Lower Cretaceous paleokarst in a klippe of the Czorsztyn Succession north of Zázrivá (Pieniny Klippen Belt, Orava Sector, northern Slovakia)

New locality with well preserved palaeokarst surface was discovered north of the Zázrivá village in the Orava sector of the Pieniny Klippen Belt. The klippe belongs to the Czorsztyn Succession and is known among the local settlers as “Erdútsky kostol”. The outcropping succession starts with red nodular limestone of the Czorsztyn Limestone Formation of the Kimmeridgian to the Middle Tithonian age, followed by the Dursztyn Limestone Formation. The latter consists of red bedded micritic limestones of the Korowa Limestone Member and white micritic limestones of the Sobótka Limestone Member. Stratigraphically, the succession covers the time span from the Kimmeridgian to the Early Berriasian. The Sobótka Limestone Member displays unusual succession of calpionellids and is terminated by uneven palaeokarstic surface dominated by hummocky karren forms with rounded tops which are typical for karst evolved under thick soil cover. The karstic surface is covered by a condensed succession of the Late Albian red pelagic marly limestones and marlstones (Chmielowa Formation). The stratigraphic gap encompasses a time span from the Berriasian to the Late Albian.