SOME ASPECTS OF POLISH-UKRAINIAN GEOLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL RESEARCHES OF WESTERN VOLYN-PODILLIA DURING THE POLISH INVASION

Abstract

The proposed article is based on an analysis of publications on field observations published in the then Polish and Ukrainian periodicals, collections of materials from scientific forums at various levels, works collections of individual Polish and foreign scientific institutes, etc. The purpose of the article was an attempt to analyze and generalize the research results of the study area in the field of Quaternary geology and geomorphology. It should also be noted that publications from the listed sections of physical geography are encountered quite sporadically and in significantly smaller numbers than articles on purely geological disciplines such as mineralogy, petrography, lithology, tectonics, etc. The study of geological and geomorphological objects and processes was carried out on the territory of Western Volyn-Podillia, which at that time was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The works mainly concerned the study of the stratigraphy of anthropogenic sediments distributed in the Podillia loess and loess soils, continental glaciations and related glacial and fluvial-glacial deposits, surface and underground karst, etc. It was established that significant in volume and depth of generalization of works on the geological and geomorphological structure the region features at that time was not. The studies that were carried out were not systematic, they were often carried out on the researchers initiative and without adequate funding, with localization mainly in the territory with open at that time deposits of certain minerals types. Analysis of publications can be stated as follows: the study of Quaternary deposits of the region and loess in particular was carried out with extensive use of laboratory studies, paleontological method, chemical, particle size distribution mineralogical and petrographic analyzes, the method of separation of loess minerals in heavy liquids, paleontological and archaeological observations, etc., were progressive at that time. It should be noted that individual reports on the determination of the age of the Quaternary strata were poorly synchronized with each other and a reliable generally accepted scale for the division of these deposits in this period was not agreed. During this period, factually substantiated schemes of geomorphological zoning of both the Podillia region as a whole and its individual components were proposed. Regular relationships of the relief features of the region with the lithogenic base, neotectonic movements, glacial and fluvial-glacial processes are traced. Significant progress is noted in the study of stratigraphy, lithology of local loess strata, problematic issues of their genesis are discussed. Among the few works on the study of the loess cover of Volyn-Podillia, the work of Yu. Polianskyi and Yu. Tokarskyi attracts attention first of all. The works on the study of loess are important due to: a) their almost ubiquitous distribution in the described territories; b) value for stratigraphic subdivision of the Pleistocene; c) controversial genesis; d) widespread use for the production of bricks and tiles. Work on the study of surface and underground forms of the Podillia karst has spread. Systematic mapping of individual underground cavities begins which gave impetus to their use in the future as objects of tourism. The largest number of works is devoted to the problems of studying the relief and modern physical and geographical processes in the interwar period. At the same time, along with purely descriptive publications, works appear where conclusions are based on the use of cartographic materials, which allowed researchers to identify significant patterns in the morphological features of the region. In the period under study, numerous publications by soil scientists also appeared, in which Quaternary sediments are considered as parent rocks on which soils were formed, the dependence of the type of soil on the lithology of the underlying rocks is established. In general, the works of Polish and Ukrainian researchers in the characterized period laid a reliable foundation for modern ideas about the geological and geomorphological features of the region. Keywords: geomorphological studies, Quaternary deposits, glacial deposits, stratigraphy, morphology, loess deposits.