Geology, relief and minerals of the Moscow region are based on the fact that the main forms of this area formed at the neotectonic stage. Moscow region in its relief components is heterogeneous. Significant dissection prevails in the north-west and north, approximately as in the Southern Urals, while this indicator is smaller in the south-west, and rivers are less “cut into” flattened lowlands.
In the Moscow region, from the south-west to north-east stretches the eastern edge of the Oksko-Moscow Upland, which then goes into the Moscow-Oksky watershed (with the adjacent Teplostan Upland) and the Klinsko-Dmitrov Ridge. The relief here is represented mainly by hilly terrain turning into lowlands. The highest point in the Moscow region is located near the Mozhaisk reservoir, and its height is 310 meters.
The terrain repeats the underground structure
Moscow region with its relief is closely connected with the tectonic structure. Here, a decrease in the terrain from the southeast to the northwest is observed, repeating the dynamics of geological layers that lie almost horizontally and do not belong to the category of tectonic structures. Therefore, the Moscow region as a whole refers to the plains, which have a small probability of earthquakes.
The rocks of the region are composed mainly of sand and clay
What kind of minerals could be formed under such conditions? The relief of the territory of the Moscow region indicates that the region was almost completely under the glacier during the last glaciation. At the same time, ice left about 70-100 thousand years ago from most of this area, and only 10 thousand years ago from the north-west of the region. The region "stands" partly on the site of the ancient earth's crust (Archean-Proterozoic period), and the platform itself has a two-layer structure. The lower layer, the "foundation", consists of gneisses, granites, migmatites.
Over millions of years, a “cover” has formed over it, which reaches a value of 1 to 3 km, and consists in the lower structural layer of petrified, dense clay, siltstones, on average of limestone, clay, dolomite, in the upper - from clastic deposits, represented by sands and clays.
Mining operations: Moscow region is not the richest place
The Moscow region is also known for the fact that there are no deposits of a number of geological systems. For example, only the Cambrian, Devonian, and Carboniferous deposits were found from the Paleozoic era, evidence of the Jurassic and Cretaceous is present from the Mesozoic era, while there are no traces of the Triassic, and no remains from the Paleogene are found in the Kayonozoic (Neogene and Quaternary are present). Therefore, the mineral resources of the Moscow region cannot be rich and diverse from a geological point of view. Nevertheless, they are and are successfully mined.
Peat leads in stocks
In total, about eight hundred places are known in the region where "accumulations of past eras" are extracted to the surface and processed. First of all (in terms of use and reserves) - this is peat, whose deposits with a total number of about 1700 were identified mainly in the Dmitrovsky and Mytishchi district, as well as near Mytishchi. Peat is a combustible material, which is formed from the remnants of mosses in the conditions of swamps (this is where the lowlands of the Moscow Region "came in handy"). Vegetation in the conditions of swamps does not decompose completely, which makes it possible to obtain a substance half composed of carbon, which gives a calorific value of 24 MJ per kilogram, and can be used as fertilizer, thermal insulation, etc.
Such minerals of the Moscow Region as peat are extracted mainly by the milling method (corrugations are cut parallel to the surface of the earth and are dried). Another method - excavation - is used less often. Russia ranks second in terms of peatland reserves (150 million tons), which, moreover, can be renewed (about 260 million tons per year), so the industry has certain prospects.
Sand for construction
Another mineral of the Moscow Region is sand (gravel and sand materials), which no construction process can do without. Fossil materials in the suburbs are mined in natural and artificial quarries, receiving washed or river sand of high quality and quarry sand in its pure form. The latter contains many impurities in the form of organic matter, clay, dust, grains of quartz, therefore it is used for road construction, etc. Washed and river sand with fewer foreign elements are used in the manufacture of concrete, brick, for mixtures used in finishing work, etc.
Raw materials for high-end optics
Minerals of the Moscow region also include the so-called "glass sand" (in the north of the Lyubertsy district). In it, an increased amount of silicon oxide (silica) is observed, which allows the manufacture of high-purity glasses, including optical ones. Glass sands are a rather rare natural phenomenon, therefore, raw materials for industry are more often obtained by enriching simpler materials (washing, scrubbing, electromagnetic separation).
Some iron, brown coal and titanium
Minerals of the Moscow Region, the list of which is small, include small deposits of iron ore and titanium (Serebryanoprudsky and Serpukhovsky districts). Ore is represented here mainly by “swamp iron”, which was formed on the outskirts of ancient swamps or in floodplains of rivers. Here, in the thickness of clays, iron-saturated waters stagnated and, under the influence of iron bacteria, turned into interlayers with a thickness of a few centimeters to a meter, which today can be extracted and processed.
In addition, ancient bogs, in which trees and peat-forming plants decomposed, also formed certain reserves of brown coal, but they are small, have no industrial value and are not currently developed. Although brown coal is also a combustible material, it contains up to 70 percent carbon, and can be a raw material for the chemical industry.
Clay in the suburbs is a lot, and it is different
Another common mineral in the Moscow Region is clay. It can be bricked (found almost everywhere in the Moscow Region) and refractory (found mainly in the east). The first version of clay is an earthy rock, heterogeneous in chemical composition and granulometry, with high cohesion, stickiness, swelling in water, the ability to take any form and save it after heat treatment. Brick, tile, wall blocks, expanded clay, etc. are made from such substances, they are added to concrete, used as a waterproofing material in dams. Variegated samples of ferruginous clays can be used to extract mineral pigments for the subsequent preparation of paints. Large deposits of this raw material are available in Voznesensky, Zaraysky, Domodedovo districts, etc.
Fossils that can be priceless
Minerals of the Moscow Region and their processing make it possible to manufacture items that are the hallmark of Russia. First of all, these are pottery clays of the Gzhel deposit, of which porcelain is painted with cobalt painting on a white background. Gzhel quarries, in addition to multi-colored porcelain clays, are known for finding shells of belemnites, ammonites, as well as limestones in which brachiopods, parts of ancient sea lilies, and small corals are found.
Here you can find ancient flints with a blue edging and the middle of many brown-chocolate shades, approaching in quality to chalcedony, beautiful geodes of fine crystalline quartz, chalcedony. These elements are not mined on a large scale, although they are in some way minerals in the Moscow region. But for such samples, the cost of even small pieces in some cases can be significant, and sometimes invaluable from an archaeological point of view.
