Aral Formation

Aral Fm

Period:

Neogene

Age Interval:

Lower Miocene, U1

Province:
Ustyurt-Sultanuzdag

Type Locality and Naming

Along the Aral Sea, Kazakhstan. G.N. Mikhailovsky, 1909 (309, p.58). Lectostratotype in the Kintykscha area (Kazakhstan).

Synonym: Aral Suite, Аральская св.

Lithology and Thickness

Gray-green carbonate clays with layers of marls, sands, brownish-gray clays with layers of mottled clays, interbedding of clays, siltstones (aleurolites), and sands. Thickness up to 35 m.

Lithology Pattern:

Continental marl

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Conformably overlies, locally with erosion on the Oligocene

Upper contact

With erosion overlain by the deposits of the Kotsakhur regional stage.

Regional extent

Developed on the Ustyurt Plateau, north of the Aktumsyk Cape, more widely in Kazakhstan. In the Kyzylkum, the Aral Fm corresponds to the upper lower Miocene part of the Sarbatsky Fm, in Fergana to the upper part of the Sumsar Fm, in South-Eastern Gissar to the Kyzylchin Fm.

GeoJSON

null

Fossils

Contains mollusks - Corbula helmerseni Mikh., Nodularia akbaurensis Maderny, Viviparus turanicus Maderny, Gyraulus andrussovi A.A.-Z. et Kab., Sinotaia ex gr. altaica S. Pop. et Star., Galba spironana Tolstik., mammal bones - Aceratherium aralense Boriss., Paraceratherium prochorovi Boriss., Palaeoscaptor acridens Matthew. et Grand., Aprotodon borissiaki Bel.; ostracods - Ilyocipris bradyi Sars., I. mamaensis Mandelst., Cardona merita Bodina.; plant imprints - Pseudolarix sp., Phragmites aeningensis A. Br., Carya cordioides Ilyinskaja.

Age

lower Miocene - Caucasus, Sakaraul (454).

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Aquitanian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

23.04

Ending stage:

Burdigalian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

15.99

Depositional setting

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

B.I. Pinhasov – In: GeoGPT translation of: “Abduazimova, Z.M. (Ed.), 2001. Stratigraphic Dictionary of Uzbekistan. IMR (Institute of Mineral Resources), Tashkent, 580 pp. (In Russian)”