Geology, geography and global energy

Scientific and Technical Journal

KARST SINKHOLES IN LAKE INDER AREA

2020. №4, pp. 105-111

Golovachev Ilya V. - Astrakhan State University, bask_speleo@mail.ru

Kuznetsova Marina A. - St. Petersburg State University, kuz.m.1998@mail.ru

The article gives a brief description of several karst sinkholes discovered and investigated on the northern shore of Lake Inder (Atyrau region, Kazakhstan) during research expeditions organized by members of the speleology and karst section of the Astrakhan branch of Russian Geographical Society. Sulfate karst in this area is due to the outcropping of ancient sedimentary rocks of the Late Paleozoic age, raised to the day surface as a result of salt tectogenesis and composing the upper part of the cover of the salt dome massif. Modern karst processes in the area of Lake Inder continue for about 40 thousand years, after the end of the early Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian. The karst topography of the region is unstable and characterized by activity. The activity of fracturing development is influenced by various natural and anthropogenic factors. The Inder karst region is promising for further karstological research.

Key words: gypsum keprok, salt domes, sulphatic karst, collapsed sinkholes, karst failures, suffusion-karst sinkholes, karst relief, Lake Inder, Northern Caspian Sea

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