Stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Deposits of the Kutaisi Region

Annotation The introduction of the Master’s Thesis (“Stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Deposits of the Kutaisi Region”) consists of the brief review of the region’s geomorphology and hydrography, which is followed by the study history of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous deposits of the thesis target area. In the first part of the thesis issues of geotectonic setting and structural construction of the study region are discussed. The next chapter (Chapter 2) is one of the key parts of the thesis, where litho-biostratigraphic items of the Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous sediments are reviewed. The Lower Cretaceous deposits’ biostratigraphy is introduced especially in details with a special emphasis on the revealing of transgressive-regressive depositional cycles (systems tracts). Establishing of the stratigraphic range of such cycles is possible using the biostratigraphic method. In the final part of the thesis (Chapter 3) spatial and temporal analysis of facial variability within the study area are introduced and key issues of late Jurassic-early Cretaceous history of geological development of the region are highlighted. In the special chapter (Chapter 4) descriptions of the fossil fauna collected by the author during the field work are represented.

Lecture files: