Volcanic Heritage of Góry and Pogórze Kaczawskie. Excursion

Góry and Pogórze Kaczawskie are situated in the Western Sudetes about 80-100 km SW from Wrocław.

The Kaczawskie Mts are rocky massif, elevated to various altitudes which spans the surface of 320 km2

between the valley of the river Bóbr (one the west) and the valley of the river Nysa Szalona (on the east).

The Kaczawskie Mts consist of four parallel and mostly forested ranges aligned from north-west to

south-east which are typical of the Sudetes – these are: Northern Ridge (Okole Mt. 714 m a.s.l.), Southern

Ridge (Baraniec Mt. 720 m a.s.l.) passing on the southeast in the Ołowiane Mts (Turzec 684 m a.s.l.),

Little Ridge (Szybowcowa Mt. 561 m a.s.l.) and Eastern Ridge (Poręba 671 m a.s.l.) (Kondracki 2009).

On the north, the Kaczawskie Mts gently extend into the Pogórze Kaczawskie (usually translated

as the Kaczawskie Upland or the Kaczawskie Hilly Land) which covers the area of about 880 km2 (Photo 1).

It is divided along the valley of the river Kaczawa into two main parts: Western Kaczawa Plateau and

Eastern Kaczawa Plateau – both comprise of numerous, smaller physiographical units (Kondracki 2009).

Among the most characteristic elements of this region are: vast planation surfaces above which volcanic

monadnocks arise (Ostrzyca 501 m a.s.l. and Grodziec 389 m a.s.l.), concave river valleys and rocky

gorges (Wąwóz Lipa, Wąwóz Siedmica, Wąwóz Myśliborski) as well as large river valleys as Bóbr with

terraces, alluvial fans etc.