PALEONTOLOGICAL FINDINGS ON THE TERRITORY OF “ZNESINNIA” PARK (LVIV, WESTERN UKRAINE)

Abstract

Regional Landscape Park “Znesinnia”, located almost in the center of Lviv, is an extremely interesting and unique place for both geotourism and geological research. On the territory of the park there are outcrops of Cretaceous and Neogene systems, which contain numerous remains of paleoorganisms. Field surveys of outcrops and remains of ancient organisms in the “Znesinnia” Park were carried out in seven locations. Numerous fossils of various origins were discovered. These are ichnofossils (kidneys of burrowing animals); zoofossils (skeletons, prints of skeletons, cores of molluscs, brachiopods, echinoderms); phytofossils (fossilized colonies of lithotamnium algae, prints of the stems of terrestrial plants); microfossils – foraminifera. Remains of marine inhabitants prevail. There are algae and molluscs, sometimes brachiopods; other types of fossils are rare. The peculiarities of the fossils’ spreading and the general paleontological characteristics of the Cretaceous and Neogene deposits of the park are given at first. The distribution of paleontological remains in the section is uneven. They are concentrated on four stratigraphic levels (one is Cretaceous, three are defined in the Neogene: in the Baraniv, Narayv, and Ternopil layers). The composition of the biota of each of the described levels is determined, images of some paleontological finds of different stratigraphic levels are given. Such studies are important for restoring the geological history of the Earth, solving applied geological problems, have scientific and cognitive significance and can become an interesting object of geotourism. They will contribute to the popularization of paleontological knowledge, the growth of interest in the history of life on Earth, and the preservation of the geological heritage of Znesinia Park from destruction and vandalism.