TITANIUM-ZIRCONIUM PLACERS OF THE STAVROPOL REGION

Abstract

Lithofacies analyses and paleogeographic reconstructions of the middle Sarmatian sequence in the central Ciscaucasus, which hosts the most promising titanium–zirconium placers of the Stavropol region, indicate that ore components (rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene, and zircon) were mainly delivered to the Stavropol placer basin by the paleo-Volga River from a northern land. Bryozoan organogenic edifices played a significant role in the formation of placers. The organogenic edifices appeared under anomalous (for bioherm formation) conditions of terrigenous sedimentation on the western and northwestern slopes of the Stavropol Uplift, hampered the transport of ore material to the deep-water zone of the basin, and promoted its differentiation in the paleouplift.