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1

The Starunia collections in the Natural History Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv

Chornobay Y. M., Drygant D. M.

Geoturystyka

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2009

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nr 3

45-50

EN

In the Natural History Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Lviv there is a collection of a famous Pleistocene mammoth and a woolly rhinoceros, the so-called "first rhinoceros" from Starunia. The mammoth and the first rhinoceros were found 102 years ago, on 5th October and 6th November, 1907, respectively, in a shaft of an ozokerite (earth wax) mine near Starunia village (the Eastern Carpathians). The discovery of large Pleistocene mammals in Starunia was a spectacular, world-famous scientific event. Beside the mammoth and the rhinoceros, many specimens of Pleistocene flora and fauna from Starunia and other places of the Fore-Carpathian region are exhibited in the Lviv Natural History Museum.

PL

W Muzeum Przyrodniczym Narodowej Akademii Nauk Ukrainy we Lwowie zgromadzono kolekcję szczątków związanych z odkryciem wspaniałych plejstoceńskich okazów mamuta oraz tak zwanego "pierwszego" nosorożca włochatego. Okazy te znaleziono 102 lata temu, odpowiednio 5 października i 6 listopada 1907 r., w szybie kopalni ozokerytu (wosku ziemnego) w miejscowości Starunia (Karpaty Wschodnie). Odkrycie olbrzymich ssaków plejstoceńskich w Staruni było sensacją naukową w skali światowej. Obok mamuta i nosorożca w Lwowskim Muzeum Przyrodniczym znajdują się liczne szczątki flory i fauny roślin i zwierząt doby plejstoceńskżej ze Staruni i innych miejscowości Podkarpacia.

2

The Starunia collections in the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków

Kubiak H.

Geoturystyka

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2009

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nr 3

71-76

EN

In the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków there is a collection of remains connected with the discovery of the famous Pleistocene rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blum.), the so-called "second rhinoceros" of Starunia which has been World's only nearly completely preserved fossil woolly rhinoceros so far. The carcass of that rhino was found in October 1929, i.e. 80 years ago in a shaft of an ozokerite mine near the village Starunia (the Eastern Carpathian Mts.) together with parts of skeletons of two other ("third" and "fourth") woolly rhinoceroses. Those finds were the results of an Expedition of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. Beside the rhinoceroses abundant remains of flora and fauna, especially insects, were encountered in this locality.

PL

W Instytucie Systematyki i Ewolucji Zwierząt Polskiej Akademii Nauk w Krakowie znajdują się zbiory szczątków związanych ze słynnym plejstoceńskim nosorożcem włochatym Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blum.), zwanym "drugim" nosorożcem ze Staruni. Okaz ten jest jedynym na świecie - niemal kompletnie zachowanym - przedstawicielem wymarłego gatunku nosorożca włochatego. Ciało nosorożca znaleziono w październiku 1929 roku (równo 80 lat temu !) w szybie kopalni włosku ziemnego (ozokerytu) w Staruni (w Karpatach Wschodnich). Nieco powyżej "drugiego" nosorożca znaleziono szczątki szkieletów nosorożców: tzw. "trzeciego" i "czwartego" ze Staruni. Znaleziska te były wynikiem ekspedycji Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności. Wraz z nosorożcami odkryto w Staruni liczne szczątki kopalnych roślin i zwierząt - w szczególności owadów.

3

Idea of the ecological and geological tourist centre in Starunia (Fore-Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Adamenko O. M., Stelmakh O. R., Zorin D. O., Radlovska K. O.

Geoturystyka

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2009

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nr 3

21-26

EN

In Starunia village ozokerite deposit was mined in the years 1868-1960. In 1907 remnants of woolly rhinoceros and mammoth were discovered in one of the shafts. A second discovery was made in 1929, in a special shaft digged by the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, where remnants of three woolly rhinoceroses were found including one, a unique in the world, almost completely preserved specimen of this extinct species. In the 1970s, mud volcanoes were formed in relationship to seismic activity. In the vicinity of Starunia Paleolithic settlements were found of human population which might have inhabitated this area in the same period as large mammals. Geological, palaeontological and archaeological factors along with beautiful landscape of the Ukrainian Carpathian region make the Starunia village exceptional, world-class geotourist attraction. Hence, the concept of ecological and geological tourist centre has been proposed, located at the abandoned ozokerite mine in Starunia village.

