The Dunajec River Gorge (; ; ) runs through the Pieniny Mountains in the south of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the north of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

(as Dunajec is the border river between the two countries in the area). The gorge is characterized by some of the most interesting

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

and

geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...

structures and area-specific natural

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s with little

anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...

influence. It is featured on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in Poland.UNESCO World Heritage List, Poland.
Accessed 7 September 2011. Dunajec Gorge is also one of the best-known tourist attractions in the Pieniny Mountains. Wooden raft trips have been organized daily by Pieniny Gorals since the early 19th century — when their customers consisted mostly of guests of nearby Niedzica and Czorsztyn castles. The trip begins in the village of Sromowce Wyżne-Kąty, and ends in the resort town of Szczawnica, 18 km downstream. It takes about 2–3 hours. The second leg of the tour is only 5 km long. It begins in Szczawnica and ends in the town of Krościenko nad Dunajcem. The Gorge makes 7 loops in its length. The surrounding rock reaches 300 m in height almost all the way through.

Geography

The gorge is part of a valley located within the Pieniny National Park. The landscape distinguishes it from surrounding mountains due to interaction of natural factors such as geological ground, relief, water, soil, climate, flora and fauna, and their evolutionary relationships. All these elements contribute to the complexity of the natural beauty of the whole area.Pieniny National Park's official website.
Retrieved September 7, 2011. The conditions for the development of unique flora and fauna are closely related to the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and dolomite

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

. Literally, the rock is the foundation for this one-of-a-kind environment. There is the occurrence of the Carpathians' plant and animal species, in many cases

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

. Their varied morphologic segmentation is responsible for the area's original and highly valuable aesthetic character. From a botanical standpoint the Dunajec River Gorge serves as an example of area-specific vegetation dating back to the glacial age, even though the Pieniny Mountains were not glaciated. From a geographical standpoint it exists apart from the West Carpathians flora (''Carpaticum occidentale'') with their endemic and subendemic species. From a zoological standpoint the valleys cut in

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

rocks have an extraordinary importance for preservation of many species and fauna of the Carpathians. Enormous segmentation of the terrain results in high concentration of biodiversity in a relatively small area. The Dunajec River Gorge represents the main stages of geological and geomorphological evolution of mountain terrain from the early Cenozoic era to the Quaternary period including tectonic movement, geological structure, petrographic composition and proportion of rocks.

Notes

References

Official site of Polskie Stowarzyszenie Flisaków Pienińskich na Dunajcu - information about rafting
The Dunajec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains.

Pieniny Mountains and Dunajec River Rafting at www.pieniny.us

Pieniny Mountains and the Dunajec Gorge at info-poland.buffalo.eduRiver Dunajec
a
PieninyPortal.com

Pieniny National Park, Poland, at Google MapsRafting on the Dunajec river
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Poland Western Carpathians Geography of Lesser Poland Voivodeship Canyons and gorges of Europe

Geography

See also

Notes

References