THE LATE OLIGOCENE OF BYELARUS

The upper Oligocene continental deposits are widespread in the souther n Belarus. They are represented by the liman-deltaic sand and clay bed s of the Starodubka Formation associated with monomineral lacustrine q uartz sands, alluvial sediments of the Krupeiki Formation, and coeval brown coal deposits in karst depressions, which are accumulated after the Kharkov sea regression. Mineralogical and geochemical study of the se deposits in the stratotype areas elucidated their genesis and provi ded grounds for the lithostratigraphic subdivision of their upper Olig ocene interval. Eight spore-pollen assemblages of this interval were u nraveled from seven section and supplemented with paleocarpological da ta obtained from 20 section representing eight groups of localities. T he spore-pollen diagram from Well 3 near the village of Smolyarka is m ost complete and used to study for the first time the Oligocene-Miocen e boundary floras correlative with floral assemblages known in Poland and Germany.