Ancient karst of the Karelia-Kola region

Abstract

The paper summarizes rather scarce data on ancient karst of the Karelia-Kola folded region. Two morphological types of karst are described here: swallow holes and linear cavities. Karts landforms began to develop during the Mesozoic-Paleogene epoch of crust formation, when tectonic and climatic conditions were favourable for active dissolution of carbonates. The cavities were infilled mainly during periods of tectonic reactivation (Oligocene, Pliocene, Late Pleistocene). The ancient karst is an important geomorphic pre-requisite of placers' formation.