The Pieniny (sometimes also the PieninsSzafer, Władysław. 2013. ''The Vegetation of Poland: International Series of Monographs in Pure and Applied Biology''. Warsaw: Pergamon Press, pp. 156, 388. or the Pienin Mountains,Griffiths, Graham C. D. 1976. Studies on Boreal Agromyzidae (Diptera). XII. ''Phytomyza'' and ''Chromatomyia'' miners on Astereae (Compositae).''Quaestiones Entomologicae'' 12: 239–275, p. 255. hu, Pieninek) is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

in the south of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and the north of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. It is classified within the eastern section of the Western Beskids. The Pieniny mountain range is divided into three parts – ''Pieniny Spiskie'' ( sk, Spišské Pieniny) and ''Pieniny Właściwe'' (Slovak: ''Centrálne Pieniny'') in Poland; and, ''Małe Pieniny'' ( en, Lesser or Little Pieniny; sk, Malé Pieniny) in Poland and Slovakia. The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of beds of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

. The most famous peak, '' Trzy Korony'' (Three Crowns), is 982 metres high. It is also the summit of the Three Crowns

Massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

. Pieniny's highest peak – ''Wysoka'' (Polish); ''Vysoké Skalky'' (Slovak) – reaches 1,050 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. Pieniny mountains formed at the bottom of the sea in several geological epochs. They were folded and raised in Upper

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

. At the beginning of the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

geologic period a second wave of tectonic movements took place causing a further shift. The third wave of movements during the

and

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

resulted in a more complex tectonic structure. At the same time

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

resulted in stripping of the outer mantle rocks and further modeling of terrain. Peaks were built from weather resistant

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

rocks, mainly limestone. Valleys and passes were created from softer and more susceptible to weathering rocks of

and Paleogene periods. Caves are few and rather small. By contrast, rivers and streams are often deeply indented in the rock, creating approximately 15 ravines and gorges. The most famous gorges of the Pieniny mountains are the Dunajec River Gorge in Pieniny National Park and the Homole Ravine ( pl, Wąwóz Homole). Hills along the northern border of Pieniny are of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

origin.

Image gallery

Image:Rafting on the Dunajec River.jpg, Trzy Korony and Facimiech Mountain Image:Kiczera a2.jpg, Kiczera and Magura Spiska. View from Wysokie Skały Image:Dunajec a5.jpg,

Dunajec The Dunajec (); Goral dialects: ''Dónajec'') is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at t ...

River Image:Niedzica-04(tż).jpg, Niedzica Castle and Czorsztyn Lake

References

External links

www.pieniny.sk/en.html

Pieniny Mountains at www.pieniny.us

Pieniny Mountains at info-poland.buffalo.edu

Pieniny at www.travelia.sk
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Poland Mountain ranges of Slovakia Landforms of Lesser Poland Voivodeship Mountain ranges of the Western Carpathians

Image gallery

See also

References

External links