The geology of Moldova encompasses basement rocks from the

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

dating back more than 2.5 billion years, overlain by thick sequences of

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided ...

, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

sedimentary rocks.

Stratigraphy and geologic history

Very few rocks outcrop at the surface from periods of geologic time before the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

and most are limited to the

Dniester River The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

valley. Only Miocene and Pliocene rocks outcrop and elsewhere in the country, older rocks are primarily known from borehole drilling. Moldova is underlain by the East European Precambrian Platform and in the southwest, basement rock is covered by a deep Mesozoic basin. Heavily deformed Archean and

rocks form the basement of the entire country, including granite, granite gneiss and gabbro. By contrast, the overlying sedimentary rocks that ascend to the ground surface are undeformed and include units from the Riphean (an Eastern European stratigraphic division dating to the transition from the Proterozoic), Paleozoic, Mesozoic and

. Potassium-argon dating of glauconite from the lowest units gives an age of 1.01 billion to 590 million years ago, with units 100 to 150 meters thick, overlain by 700 meter thick

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

, sandstone and

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

. A six-meter thick sandstone in the west is the only Ordovician rock unit in the country.

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

deposits are common in Moldova, mainly clay and carbonates 150 meters thick in north and grading to as much as 900 meters in the southwest.

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

quartzite is found in the southwest and a few other Devonian rocks are known only in a small area of the Predobrugian Depression. Geologists debate whether 200 meter thick limestone and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

found in some boreholes is from the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

, or if the period is not present in the country. Boreholes have uncovered Permian argillite, sandstone, limestone and anhydrite. Paleozoic rocks are overlain by Triassic and Jurassic conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and limestone that lack fossils and reach a maximum thickness of 600 meters near the town of Kahul, Moldova. Although late Jurassic rocks are widespread in the south, unconformably overlying the Precambrian basement and the Hercynian platform, the early Jurassic has not been found anywhere. Red clay, gypsum, anhydrite and sandstone are all typical Jurassic rocks, sometimes reaching thicknesses of up to two kilometers. Except in the southwest, Cretaceous deposits are also common. Marine calcareous rocks are characteristic of the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

in southern and central Moldova, while reef limestone and gypsum records the Miocene.

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

deposits from the last 2.5 million years cover almost the entire country.

Natural resource geology

Moldova has small oil and gas fields in southern rocks from the Sarmatian time as well as several Cenozoic brown coal deposits which are not economically viable. The

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cli ...

uses high-purity limestone while construction companies quarry gravel, sand and other raw material for concrete and ceramics.

References

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