Natural travertine dome in Laski

Address:

32-329 Bolesław Laski

GPS:

50° 18' 59.2776" N 19° 27' 52.6968" E

The Laski village is famous for an interesting geological curiosity, which is a naturally-formed travertine dome, resulting from the sedimentation of carbonates due to ascending artesian springwater in a sandy environment. This is how the post-glacial sands eventually came to be covered with a 3 m thick rock layer, with a cavernous void formed inside it. This is the only such formation in Poland. Considering the specific water conditions, i.e. the drying-up of water flow in the sandy base, influence of zinc and lead ore mines on the lowering of the groundwater table and the presence in the formation rocks of snail, clam and diatom fossils, as well as moss, grass and pinewood imprints, it was possible to date the formation back to ca. 7000-2000 years ago. The dome is one of the most geologically interesting objects in the borderland between the Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic Upland and the Silesian Upland.