Limestone klippen of the pavlov hills

Abstract

The Pavlov Hills represent a distinct geomorphological landscape of the Outer Western Carpathians in the South Moravia. They comprise a string of limestone klippen which originated as an interplay of Lower Miocene nappe tectonics and later selective erosion that removed weak Tertiary flysch and morphologically enhanced limestone blocks. Major morphological features are attributed to the lithology and thrust-and-fold tectonics of Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous limestones which form the core of individual klippen structures. Monoclinal structures with west-facing escarpments and rather gentle eastward-oriented dip slopes have been sculptured chiefly by mass movement and karstification. However, besides structural landforms and karst features related to bedrock geology, immediate surroundings of the Pavlov Hills offer some of the famous Late Quaternary localities in Europe involving worldwide known Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) excavations. More than 25 ka of human inhabitation established a highly valuable cultural landscape with specific habitats of limestone hills resembling Mediterranean landscape, ruins of medieval castles and vineyards and picturesque villages in the piedmont of limestone hills.