«Chornaya Gora». The exfoliation of the Volcanic Rocks. The Botanical Reserve.

"Chornaya Gora" (eng: Black Mountain; 565 m above sea level) is above the city Vinogradov. It is formerly an active volcano, which belongs to Vihorlat–Gutynskyj mountains volcanic ridge that begins near mount Vihorlat (the words: Vihorlat, ukr. Вигорлят, alt: Vygorlat). It is located in the eastern part of Slovakia and Ukraine. The highest point is 1076 m above sea level. The total length of the ridge on the territory of Ukraine is 125 km and the width is 8-20 km. The valleys of the tributaries of the rivers such as Tisa, Uzh, Latoritca, Borzhava and Rika divide a ridge into such parts: Makovytsya, Synyak, Velykyj Dyl, Tupoj and others. The middle height is 800-1000 m. The maximum is 1081 m, it is Mount Buzhora. The mountain system consists of volcanic rocks: andesite, basalt, tuffs. It is covered with oak, oak-hornbeam and beech forests. There are two reserves "Zacharovana dolyna" (Enchanted Valley) and “Chornaya Gora" (Black Mountain).

"Chornaya Gora" (Black Mountain) which is also called "castle mountain" is situated over the castle "Kankov" in Vinogradov. From the side of the village Malaya Kopanya there is a small lounge area with a lake and a quarry, where the red clay was mined. From the side of Tisa River the Black Mountain area is represented with exfoliation of the volcanic rocks and deep lake. In the center of the territory (the mountain and its spurs) botanical reserve is located with the same name.

The Reserve covers an area of 747 hectares and is located in a fairly warm climate zone (annual temperature is 9.9 C degrees, the average annual number of rainfall is 780 mm). The geological framework is created by andesites, liparites and tuffs, where the brown soils have been formed. The best vegetation is on the top of the mountain “Chornaya Gora" and on its rocky slopes. The main trees are oak and beech. The oaks are rocky oaks. Sometimes you can see the “European Bereka” (lat. Sorbus torminalis), the Russian name is “Ryabina Glogovina” and silver lindens (lat. Tilia argentum or Tilia argenteum). There is a white ash (lat. Fraxinus ornus). The shrub layer consists of common privet (lat: Ligustrum vulgare), the European spindle tree (lat: Euonymus europaea), hawthorn odnopestichnyj (lat: Crataegus monogyna), cornel (Lat: Cornus mas) and forest (wild) grape (lat: Vitis sylvestris). Mountain shrub layer consists of (steppe) cherries (lat: Cerasus fruticosa), rhineberry (lat: Rhamnus cathartica), klekachkoy cirrus (lat: Staphylea pinnata), Austrian rakytnyk (Latin: Cytisus austriacus) and many other species.

In the center of the territory there is an abandoned quarry, where the red clay was mined for the needs of the brick factories. Look how nice looks like its exits to the surface.



In the middle of the territory there are even a few small lakes. The water there is of corresponding color.



And there are the traces of the local fauna. There was a wild goat (or a deer).



Now back to the volcanic rocks and their exfoliation. You can see a large rock massif on the bank of Tisa, in the middle of the road from the village Vinogradovo to the village Korovevo, on the left and above the river. It is the exfoliation of the volcanic rocks "Chornaya Gora" ("Black Mountain"). The length of the rock is about 500 meters. The height sometimes reaches hundreds of meters. The exfoliation was cleared further during the work of the quarry. On the territory there is the exfoliation of the andesites, which are 10 million years. They formed a neck of the volcano. Many years ago, the volcanic-tectonic mountain "Chornaya Gora" ("Black Mountain") was like an island in the middle of the lake-sea basin, it covers an area of this part of Transcarpathia. The depth of the lake in some places reached several hundred meters. Now this hill is preserved in the form of the mountain due to resistance of the volcanic rocks from which it is consist of. The exfoliation of the volcanic rocks is considered an ideal process to study the formation of the volcano in the Carpathians.



Nowadays, there is a small lake with fresh water under the rock formations, formed after the flooding of the quarry and used as a recreation area for residents of the village Vinogradov and other ones. The chalet is built next to the recreation area. The right bank of the river Tisa is in 100 meters from the lake.

06.09.2010. 09:02

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