Nival-corrosive wells of the southern Cis-Ural (features of distribution and formation)

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Abstract

It has been established that two main genetic types of wells are common in the region: karst-gravitational and nival-corrosive. The first ones are widely spread karst sinkholes, the second ones are rare negative landforms formed as a result of nival corrosion caused by snow melt water. The nival-corrosive wells are formed in gypsum of the Kungurian Stage of the Cisuralian Series of the Permian system in conditions of open (bare or Mediterranean) karst. The maximum distribution of such wells was recorded in two areas of karst gypsum outcrop in the watershed areas: Aurgazinsky – on the Pribelsk rolling and wavy plain and Seleuksky – in the western hilly foothills of the Southern Urals. In these areas, wells form karst fields. The density of wells per 1 km2 in such fields reaches 5 thousand. This is the highest occurrence of surface karst in the Southern Cis-Ural region. In the rest of the region, nival-corrosive wells are distributed singly and do not form karst fields, but they are also formed in places of karst gypsum outcrops on the surface of watershed spaces. The uniform morphology and morphometry of wells has been recorded everywhere, and their uniform confinedness to certain relief features has been established. With the general conditionally cylindrical shape of the wells, their average diameter is 5 m, and their depth is 10 m. Everywhere wells are formed in the valley-side flattened parts of the watershed spaces that abruptly adjoin steep slopes of river valleys. The determining factor in the formation of wells in different parts of the region are similar geological and geomorphological conditions of their places of distribution – the similar lithotype of karst gypsum outcroped on flat or slightly inclined surfaces of watersheds. The proposed mechanism for the formation of wells, caused by the activity of meteoric (mainly snow) waters, is given.

About the authors

A. I. Smirnov

Institute of Geology, UB RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: smalil@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Ufa

References

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2. Fig. 1. Karst dip 0.9 km north-west of Kigazytamakovo village (Mishkinsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). A closed type of karst. Date of formation: 03 May 2023. Photo of the Main Directorate of the Emergencies Ministry for the Republic of Bashkortostan.

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3. Fig. 2. Karst dip 0.17 km south-east of Novominzitarovo village (Blagoveshchensky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). An overlapped type of karst. Date of formation: 26 October 2023. Photo by A.A. Khayrullina.

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4. Fig. 3. Akhmerovsky dip 0.8 km north-east of Akhmerovo village (Aurgazinsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). In the southern side of the dip there is an entrance to the gypsum cave Vertoletnaya with a total length of 1872 m of passages (Sokolov, 2024). Photo by V.L. Mashin.

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5. Fig. 4. Karst types of the Southern Urals and Cis-Urals by (Smirnov, 2023). Karst country of the East European Plain (I): I-A – plain karst in horizontally and hollowly bedded rocks of the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains; I-Б – plain and foothill karst of the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains in hollowly bedded and weakly dislocated rocks. Ural karst country (II): II-A – mountainous and foothill karst in strongly dislocated formations of the Urals; II-Б – plain karst in folded clastic deposits of the Trans-Urals. Types of karsts by the composition of karst rocks: 1 – sulfate, 2 – carbonate, 3 – sulfate-carbonate, 4 – clastokarst, 5 – territories with no karst occurrences. Local manifestations of traditional types of karsts: 6 – sulfate karst, 7 – carbonate karst, 8 – clastokarst. Manifestations of non-traditional types of karsts: 9 – sulfide, 10 – salt, 11 – calcareous tuff, 12 – in marbles, 13 – contemporary karst dips with fixed time of formation. Nival-corrosive wells: 14 – areas with area distribution of wells (karst fields): A – Aurgazinsky, Б – Seleuksky; 15 – local (single) distribution of wells. Borders: 16 – karst countries, 17 – karst types by the character of relief and conditions of rock occurrence, 18 – subjects of the Russian Federation.

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6. Fig. 4. Karst types of the Southern Urals and Cis-Urals by (Smirnov, 2023). Karst country of the East European Plain (I): I-A – plain karst in horizontally and hollowly bedded rocks of the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains; I-Б – plain and foothill karst of the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains in hollowly bedded and weakly dislocated rocks. Ural karst country (II): II-A – mountainous and foothill karst in strongly dislocated formations of the Urals; II-Б – plain karst in folded clastic deposits of the Trans-Urals. Types of karsts by the composition of karst rocks: 1 – sulfate, 2 – carbonate, 3 – sulfate-carbonate, 4 – clastokarst, 5 – territories with no karst occurrences. Local manifestations of traditional types of karsts: 6 – sulfate karst, 7 – carbonate karst, 8 – clastokarst. Manifestations of non-traditional types of karsts: 9 – sulfide, 10 – salt, 11 – calcareous tuff, 12 – in marbles, 13 – contemporary karst dips with fixed time of formation. Nival-corrosive wells: 14 – areas with area distribution of wells (karst fields): A – Aurgazinsky, Б – Seleuksky; 15 – local (single) distribution of wells. Borders: 16 – karst countries, 17 – karst types by the character of relief and conditions of rock occurrence, 18 – subjects of the Russian Federation.

