Geologicheskii Vestnik

The “Toratau” geopark is supposed to be created in the Gafuriysky, Ishimbaysky and Sterlitamaksky municipal districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan territorially covers boundary parts of the karst country of the East European Plain and the Ural karst country where the fl at sulphatic and mountain carbonate karst are respectively developed. On the territory of the geopark, all the main types of karst are developed, depending on the nature of the relief and conditions of their occurrence, the nature and degree of covering of karst rocks by not karstifying; almost all known forms of karst manifestation are represented. Here the largest cave of the Ural region in limestones — a cave Kinderlinskaya named after 30-th anniversary of the Victory. and the second longest cave system of Bashkortostan in gypsum — Isheevskaya, are located; and also high-output karst springs of South Ural — Berkhamout and Asken-Kul. In the territory of the geopark there are karst bridges and the disappearing rivers which were also rare in South Ural. The streams and the rivers vanishing in the ponors of karst funnels appear in their courses in the form of high-output springs in 2–3 km below the places of their absorption. It has been established that the main feature of the development of lowland sulfate karst is the predominance of its surface manifestations over underground ones, while mountain carbonate karst is characterized by a wider distribution of karst caves and high debit springs. The character of distribution of karst occurrences is determined by a composition and condition of karst rocks, their degree of exposure and the nature of covering of karst rocks by non-karst rocks, predetermined by the course of relief formation in recent times. The karst does not make essential negative impact on social and economic objects of the geopark, whereas fractured-karst waters are important for water supply of the population, and the high karst and speleological capacity of the geopark with existence of unique caves and other karst objects predetermines prospects for the organization on their base of touristic sites for mass, scientifi c and sports visits. Further researches of a karst and caves have to be directed to specifi cation of spatial regularities of their development, determination of modern activity of development of a karst, complex study of karst caves and, fi rst of all, determination of age of stages of their development for the purpose of reconstruction of history of formation of manifestation of underground karst forms in the modern and latest time.

geopark, sulfate karst, carbonate karst, karst country of the East European Plain, Ural karst country, karst springs, ponors, Kinderlinskaya cave named after 30-th anniversary of the Victory, Isheevskaya karst system

• Abdrakhmanov R.F., Popov V.G. Svyaz’ karsta s neogenovymi dolinami sistemy Paleo-Beloi v Yuzhnom Predural’e [Communication of a karst with neogene valleys of a system by Paleo-Belaya in the Southern Cis-Urals] // Geomorphology. 2017. No. 3. P. 48–58. doi.org/10.7868/S0435428117030051. (In Russian).
• Kostarev V.P. Osobennosti opredeleniya kolichestvennykh pokazatelei karsta pri inzhenerno-geologicheskikh izyskaniyakh [Features of defi nition of quantitative indices of a karst at engineering-geological izyskakniya] // Karst Srednei Azii i gor nykh stran. Tez. dokl. vsesoyuz. nauch.-tekhn. soveshch. 9–11 okt. [The Karst of Central Asia and highlands. Thes. of reports of the All-Union scientifi c and technical conf. October 9–11]. Tashkent, 1979. P. 75–86. (In Russian).
• Lepyokhin I.I. Prodolzhenie Dnevnykh zapisok puteshestviya akademika i meditsiny doktora Ivana Lepekhina po raznym provintsiyam Rossiiskogo gosudarstva v 1770 godu. Ch. 2 [Continuation of Day notes of a travel of the academician and medicine doctor Ivan Lepyokhin on different provinces of the Russian state in 1770. Part 2]. Sankt Petersburg, 1772. 359 p. (In Russian).
• Maksimovich G.A. Osnovy karstovedeniya. T. 1 [Karstovedeniye bases. Vol. 1]. Perm, 1963. 444 p. (In Russian).
• Martin V.I. Karstovye vody kak istochnik vodosnabzheniya [Karst waters as water supply source] // Abdrakhmanov R.F. et al. Karst Bashkortostana [Karst of Bashkortostan]. Ufa, 2002. P. 285–292. (In Russian).
• Martin V.I., Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Yu.V. Peshchery Bashkirii [Caves of Bashkiria] // Peshchery, itogi issledovanii [Caves, results of researches]. Perm, 1993. P. 30–59. (In Russian).
• Shakir Yu.A. with the assistance of Kiselyov V.E., Klimchuk A.B., Kuznetsov V.S., Malkov V.N., Nemchenko T.A., Sokolov Yu.V. Perechen' klassifi tsirovannykh peshcher. Utv. post. prezid. Vsesoyuz. federatsii turizma ot 25 iyunya 1988 goda № 6–12 [The list of the classifi ed caves. Approved by the decree of the Presidium of the All-Union Federation of tourism of June 25, 1988 No. 6–12]. M.: Commission of speleology and karstovedeniye of the RGO Moscow center. 1989. 14 p. (In Russian).
• Sheko A.I., Lekhatinov A.M., Maximov M.M. Kolichestvennaya otsenka intensivnosti proyavleniya ekzogennykh geol ogicheskikh protsessov pri inzh.-geol. s»emke [Quantitative assessment of intensity of manifestation of exogenous geological processes at engineering-geological to shooting]. Trudy VSEGINGEO. 1971. Is. 3. P. 89–95. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I. Tipy karsta i sovremennaya aktivnost' ego razvitiya na Yuzhnom Urale i v Predural'e [Types of a karst and modern activity of its development in South Ural and in the Cis-Urals] // Karstovedenie – XXI vek: teoreticheskoe i prakticheskoe znachenie: Mat-ly mezhdunar. simpoziuma [Karstovedeniye – the 21st century: theoretical and practical value: Materials international Symposium]. Perm, 2004. P. 90–94. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I. Anomal'no krupnye karstovye provaly Yuzh nogo Urala i Predural'ya [Abnormally large karst failures of South Ural and Cis-Urals] // Geological collection No. 10 / IG USC RAS Ufa, 2013. P. 50–56. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I. Otsenka karstovoi opasnosti Yuzhnogo Urala i Predural’ya. Ekologicheskaya bezopasnost’ i stroitel’stvo v kar stovykh raionakh [Assessment of karst danger of South Ural and Cis-Urals. Environmental safety and construction in karst regions] // Materials of the international symposium, Russia, Perm, on May 26–29. Perm, 2015. P. 194–198. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I. Karta sul'fatnogo karsta Yuzhnogo Predural'ya (soderzhanie, printsipy i metodika postroeniya) [Card of a sul phatic karst of the Southern Cis-Urals (contents, principles and technique of construction)] // Engineering geology. 2018. Vol. 13, No. 1–2. P. 86–94. doi.org/10.25296/1993-5056-2018-13-1-2-86-94. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Yu.V. Peshchery gornoi chasti Bashkirii (Yuzhnyi Ural) [Caves of a mountain part of Bashkiria (South Ural)]: Prepr. / BNC UB RAS. Ufa, 1993. 54 p. (In Russian).
• Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Yu.V. Karstovye peshchery Yuzhnogo Urala i Predural'ya i ih prakticheskoe ispol'zovanie [Karst caves of South Ural and Cis-Urals and their practical use] // Geologiya, poleznye iskopaemye i problemy geoekologii Bashkortostana, Urala i sopredel'nyh territorii: Mat-ly 11-oi mezhregion. nauch.-prakt. konf. [Geology, minerals and problems of geoecology of Bashkortostan, Urals and adjacent territories: Materials 11-th interregional scientifi c and practical conf/]. Ufa: DesignPress, 2016. P. 244–246. (In Russian).
• Sokolov Yu.V. Peshchery Respubliki Bashkortostan i speleoturizm [Caves of the Republic of Bashkortostan and spelunking] // Herald of the Academy of Sciences of the RB. 2009. Vol. 14, No. 4. P. 80–83. (In Russian).
• Sokolov Yu.V., Smirnov A.I. Novyi speleologicheskii pamyatnik prirody Respubliki Bashkortostan «Peshchernaya sistema Kinderlinskaya – Ledneva – Oktyabr’skaya” [New speleological nature sanctuary of the Republic of Bashkortostan “Cave Kinder linskaya – Lednev – Oktyabrskaya system”] // Gidrogeologiya i karstovedenie: mezhvuz. sb. nauch. tr. [Hy drogeology and karstology: interuniversity collection of scientifi c papers] / Perm state un-t. Perm, 2013. Is. 19. P. 225–230. (In Russian).