Mt. Babia Góra—The Highest Flysch Ridge in the Western Carpathians

Abstract

Mt. Babia Góra (1725) is the highest homoclinal ridge in the flysch section of the Western Carpathians, notable for its W–E orientation and structural relief dominated by deep-seated landslides. The most elevated part of the ridge is built of the resistant Magura sandstone, which overlies less resistant older flysch formations. The relief of Mt. Babia Góra is indicative of multi-stage geomorphological development of the ridge from the Late Miocene to the Holocene. The study area has a zonal diversity of relief, with the ridge-top areas above 1400 m asl being the only ones in the Western Flysch Carpathians that penetrate into the subalpine zone. The element that dominates the relief of Mt. Babia Góra is the upper part of the main ridge, which rises above the belt of spring hollows. It is marked by asymmetry in the distribution of landforms, which are different on the precipitous northern slope and the gentle southern slope (penestructural slope). The upper part of the northern slope, where gradients exceed 40° and locally reach 70°, features elements of glacial and nival relief, remodelled landslide forms, periglacial covers, as well as couloirs, torrential fans, and debris flows, which have been preserved to varying degree. The varied relief of the upper part of the northern slope makes this area of Mt. Babia Góra similar to areas with high-mountain relief. The relief of Mt. Babia Góra, which has been only lightly transformed anthropogenically, is one of the elements of nature that were taken into account when the Babia Góra National Park was proposed to be listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.