Late Carboniferous weathering and regolith at the Kudowa Trough, West Sudetes: palaeogeographic, palaeoclimatic and structural implications

In the marginal part of the Kudowa Trough, on the border of Carboniferous granite and Permian (Saxonian) sediments, features typical for the profile of chemical weathering occurring in a regolith type sequence are described. Previously this border was interpreted as a tectonic fault. According to the authors, location of the initial cataclastic zone, followed by weathering of granite, is incidental. The extent of soil, its structural features and mineralogy are indicative of weathering in moderate-to-warm and humid climate conditions. Stratigraphic position of soil and its regional palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatic context make it possible to assume Late Westphalian (B and C, about 313-311 Ma) as the oldest, most likely beginning date of the weathering process. This opinion does not exclude the possibility of reactivation of weathering processes in Kudowa granite in the Early Cretaceous or even in the Triassic.