PL

We wsi Starunia złoże ozokerytu było eksploatowane w latach 1868-1960. W roku 1907 w jednym z szybów kopalni odkryto szczątki nosorożca włochatego i mamuta. W roku 1929 w specjalnie wykopanym szybie przez Polską Akademię Umiejętności znaleziono jeszcze trzy szczątki nosorożców włochatych, w tym jeden okaz prawie kompletnie zachowany unikatowy w skali światowej przedstawiciel tego wymarłego gatunku. Ponadto w Staruni w latach 70-tych XX wieku utworzyły się wulkany błotne związane z aktywnością sejsmiczną. W pobliżu Staruni znaleziono również szczątki osad paleolitycznych, związane z ludźmi, którzy mogli zamieszkiwać ten teren równocześnie z olbrzymimi ssakami. Walory geologiczne, paleozoologiczne i archeologiczne, a także położenie w pięknym krajobrazie Przedkarpacia Ukrainy, spowodowały, że wieś Starunia stała się wyjątkową w skali światowej atrakcją geoturystyczną. W artykule przedstawiono plan utworzenia ekologicznego i geologicznego centrum turystycznego zlokalizowanego na obszarze nieczynnej kopalni ozokerytu w Staruni.

4

Upper Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Sokołowski T., Stachowicz-Rybka R., Woronko B.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

255-278

EN

An abandoned ozokerite mine (= Ropyshche), where large mammal remains were discovered in the first half of the 20th century, is located in the Velyky Lukavets River valley covered with Quaternary sediments. The catchment area includes a flysch sequence unconformably overlain by salt-bearing Lower Miocene molasses of the Vorotyshcha beds. Both the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene are represented by: channel (gravel, sandy gravel) and overbank alluvium (mud, peat, biogenic mud) and colluvium (mud, sandy mud) as well as by mine wastes. The channel sediments are usually found in the lowest fragments of the borehole logs and represent mainly material deposited in the straight segments of meandering river-beds. The most common, fine-grained (Mz = 61.33 to 7.11 ?m), distal floodplain sediments are locally up to 10 m thick and are dominated by massive mud lithofacies, which contain frequent burrows, root hairs or slightly larger root traces and reed rods. These sediments are characterized by rather stable grain size distribution, quite monotonous mineral composition, presence of resistant heavy minerals and quartz grains with traces of chemical weathering. Angular grains with conchoidal fractures and sharp edges also occur. Therefore, textural features show that the main sources of material were, most probably, weathering crusts of various ages developed on relatively poorly lithologically diversified Carpathian flysch strata and on Miocene deposits of the Carpathian Foredeep. With time, an increase of the content of material originating from mechanical weathering (frost action) occurred in the floodplain deposits, which can be linked to an increase of climate severity and reduction of vegetation. However, these changes are not recorded in the deposits, which developed mostly in closed hollows and accumulated mainly from suspension or from low-energy flows. This calm sedimentation was periodically interrupted by supply of more coarse-grained material (sand, gravel). A distinct predominance of overbank deposits in the sections documented by their thickness suggests that the northward flow of the Velyky Lukavets River was blocked as a result of either neotectonic movements or damming of the valley by landslide tongues. From the lithological point of view, the most favourable conditions for preservation of large, extinct mammals still exist in the two selected areas, where the total thickness of Pleistocene muds exceeds 2 metres. The first area is located in the vicinity of boreholes Nos 2, 3, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30 33 and 36N, and the other, smaller one, is placed around borehole No. 42.

