Sukil River valley — a natural geological laboratory

We present a number of geological objects located along the valley of the Sukil River, which flows within the Ivano-Frankivsk Region in the west of Ukraine. The river crosses a number of structures of the Skyba nappe and the Inner unit of the Ukrainian Carpathian foredeep, which belong to the orogen of the Outer Ukrainian Carpathians. The Outer Ukrainian Carpathians were formed as a result of alpine tectogenesis. They are composed mainly of flysch deposited in Cretaceous-Neogene basins. The foredeep is filled with sediments known as molasses.

The research objects allow to study many aspects of geology —sedimentation, fold formation, fault formation, formation of mountain systems.

Many objects in the Sukil River valley are currently being studied using the latest technologies — digital photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning  to create virtual geological outcrops.

Unique samples of Oligocene fish remnants collected during field research are stored in the Natural History Museum of the Precarpathian Professional College of Forestry and Tourism in Bolekhiv which is located on the Sukil River. Here there are also great druses of gypsum from a local quarry. In the same town are the remains of a saltworks which was one of the oldest in the region.

Objects located in the Sukil River valley have not only scientific but also aesthetic significance. The folds from Bukivets are the object of the international geotourism route "Geocarpathians".