Bieszczady Mts.—Structural Relief with Human Imprint in the Wilderness Corner of Poland

The Bieszczady Mts. in the south-eastern part of Poland are an excellent area to examine the structural relief of a flysch-built orogen. The main relief features reflect the tectonic evolution of the Carpathians and the lithology of flyschFlysch rocks, which consist of resistant sandstones and less resistant shales and mudstones. The general topography of parallel-oriented ridges characterized by the NW–SE direction was formed during the earliest compressional stage in the evolution of the Carpathians. Then, at the extensional stage when gravitational collapsesGravitational collapse took place and due to the secondary tectonic deformation, the rectangular river pattern was formed. The diversity of slope relief is enhanced by rock cragsCrag, blockfieldsBlockfield (block field), landslides, and soil piping forms, whereas in bedrock channelsChannelbedrock, one can find fluvial erosionErosionfluvial forms such as bedrock steps, plunge pools, and potholesPothole. The recent history of the Bieszczady Mts. is written in the landscape. The dense population that occupied this region since the fifteenth century was displaced after World War II. Deforested slopes and valleys are now subject to reforestation, but abandoned agricultural terracesAgricultural terraces and former roads are still well preserved. The structure-controlled landscape with an imprint of the turbulent history of the region makes the Bieszczady Mts. one of the most attractive areas not only in the Polish Carpathians, but in whole Poland.