5

Surface geochemical survey at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Sechman H., Kotarba M. J., Dzieniewicz M.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

375-390

EN

A surface geochemical survey was carried out in an abandoned ozokerite mine in Starunia, where remnants of a mammoth and three woolly rhinoceroses and one almost completely preserved rhinoceros carcass were found in 1907 and 1929. In total, 689 measurement sites were defined within the selected 300×350 m rectangle (ca. 10.5 ha). The analysed soil gases vary in their molecular and isotopic compositions. Several zones with anomalous methane concentrations over 10 vol% were identified in the study area. These anomalous concentrations correlate well with total C2-C5 alkane anomalies (over 1 vol%). The zones with carbon dioxide concentrations over 15 vol% are generally shifted SW of those, where the methane and the sum of C2-C5 alkanes anomalies were identified. High helium concentrations of crustal origin (over 0.001 vol%) are clustered near fault zones. In a majority of cases methane is of thermogenic origin, migrating to the near-surface zone from deep-seated accumulations. Microbial methane, or methane with a high microbial component, is genetically related to recent swamps. The high variability of concentrations of gaseous components together with the highly variable isotopic composition of individual gases in the soil, indicate their thermogenic and/or microbial origin, and point to the lithological diversity of Quaternary sediments in the study area. Several zones with thermogenic gaseous hydrocarbons and helium were delineated. It is likely that during the Pleistocene winters, under a thick ice and snow cover, the tundra lake and swamp zones around outflows of brines, oil, helium and thermogenic gases had a higher temperature, which resulted in melting and cracking of the ice cover. These sites would be more prospective for future search of well-preserved large vertebrates.

6

Salinity of Quaternary sediments and halophytes at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Mościcki W. J., Toboła T., Zarzyka-Ryszka M.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

391-402

EN

Interdisciplinary geophysical, geochemical and botanical studies were performed to recognize the problem of salinity of Quaternary sediments in the place, where woolly rhinoceroses were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. Geoelectric methods (high resolution geoelectric research with electromagnetic conductivity meter) enabled construction of maps of the distribution of conductivity of near-surface sediments. Variation of conductivity with depth was recognized with penetrometer-based geoelectric measurements. Measured conductivity mainly depends on the level of mineralization (salinity) of underground water filling the pores and voids of poorly consolidated Quaternary sediments and partly underlying Miocene strata. Several samples were taken from geological boreholes. The analysis of these cores enabled estimation of salt (chloride ion) content in the solid phase of sediments. This content varies from place to place and with depth in an unpredictable way. The highest values reached 8.5 wt%. Generally, on the basis of a qualitative comparison, the salinity data gained from sampled cores correlate with distribution of apparent conductivity obtained with geoelectric methods. Nevertheless, in some places there is a discrepancy between geophysical and geochemical data, especially for penetrometer versus borehole data. It may be partly explained by an unavoidable difference in location of the geological borehole and penetrometer site (technically this cannot be the same place). During botanical field studies a group of vascular plants growing on saline soils (halophytes) was found. Halophytes indicate a higher salt concentration in the soil. Their aggregations are extremely rare in the Carpathian region. The pattern of halophytes distribution reflected the presence of saline water sources, and their flows and soils affected by them. Generally, the distribution of halophytes showed a good correlation with the distribution of high-conductivity anomalies determined with the surface geoelectric survey.

7

Recognition of geological structures at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) based on gravity surveys

Porzucek S., Madej J.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

357-363

EN

In the early 20th century, relics of Pleistocene mammals were found near the village of Starunia. Gravity surveys performed in the place of the discovery revealed a low-density bed in the Miocene Vorotyshcha salt-bearing beds. The lowered density resulted from high halite content and probably an increased number of ozokerite veins. The localization of zoological relics can be attributed to the existence of this bed. Surface gravity surveys enabled scientists to determine its course and horizontal range. Gravity surveys also confirmed the existence of the Rinne fault. In the western part of the study area gravity modelling showed an interface between Miocene Vorotyshcha salt-bearing beds and Sloboda Conglomerates, differing in average bulk density. Geologic data indicate that this interface may have the form of an overthust rather than of a fault.

