Granite-steppe lands of Buh is a regional landscape park in the north-west of

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast ( uk, Микола́ївська о́бласть, translit=Mykoláyivsʹka óblastʹ, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna ( uk, Микола́ївщина, Mykoláivshchyna, ) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administra ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The park includes the river valley of

Southern Buh , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBu ...

and the ravine-like vallies of its tributaries: Velyka Korabelna, Bashkala, and Mertvovod. The park stretches on from the southern part of Pervomaisk to the urban-type settlement of Oleksandrivka in

Voznesensk Raion Voznesensk Raion ( uk, Вознесенський район) is located in Mykolaiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the town of Voznesensk. Population: History In 1923, uyezds in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic were abolishe ...

. It was established in 1994 by the decision of the Mykolaiv Oblast council and is located on the territory of Pervomaisk, Arbuzynka, Domanivka, and Voznesensk districts. The area of the park is .

Geology

The park is located at the southern edge of the

Ukrainian crystalline shield In geology the Ukrainian Shield (or Ukrainian Crystalline Massif) is the southwest shield of the East European craton. The Ukrainian Shield and the Voronezh Massif consist of 3.2-3.8 Ga Archaean crust in the southwest and east, and 2.3-2.1 Ga ...

in the spurs of the

Podolian Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

and Near-Dnipro Uplands. On the territory of the park the

cuts into the

crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

(array) of the

Ukrainian shield In geology the Ukrainian Shield (or Ukrainian Crystalline Massif) is the southwest shield of the East European craton. The Ukrainian Shield and the Voronezh Massif consist of 3.2-3.8 Ga Archaean crust in the southwest and east, and 2.3-2.1 Ga ...

the outcome of which produced many rapids in the river. On the rocky banks are apparent types of the

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...

that reveal

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

. The Granite-steppe lands of Buh represent the leftover spur of the ancient mountains once extending for 1000 km north-west to south-east from the Slovechansk-Ovruch

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

to the Near-Azov Upland. As the result of the

denudation Denudation is the geological processes in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interch ...

process only the base of those mountains were left represented by the solid

type of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. Over the last 60 million years this part of land was not subjected to flooding.

Environment

The most predominant are the

Chernozem Chernozem (from rus, чернозём, p=tɕɪrnɐˈzʲɵm, r=chernozyom; "black ground"), also called black soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compoun ...

type of soil that occupies 95% of the territory. The ''

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

'' of the Southern Buh valley and the islands partially covered by the floodplain woods and meadows. The slopes of the valley retained the parts of the rocky (''petrofit'') steppe and leftovers of the grass-rich of the

Gramineae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

- type and shrub-rich steppes. On the territory of the landscape park grows around 900 species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

s, with 26 of them listed in the

Red Book of Ukraine The ''Red Data Book of Ukraine'', or literally the ''Red Book of Ukraine'' ( uk, Червона книга України, Chervona knyha Ukrayiny), is an official national red list of the threatened animals, plants and fungi that are protected by t ...

. Also, the park is inhabited by no less than 9000 species of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s (56 are in the Red Book) and about 300 species of

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

animals (46 - in the Red Book).

History

On the territory of the landscape park in the valley of the

Southern Bug , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBug ...

, between villages Mihiya and Oleksandrivka are found almost 100 archeological monuments that present a continuous chronological series of

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

(dating 30,000 years BCE) to the times of the formation of the Slavic ethnos. The particular interest present the remains of various people:

Cimmerians The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West A ...

, Trypillians,

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...

, ancient

Slavic peoples Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout ...

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. In the park is a well-known tract Buh Gard, a historic landscape of local cultural heritage (ref#173/0/16-06) and what remains from the

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

settlement and a former seat of one of the districts (palanka) of the

Zaporizhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These i ...

. In 2006 due to construction of the Tashlyk HAES the tract was unlawfully flooded without any known prosecutions followed. In 19th century, Viktor Skarzhynsky created in the place of the future landscape park an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

. In 2008, the Granite steppes of Buh became of the

Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine The Seven Wonders of Ukraine ( uk, Сім чудес України ) are the seven historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine, which were chosen in the ''Seven Wonders of Ukraine'' contest held in July, 2007. This was the first public contest ...

and later was nominated as the world wonder candidate.

External links

History of Granite-steppe lands of Buh

Mirror Weekly's article (October 20, 2007)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granite-Steppe Lands Of Buh Geography of Mykolaiv Oblast Geology of Ukraine Parks in Ukraine Protected areas of Ukraine Tourist attractions in Mykolaiv Oblast