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7. Fig. 6. Longitudinal section of the right slope of the Aurgazy river valley along the А–Б line in fig. 5. Photo by V.L. Mashin. (а) – karst field of wells in early winter (November 2021) opposite the village of Staroabsolyamovo; (б) – karst field of wells in late fall (October 2021) opposite Sultanmuratovo village; (в) – nival-corrosive well opposite Sultunmuratovo village. 1 – alluvium of the first supra-floodplain terrace (loams, sandy loams, sands); 2 – Kungurian stage (gypsums); 3 – marl interlayers; 4 – wells; 5 – spring.

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8. Fig. 7. Transverse section of the right slope of the Aurgazy river valley along the В–Г line in fig. 5. Photo by V.L. Mashin. 1 – alluvium of the first supra-flood terrace (loams, sandy loams, sands); 2 – Ufa Stage (thin interlacing of mudstones, siltstones, sandstones, limestones, marls); 3 – Kungur Stage (gypsums); 4 – marl interlayer (marking horizon); 5 – bedding of rocks; 6 – wells.

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9. Fig. 8. Nival-corrosive wells at the Aurgazinskiy area: (а) and (б) – karst fields of wells, (в) and (г) – shape of wells. Photo by V.L. Mashin.

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10. Fig. 9. Karst map of the Seleuksky area (by Smirnov, Sokolov, 2021). Photo by V.L. Mashin. Types of sulfate karst according to the degree of overlap of karsted gypsum with non-karsted rocks: overlapped (suballuvial or Kama) in the bottom of the Seleuk River valley within the limits of: 1 – floodplain and first supra-floodplain terrace (Holocene and Upper Pleistocene), 2 – second supra-floodplain terrace (Upper and Middle Pleistocene), 3 – third supra-floodplain terrace (Middle Pleistocene); 4 – open (bare or Mediterranean) karst with areas of covered karst in the conditions of gypsums of the Kungurian stage reaching the surface or covered by a low thickness (not more than 3 m) cover of eluvial-deluvial Quaternary sediments. Surface manifestations of karst: 5 – karst field of sinkholes and wells, fraction in the field contours: numerator – number of sinkholes and wells (pcs.), denominator – their average diameter (m); 6 – karst field of nival-corrosive wells, fraction in the field contours: numerator – number of wells (pcs.), denominator – average diameter of wells (m); 7 – separate karst sinkholes; 8 – Isheevskaya cave system; 9 – water and water absorbing objects (a – spring, б – ponor); 10 – thalweg of erosion-karst log; 11 –marks of absolute heights (m); 12 – traverse А–Б line.

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11. Fig. 10. Longitudinal section of the right slope of the Seleuk River valley along the А–Б line (by Smirnov, Sokolov, 2021). Photo by A.I. Smirnov (1), photo by V.L. Mashin (2). 1 – alluvium of the first supra-floodplain terrace (loams, sandy loams, sands); 2 – Kungurian stage (gypsums); 3 – marl interlayers; 4 – spring.

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12. Fig. 11. Nival-corrosive wells in the near-bottom part of the watershed along the right bank of the Seleuk River opposite Isheevo village. Photo by A.I. Smirnov. (а) – karst field of wells; (б) and (в) – isthmuses between neighboring wells; (г), (д), (е), (ж) – corrosion troughs in the sides of wells with different cross-section.

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13. Fig. 12. A well in the valley of the Berdyashka River (Ishimbaysky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). Photo by A.I. Smirnov.

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14. Fig. 13. A well on the Ufa-Sim interfluve in the radical bend of the Belaya River (Iglinsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). Photo by V.L. Mashin.

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15. Fig. 14. A field of wells on the Aurgazinsk area. Karst well field: (а) – October 2022, (б) – March 2023; (в) and (г) – wells with snow in the sides and bottom in March 2023. Photo by V.L. Mashin (all photos are oriented from south to north).

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