary tectonic reactivation of diagonal strike-slip faults and their transformation into dip-slip faults in the West Carpathians. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of Pleistocene alluvial sediments of the Dunajec and the Ochotnica rivers was employed to determine the time range of deposition of these sediments. Vertical and spatial distribution of the obtained OSL ages imply that the alluvial sediments were affected by the Dunajec Fault, which appears to have acted as a scissor fault during the Late Pleistocene. The results contribute to the discussion on the recent evolution of the Carpathians, and may support the concept of extensional collapse of the orogen.