Manifestations of the Early Oligocene Solenovian Crisis on the Northern Shelf of the Eastern Paratethys

Abstract

The results of studies of the regional structure of Solenovian deposits of the Early Oligocene Rupelian Stage in the Cisсaucasian–Caspian region, which represented the northern slope of Eastern Paratethys in the Cenozoic, are presented. The geological structure and paleogeographic conditions in the basin during the Solenovian (second half of Early Oligocene) were refined based on a comprehensive interpretation of geological and geophysical materials. The spatial consequences of the sea level drop in Eastern Paratethys during the Oligocene regressions are traced. The periodic draining of shelf areas is reflected in the structure of erosional unconformities and buried river incisions. It has been established that the most significant was the late Solenovian regression with a relative sea level drop by more than 500 m. Consequently, a prominent unconformity surface, complicated by river incisions, was formed in the sedimentary sequence in the shelf part of the paleobasin (Maikop seismic sequence). Erosion ledges and landslide bodies formed on the slopes, and basin-infill complexes were accumulated in depressions.