The depositional environment of the Lower Devonian of the Holy Cross Mountains has only been studied and interpreted in part, particularly for the lower portion of the profile. Recent fieldwork findings suggest a considerable change with regard to earlier hypotheses. Apart from the sedimentological observations that indicate marginal marine and very shallow-water conditions, horizons with plant-root traces and layers interpreted as palaeosols showing different stages of pedogenesis have been documented. The presence of palaeosols in some areas of the Holy Cross Mountains is the first direct evidence for the existence of terrestrial conditions during the Lower Devonian in this area. This plant-root system is one of the oldest fossil records ever described globally.
Czarnocki, J. 1936. Review of stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Lower Devonian of the Holy Cross Mountains. Sprawozdania Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 7, 129–200 [in Polish and German].
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Kulczycki, J. 1960. Porolepis (Crossopterygii) from the Lower Devonian of the Holy Cross Mountains. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 5, 65–103.
Mokany, K., Raison, R. J. & Prokushkin, A. S. 2006. Critical analysis of root : shoot ratios in terrestrial biomes. Global Change Biology, 12, 84–96.
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Raven, J. A. & Edwards, D. 2001. Roots: evolutionary origins and biogeochemical significance. Journal of Experimental Botany, 52, 381–401.
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Retallack, G. J. 2011. Woodland hypothesis for Devonian evolution of tetrapods. Journal of Geology, 119, 235–258.
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Retallack, G. J., Hunt, R. R. & White, T. E. 2009. Devonian palaeosols and tetrapod habitats in Pennsylvania. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 166, 1143–1156.
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Szrek, P., Niedźwiedzki, G. & Dec, M. 2014. Storm origin of bone-bearing beds in the Lower Devonian placoderm sandstone from Podłazie Hill (Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland). Geological Quarterly, 58, 795–806.
Szulczewski, M. & Porębski, S. 2008. Stop 1–Bukowa Góra, Lower Devonian. In Ichnological Sites of Poland. The Holy Cross Mountains and the Carpathian Flysch. The Second International Congress on Ichnology. Cracow, Poland, August 2–September 8, 2008. The Pre-Congress and Post-Congress Field Trip Guidebook (Pieńkowski, G. & Uchman, A., eds), pp. 18–37. Warszawa.
Tarlo, L. B. 1964. Psammosteiformes (Agnatha) – a review with descriptions of new material from the Lower Devonian of Poland. I – general part. Palaeontologia Polonica, 13, 1–135.
Tarnowska, M. 1976. Lithological correlation of the Lower Devonian in the eastern part of the Holy Cross Mountains. Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego, 296, 75–115 [in Polish, with English summary].
Turnau, E. & Tarnowska, M. 1997. Obecność zigenu (pragu) i emsu koło Kielc [Presence of the Siegenian (Pragian) and Emsian near Kielce]. Posiedzenia Naukowe Państwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 53, 154–155 [in Polish].