8

Radiocarbon dating of plant remnants in Quaternary sediments at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Kuc T., Różański K., Stachowicz-Rybka R.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

289-296

EN

Radiocarbon dating applied on several occasions in the past to date animal bones and animal soft tissue originating from the area of the Starunia palaeontological site turned out to be very controversial. Although investigations of Pleistocene flora in the Starunia area go back to the beginning of the 20th century, no published 14C dates of such material are available to date. Sixteen boreholes drilled in the area of the Pleistocene mammals discoveries, in the framework of a multidisciplinary research project (2006-2009), have been selected for radiocarbon dating of plant macrofossils. Moreover, five samples of plant remnants extracted from two outcrops in the area were 14C-dated. The nature of the dated plant material, in some cases soaked with oil, posed specific methodological problems. Although applied chemical treatment of macrofossil samples led to complete removal of contaminating hydrocarbons in the case of small pieces, some ageing effects in terms of radiocarbon dating cannot be completely ruled out. Radiocarbon ages of macrofossil samples originating from the close neighbourhood of the location, where the "second" woolly rhinoceros was found at a depth of 12.5 m, suggest that the minimum age of sediments in which the Pleistocene mammals were found is in the range of ca. 35-40 ka BP. A broad consistency between palynological reconstruction of Younger Dryas/Preboreal boundary and the corresponding radiocarbon ages of macrofossils is observed for locations, where the natural sedimentary sequence for late Glacial and early Holocene was not disturbed by extensive mining activity in the area.

9

Quaternary environmental changes at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) based on palaeobotanical studies

Stachowicz-Rybka R., Granoszewski W., Hrynowiecka-Czmielewska A.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

279-288

EN

The unique nature of the Starunia palaeontological site, where nearly perfectly preserved large mammals were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and also the incompletely researched history of the Pleistocene vegetation of the region, provided the necessary stimulus to undertake further complex palaeobotanical investigations. The Pleistocene and Holocene sediments filling the Velyky Lukavets River valley are the object of this type of investigation. Both the succession of vegetation and radiocarbon dating indicate that the formation of biogenic sediments began in the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial, in the Moershoofd interstadial, and lasted through the Hengelo/Denekamp Interstadial Complex and the Late Glacial and Holocene. Palaeobotanical investigations show the Middle Pleniglacial to have been characterized by an open, forestless landscape. Grassland steppe communities dominated with extremely high proportions of Poaceae, as well as Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, and a number of herbaceous plant taxa. More moist places were occupied by dwarf shrub tundra with Betula nana, Alnus viridis, and Cyperaceae. Small changes in the character of the vegetation resulting from climatic oscillations made their mark through a slight increase in the proportion of tree-birches, fir and pine. The record of Late Weichselian plant succession in the Velyky Lukavets River valley also documents the dominance of open habitats with a preponderance of steppe and steppe-tundra communities and a dry, continental climate. Only with the beginning of the Holocene did an improvement in climate conditions lead to the rapid expansion of forest communities with a dominance of pine accompanied by fir, larch, and trees, which are more demanding in terms of temperature, e.g. elm, oak, lime, hornbeam and hazel.

10

Plant macrofossils and malacocoenoses of Quaternary mineral-organic sediments at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Stachowicz-Rybka R., Gałka M., Alexandrowicz W. P., Alexandrowicz S. W.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

297-313

EN

The unique nature of the Starunia palaeontological site, where near-perfectly preserved large mammals were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and incomplete knowledge on the development of palaeoenvironment in the Velyky Lukavets River valley in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene were the reasons for undertaking new comprehensive palaeobotanical and malacological studies. Starunia is also one of the sites bearing Pleistocene fossil flora, rare in this part of Europe. The results of plant macrofossil analysis show that in the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial the landscape was dominated by steppe and tundra plant communities, being represented mostly by various grass and sedge species. Areas of higher humidity were covered with shrub tundra with Betula nana. The temperature requirements of taxa which are cool climate indicators show that the minimum July temperature amounted to at least 10°C. The record of Late Weichselian malacofauna confirms the dominance of an open landscape, mostly with steppe and steppe-tundra communities, as well as the presence of a dry, continental climate. At the beginning of the Holocene, an improvement of climatic and humidity conditions led to a fast local expansion of plant communities of the low and transition peat bog type, in the surroundings of shallow, periodically drying-up water pools. From the Middle Pleniglacial up to the present day, the area has been characterized by the presence of species tolerating an increased amount of salt in the environment. Their presence should be associated with natural brine effluences derived from Miocene strata in the bedrock.

