Pervasive near-surface stratal disruption in an accretionary prism setting: Kaczawa Complex, SW Poland

The tectonized and metamorphosed mudrocks within the Variscan accretionary prism of the Kaczawa Mountains in SW Poland comprise sedimentary melanges together with more coherent stratigraphic units; some represent large olistoliths deposited in a submarine trench. We infer a trend of progressive near-surface stratal disruption in mud-dominated deposits due to dewatering that forms a continuum with subduction-related tectonic structures imposed on unconsolidated sediment during deeper burial. The assemblage of characters suggests that an accretionary prism environment can influence, and leave characteristic traces of, the total burial history of a trench succession.