Reference section of Neogene-Quarternary deposits in the Uimon Basin (Gorny Altai)

An extraordinary-thick (400 m) section of the Neogene-Quaternary deposits is for the first time exposed by well No. 1 in the central Uimon Basin. The Miocene-Pliocene lacustrine Tueryk Formation is recognized at the base of the continuous section, verified by new paleontological data (ostracods, spores, and pollen). As assumed, overlaying deposits are represented by the Lower Pleistocene lacustrine-alluvial Beken Formation, Middle Pleistocene alluvial-proluvial Bashkaus Formation, undifferentiated Middle Pleistocene glacial, fluvioglacial, and alluvial deposits, and Upper Pleistocene lacustrine-glacial deposits. The data obtained from the core of well No. 1 undisputably demonstrate that the Uimon Basin had been developed prior the beginning of the Miocene Epoch, when it was characterized by accumulation of the lacustrine Tueryk Formation, incompletely exposed within the studied section. The presence of thick unexposed lower-Ohm interval of sedimentary filling of the basin suggests that the Uimon Basin was developed as early as the Paleogene. Therefore, the tectonic evolution and sedimentation history of the basin are assumed to have features similar to those of the Chuya and Kurai Basins of Gorny Altai.