11

Interdisciplinary studies at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) in the years 2006-2009: previous discoveries and research, purposes, results and perspectives

Kotarba M. J

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

219-241

EN

The discovery of large Pleistocene mammals in 1907 and 1929 in the Starunia ozokerite mine, about 130 kilometres southeast of Lviv, Ukraine, was a spectacular scientific event on a world scale. A unique combination of brine and oil, into which the animals had sunk, resulted in the near perfect preservation of woolly rhinoceros. In 2004, investigations in Starunia were restarted by Polish and Ukrainian scientists. This issue of Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae contains 18 papers which present the results of field and laboratory studies in the Starunia area completed by Polish scientists in the years 2006-2009. Interdisciplinary studies were realized by eleven thematic working groups on: Quaternary lithology and sedimentology, palaeobotany (palynology and analysis of macrofossils), botany (analysis of halophytes), palaeozoology (malacological analysis), radiocarbon dating, microbiology, surface and near-surface geochemistry, organic geochemistry (bitumen content and its fractions, biomarkers and stable carbon isotopes) and inorganic geochemistry (chloride ion analysis), geoelectric survey (DC resistivity soundings, electromagnetic terrain conductivity measurements, resistivity imaging, penetrometer-based resistivity profiling and azimuthal pole-dipole DC resistivity soundings) and microgravimetric survey. Results of these studies enabled recognition of the geological setting and sedimentary environment of Quaternary sediments, which hosted the Pleistocene fossils, and to determine the most favourable area of about 1,000 square metres for subsequent prospecting for extinct mammals within Pleistocene sediments in Starunia.

12

Electric resistivity and compactness of sediments in the vicinity of boreholes drilled in the years 2007-2008 in the area of Starunia palaeontological site (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Mościcki W. J., Sokołowski T.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

343-355

EN

Geoelectric research aiming to assess heterogeneity of geological environment was carried out in the Starunia area, where the unique specimens of woolly rhinoceros were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. The DC azimuthal pole-dipole resistivity soundings and penetrometer-based resistivity profiling with simultaneous penetration-velocity measurements were used to study variability of environment in the vicinity of geological boreholes. No evident correlation was found between lithology of drilled sediments and geophysical data. Nevertheless, remarkable horizontal and vertical variability of geophysical parameters were observed. The largest horizontal changes may reflect an existence of some sharp boundaries in study area. The measured physical properties of geological strata: electric resistivity and compactness (estimated from penetration velocity) change also with the depth but correlation with geological structure can be found in limited cases only. Registered variability may have originated from several reasons: complex geological arrangement of shallow layers, salty underground water and bitumen presence in voids and pores, influence of neotectonic activity, and/or from transformations of near surface environment caused by past mining activity.

13

Development of relief of the Velyky Lukavets River valley near Starunia palaeontological site (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Sokołowski T.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

243-254

EN

In Quaternary sediments filling the Velyky Lukavets River valley, at the abandoned ozokerite mine (= Ropyshche) in Starunia, perfectly preserved carcasses of large mammals were discovered in the first half of the 20th century. The study area includes a fragment of the valley between Molotkiv and Starunia, and its close vicinity. The area belongs to several morphostructural and geomorphic units of the Outer Eastern Carpathians and the Carpathian Foreland. The asymmetric, subsequent valley is a part of the Mizhbystrytska Upland, where flattened ridges and flat bulges represent fragments of planation surfaces: the upper (the Krasna level), elevated 170 m above the valley bottom and linked with the Late Pliocene, and the lower one (the Loyova level), rising at 100 m and linked with the Eopleistocene. Several flat surfaces are visible on valley slopes, probably representing river terraces formed before the Late Pleistocene. The valley attained its maximum depth during the Eemian Interglacial (OIS 5e). In the Ropyshche area, probably three terrace steps built of Weichselian and Holocene sediments (OIS 5d - 1) were developed, but their top surfaces are almost completely destroyed by mining operations. The recent, meandering river bed follows the zones of decreased cohesiveness of rocks resulting from mining activity and is becoming somewhat deepened during inundations. The transported material is mostly coarse-clastic one. The two latter factors may suggest that the river is underloaded due to declining agriculture and decreasing intensity of outwash. The top surface of the sub-Quaternary basement is deformed by subsidence and collapse of mine workings, but the relief of valley bottom allows for further exploration for remnants of large mammals not only in the Ropyscche area but along the whole studied segment of the valley, as well.

14

Detection of near-surface geological heterogeneity at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) based on microgravity survey

Porzucek S., Madej J.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

365-374

EN

Results of a microgravity survey performed in the abandoned Starunia ozokerite mine (Carpathian region, Ukraine), where in the early 20th century well preserved remains of large, extinct mammals were found, are discussed in the paper. A number of gravity anomalies indicating the geological heterogeneity at the sub-Quaternary strata have been observed. The assumed measurement observations also enabled the authors to interpret the results in view of density changes in the Quaternary strata. Most of the registered microanomalies coincide with the high-halite and ozokeritic Miocene salt-bearing Vorotyshcha beds. The distribution of the microanomalies reveals neither their correlation with the thickness of overburdens, nor any gravity impact of numerous abandoned wells. Gravity anomalies were mostly connected with the lithology of sediments and rocks obtained from geological boreholes drilled in the years 2007 and 2008, on the basis of which the anomalies' origin could be determined. A concentric, relatively negative gravity microanomaly of ca. 25 m in diameter was registered in the place, where very well preserved relics of the woolly rhinoceros had been found. They may be indicative of the existence of Pleistocene lakes (and/or palaeoswamps), into which the woolly rhinoceroses had sunk. Hence, an assumption can be made that the further search for successive zoological relics can be made in areas with similar anomalies under the low-density sub-Quaternary subcrop.

15

Chronostratigraphy and changes of environment of Late Pleistocene and Holocene at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Sokołowski T., Stachowicz-Rybka R.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

315-331

EN

This paper presents the results of absolute dating and biostratigraphical analysis carried out for alluvial sediments of an abandoned Starunia ozokerite mine located in the Velyky Lukavets River valley, in which large mammal remains were discovered in the first half of the 20th century. The sediments build up three terrace levels. The highest one, up to 8 m high (terrace II), is likely to be associated with a stage of aggradation, as well as with a short episode of valley broadening, which occurred in the Weichselian Late Pleniglacial. The lower one, 4 m high (terrace I), is most likely to be linked with the Holocene, despite a considerable transformation of its top due to mining activity. The lower part of this terrace cover bears coarse-grained channel sediments dated to 120.6-58.9 ka BP (Eemian Interglacial?-Early Pleniglacial - OIS 5e, 4 and 3), and overbank (distal floodplain) mud with intercalations of biogenic deposits (peat, peat mud and biogenic mud). The overbank deposits are dated to 48.2-11.11 ka BP (Glinde Interstadial?-Younger Dryas, OIS 3-2) and are overlain by Holocene (OIS 1) mud and biogenic deposits. In boreholes drilled in the vicinity of the present-day river channel, younger sediments occur more frequently. These include sediments originating from the Late Weichselian overlain by Holocene sediments. However, sediments originating exclusively from the Holocene are infrequent. The deposition of sediments took place in specific conditions of a permanent saturation of the environment with brine, petroleum and thickened bitumen. In the longest period of deposition (48.2-1.27 ka BP), ephemeral swamps, ponds and lakes were developed in different parts of the floodplain. They were marked by the presence of: Juncus glaucus/effusus, J. articulatus, Typha sp., Batrachium sp., Potamogeton filliformis, Bidens tripartita, Ranunculus sceleratus and Phragmites communis, as well as by halophytic species, like: Zannichellia palustris, Triglochin maritimum, Schoenoplectus tabernemontani, Puccinelia distans and Eleocharis palustris. Rhythmic oscillations between cold and warm climatic conditions, typical of the Weichselian age and well identified in Western Europe, are here marked by the changes of plant communities (woody assemblages passing into steppe and tundra), but are not noticeably recorded in the sediments of the Velyky Lukavets River. This shows that the greatest part of the discussed period involved the formation of poorly differentiated silty overbank sediments with intercalations of biogenic sediments. However, the variability of sediments provides evidence for extreme events which occurred in the Holocene.

