UPPER MIOCENE, PLIOCENE, AND QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC REFERENCE SECTIONS OF LARGE INTERMONTANE DEPRESSIONS IN ARMENIA

Abstract

The representative sections and boreholes of a particular area supplementing each other and constituting an integral reference section are most informative for stratigraphy and paleogeography of recent sediments. This paper presents information on integral reference sections of the large Shirk, Sevan, and Ararat intermontane depressions in the Vorotan–Akera interfluve with thickest (up to 2000 m) Upper Miocene, Pliocene, and Quaternary sediments. The author of the present communication studied more than 700 outcrops and cores from approximately 200 boreholes, 120 of which were sampled continuously (up to depth of 700 m).