Buried karst relief of the central part of East European Plain

Abstract

Karst and erosion were the dominant geomorphologic processes on the territory of the central part of East-European Plain before the beginning of the Ice Ages. The landscapes of pre-Quaternary age reflect the diversity of landforms of appropriate origin. Their investigation is based upon the drilling data. Karst processes were prevalent on the surfaces with carbonate substratum. Erosion was typical for the areas with considerable thickness of terrigenous sediments. During the period of 360 Ma relief of the central part of East-European Plain was forming in different ways. Shelf sedimentation was typical for the thalassic periods: carbonaceous in Palaeozoic and terrigenous in Mesozoic. Karst and erosion processes were developing with different rates due to sediment’s peculiarity during the geocratic periods. Tropical karst process was vastly spread on the territory under study until the sea transgression of the LateJurassic. Terrigenous clayey and sandy deposits had no influence on the intensity of karst process. Erosion processes began to dominate after Cretaceous sea regression. Data concerning areas of distribution of pre-Quaternary buried landforms of karst and erosion origin allow defining seven regions in the central part of East-European Plain.