16

Characterization of near-surface sediments based on combined geoelectric studies at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine)

Mościcki W. J.

Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae

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2009

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Vol. 79, No 3

333-342

EN

Combined geoelectric research was performed in the Starunia area, where the specimens of woolly rhinoceros were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. The work included: DC resistivity soundings, electromagnetic terrain conductivity measurements, resistivity imaging and penetrometer-based resistivity profiling. The main purpose of the survey was to give geoelectric characterization of near-to-surface sediments and estimate their variability (extent, thickness and electric resistivity). Generally, resistivity of geological strata is low and decreases with depth but its spatial distribution is locally complex. This complexity reflects joint effects caused by the presence of salty underground water outflows from the salt-bearing Miocene Vorotyshcha beds into the Quaternary sediments, distinct transformations of the geological medium by former ozokerite and oil exploitation and current activity of the natural geological processes in the area.

17

Skład i geneza węglowodorów nasycających szczątki nosorożca włochatego ze Staruni (Karpaty Ukraińskie)

Kotarba M. J.

Przegląd Geologiczny

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2002

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Vol. 50, nr 6

531-534

PL

Porównanie dystrybucji biomarkerów i składu trwałych izotopów węgla ropy naftowej z wycieku powierzchniowego z okolic Staruni (Karpaty Ukraińskie) i bituminów ekstrahowanych z fragmentu kręgu kręgosłupa nosorożca włochatego znalezionego w utworach dyluwialnych w tej miejscowości w 1929 r. wykazało ich bliskie powinowactwo genetyczne. Badana ropa i bituminy najprawdopodobniej pochodzą z lądowej (jeziornej) substancja algowej (kerogen typu III/II) i zostały z niej wytworzone w środkowej fazie niskotemperaturowych procesów termogenicznych na poziomie przeobrażenia ok. 0,7% w skali refleksyjności witrynitu. Ropa ta różni się genetycznie od typowej ropy wytworzonej z oligoceńskiej formacji menilitowej. Dominacja żywic i asfaltenów w składzie bituminów nasycających szkielet nosorożca włochatego świadczy o jego dużej mocy sorpcyjnej dla tych polarnych związków wielkocząsteczkowych. Nieco mniejsza zawartość tych związków w składzie ekstraktu z przemycia kręgów kręgosłupa nosorożca włochatego wskazuje, że bituminy nasycające tkanki miękkie są złożone głównie z węglowodorów nasyconych i aromatycznych, które ulegały sorpcji w znacznie mniejszym stopniu. Można więc stwierdzić, że ropa naftowa występująca w strefie przypowierzchniowej w okolicach Staruni, a głównie węglowodory nasycone i aromatyczne, stanowiła zasadniczą substancję konserwującą zwłoki tego zwierzęcia, które zaraz po śmierci musiały znaleźć się w środowisku ilastym (bagna, moczary) przesyconym ropą naftową i solanką.

EN

Comparison ofbiomarker distribution and stable carbon isotope composition of oil from surface seepage in the vicinity of Starunia (the Ukrainian Carpathians), and bitumens extracted from the vertebra of a woolly rhinoceros discovered in 1929 in Late Pleistocene sediments from Starunia demonstrated their close genetic link. The studied oil and bitumens originated presumably from the terrestrial (lacustrine), algal organic matter (oil-prone, mixed type III/II kerogen) and were generated in the middle phase of the low-temperature thermogenic processes, at a maturity level about 0.7% in vitrinite reflectance scale. The studied oil differs genetically from oils generated from the Oligocene Menilite formation. The predominance of resins and asphaltenes in the composition of extract derived from the bitumens saturating the skeleton of woolly rhinoceros indicates high sorption capacity of these polar, macromolecular components. The somewhat lower content of these compounds in extract obtained from eluation of the vertebrae of woolly rhinoceros indicates that bitumens saturating the soft tissue are composed mainly of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. It can be concluded that oil occurring in the near-surface zone of the Starunia area (mainly saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons) was a principal substance preserving the body of woolly rhinoceros. After the animal had died, its carcass had to be embedded immediately in swamp clayey sediments saturated with oil and brine.