On geomorphic control of the location of mineral deposits of the Ukrainian shield weathering crust

Abstract

The location of the Late Mesozoic crust of weathering and hypergene minerals associated therewith on the Ukrainian shield was controlled by geotectonic and geomorphic factors, The hypsometric position and topography had an indirect and direct influence on the formation of the weathering crust, its profile, on the intensity of hypergene processes, on the degree of erosion of the crust and preservation of metalbearing deposits etc. The shield was subdivided into four morphostructural regions: Volyno-Podolsk, Central, Dnieper and Azov ones, which correspond to the main hypsometric levels. They are essentially different in the character of the basement topography, in the occurrence of the ancient crust, in the mineral complexes. The consideration of geomorphic factors is of the first rate importance for the exploration work on the minerals of the ancient crust of weathering.