PROBLEMS OF THE CAUCASUS PALEOLAND EXISTENCE DURING THE OLIGOCENE-MIOCENE TIME

Abstract

This paper considers the litho-facial environments that existed in the Caucasus region during the Oligocene and Miocene. The analyzed distribution patterns of reef deposits, evaporites, rock slide and avalanche facies, coal deposits, and paleoflora provided, in addition to denudation chronology, the basis to argue that the Caucasus orogen of that time existed as an island, actively influencing the sedimentation in adjacent basins.