In the Tuapse region of the Krasnodar Territory there is an interesting geological object declared a natural monument - "Kiseleva Rock", and we will make an excursion to this rock. If the rock is a witness to the flood, then we, as expected, will question it. From the main highway, a dirt road goes towards the sea and partially runs along the ridge to a small auto camping site. The road is surrounded by dense forest; now the beginning of May, so the forest is filled with the aromas of blossoming yellow acacia and Pontic rhododendron.
Kiselev rock - witness to the flood
The rock is a block of coastal flysch, 48 meters high.
Kiseleva Rock is an outstanding block of coastal flysch in the sea, 48 m high. Vertical layers of sedimentary rocks are clearly visible. From the shore, it is noticeable how a separate layer of rocks peeled off from the main rock mass and is about to collapse into the sea. As you can see, the entire rock mass is bedrock, consisting of marls and dolomites, sandstones, without interlayers of softer rocks, for example, clay.
Sea pebbles, sand, clay on top of a cliff.
Sea pebbles on top of a cliff, in the background trees grown after the flood.
The presence of up to 2 meters of a layer of pebbles, sand, and clay on the rock indicates that it has been under water for a considerable time. And the water level was 10 meters higher. The rock layers, like the coastal flysch, are located vertically and therefore it cannot be said that sand and clay are composing layers between them. By the way in our memory the sand and clay are washed out, we can say that they appeared on the rock and flat part of the coastal flysch quite recently, and not 150 thousand years ago. The time of the 18th century is quite suitable, as we will see by examining old photographs and paintings of the rock.
Promotional video:
Let's see how the rock looked a little over 100 years ago. At the end of the 19th century, famous actors and artists of that time began to come to the city of Tuapse for the summer; one of them was Kiselev Alexander Alexandrovich (1838-1911) - Russian landscape painter, an active member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.
Artist Kiselev A. A. (1838-1911).
A number of the artist's most famous paintings were dedicated to the city of Tuapse and its environs. One of the most popular paintings "Kadosh Rocks" of 1902 depicts a natural object that we are researching and which bears the name of the artist - Kiseleva Rock.
Painting by A. A. Kiselev Kadosh Rocks 1902.
In the picture, the rock looks similar to the modern one, but very significant differences are visible. First, the cliff face looks different now. For a little over a hundred years, several strata split off from it. And now another one hangs, about to collapse into the sea. The forest at the top has just begun to grow and a strong bald patch is visible on the top of the rock. The beach raises even more questions. There is practically none. The staircase leading to the shore is laid over a pile of stones. On the main coastal fleece, bald patches formed from landslides are also visible everywhere, just like on the rock the forest has just begun to grow.
Let's carry out a step-by-step comparative analysis of the rock in different photographs and the painting of Kiselev in the same weather conditions.
Photo: Summer residents against the background of the Kiselev rock approx. 1910 year.
So let's compare the painting with the photograph before about 1910. The photo also shows traces of significant landslides, due to which there is no beach. But the trees have grown noticeably in about ten years. And one more thing: rocky scallops are visible under the wall in the sea, from them you can determine what sea level was before. In the picture, the scallops are submerged, but in the photo they look higher. From this it can be concluded that the sea level in 1902 was higher.
Photo: Summer residents against the background of the Kiselev rock approx. 1916 year.
Compare the following photo, it was taken around 1916. The beach has become much larger, almost the same as it is now. The staircase is different. Now the pile of stones is gone, it has turned into pebbles and lies in an even layer below, and the stairs are fixed between vertical rocky ridges. And, of course, the forest has grown even more. All the bald spots were covered with grass and bushes. It follows from this that the landslide moments have stopped. And the rock looks about the same as it does now.
Let's finally return to the picture and analyze the forest again. By the level of growth of trees, we can say that the age of the forest on the rock is about ten years. The painting dates back to 1902, the year for fine-tuning and presentation, we get that in 1901 it was painted. We subtract another ten years for the growth of the forest and we get 1891. Was there no forest before that? It turns out so. It means that some event happened that led to the destruction of the forest. Indeed, in many photographs of the early 20th century of the coastal part of Tuapse, the mountains are treeless, or the trees are just beginning to grow. But the flood dates from the early 18th century, the trees would have grown until 1891. It turns out that we are observing the consequences of another catastrophic Event, the one described by Aleksey Kungurov - this is the fall of a huge amount of aeolian sediments (sand clay). He dates this event to 1841. It took about another 50 years for the forest to start growing. As you noticed, we have plenty of clay, and in those places where it shouldn't be. For example, on ridges with vertical bedding. And the ubiquitous pebbles lie on the flower beds of the city, in the beds of private houses, and if someone digs a foundation pit under the house, then decorates the paths with pebbles.
To be continued…
Author: Elena Topsida
