Reconstruction of Paleohydrodynamic Conditions during the Formation of Upper Jurassic Conglomerates of the Crimean Peninsula

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnyi per. 35, Moscow, 119017 Russia.

 ISSN 0024-4902, Lithology and Mineral Resources, 2007, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 268–280. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2007.

 Original Russian Text © A.V. Lalomov, 2007, published in Litologiya i Poleznye Iskopaemye, 2007, No. 3, pp. 298–311.

Received March 24, 2006

Abstract—Conglomerates and sandstones related to Upper Jurassic division of Mesozoic rocks make up the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains. Grain size and structural features testify to active hydrodynamic regime of depositional environments. Conglomerates contain a small quantity of exotic granite–granodiorite pebbles and boulders probably transported from the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield situated 400 km north of the Crimean Peninsula. Paleohydrodynamic parameters and transportation mechanisms of debris were modeled with the help of different methods used in geoengineering computations. The results obtained demonstrated satisfactory convergence of the data. The calculations showed that the rocks under investigation were formed during a short (from geological standpoint) but very intense episode of sedimentation related to active tectonic processes that were responsible for the activation of hydrodynamic and sedimentation processes in the paleobasin.

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