ON THE MARINE GENESIS AND PONTIAN AGE OF DEPOSITS FROM THE LYUBIMOVKA REFERENCE SECTION IN THE CRIMEA

Abstract

A comprehensive study of the Lyubimovka section (western coast of the Crimea Peninsula, in the vicinity of Sevastopol) is carried out. The section is adopted as stratotype of six and as hypostratotype of three lower and basal middle Pliocene horizons in the stratigraphic scheme of continental deposits in the Ukraine. The late Miocene (early Pontian) age and the lagoonal-marine genesis of most deposits, which represent a typical molasse at the foot of the Crimean Mountains, is substantiated based on paleomagnetic, lithologic, biostratigraphic, and geological data. The results obtained imply that horizons of the lower and basal middle Pliocene continental deposits, which are distinguished in the Ukrainian stratigraphic scheme, are invalid.