the pieniny klippen belt is in geology a tectonically and orographically remarkable zone in the western carpathians, with a very complex geological structure. it is a narrow (only 0.4 to 19 km) and extremely long (about 600 km) north banded zone of extreme shortening and sub-vertical strike-slip fault zone, with complex geological history, where only fragments of individual strata and facies are preserved. the pieniny klippen belt is considered one of the main tectonic sutures of the carpathians and forms the boundary between the outer (externides a thin-skin thrustbelt) and central western carpathians (internal thick-skin thrustbelt).