Young tectonics of the Orava Basin and southern portion of the Magura Nappe, Polish western Carpathians, in the light of gravity studies: a new research proposal

The aim of this paper is to present a multidisciplinary project dealing with analysis of young crustal movements in the Orava Basin, Polish Western Carpathians, on the basis of a three year long gravimetric, geodetic, geological and morphostructural study. The problem consists in quantitative interpretation of the obtained gravimetric results, i.e. in combining temporal gravity changes with those of geodynamic crustal processes. Gravity surveys conducted in 2004 and 2005 show a decrease in gravity values at benchmarks situated in the Central Carpathian Palaeogene Basin and Magura Nappe, while the central potion of the Orava Basin reveals the opposite trend. Such changes, if confirmed by successive measurement campaigns, appear to indicate recent uplift of the basin margins and subsidence of the basin itself.