POST-MAGMATIC EVOLUTION OF THE VOLCANIC STRUCTURES IN THE CENTRAL VYHORLAT-HUTYNSKA RIDGE: A STRUCTURAL-MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS

The volcanic ridge is a region with tectonic-magmatic structures characterized by a specific tectonic pattern, geophysical fields and topography. These structures being well-marked features of the relief, their evolution can be traced by employing geomorphological methods. The structural-morphometric method developed by P. Filosofov can be used for both a detailed analysis of recent and ancient relief and reseach into the history of tectonic movements. This research is aimed at determining the postmagmatic history of the volcanic structures and estimating the amplitudes of the recent movements using detailed data on the structural-morphometric surfaces of different genesis and order. The classic structural-morphometric technique has been used for the first time to study the folded area of the Ukrainian Carpathians. GIS have been used to create maps of the stream orders and watersheds, as well as the basic and summit surfaces for the area under study. A program module “Morphometry” has been designed for a more detailed analysis of the relief evolution and tectonic movements. There have been created maps of the residual relief and local erosion of rocks, basic and summit differences of adjacent orders, summit-basic differences of single order. Geological, geophysical data and structural-morphometric indices were analyzed to determine the attitude of the zones combining complex local tectonic units. There have been defined five stages in the tectonic activity of the Chynadiyivsk, Puznyakivsk, Grabivsk tectonic-magmatic structures and Obavskyyi Kamin, Shkitena, Synyak, Dekhmaniv ancient volcanoes. The obtained results are of crucial impor-tance in pushing back the frontiers of contemporary geodynamics, determining the correlations between underground and ex-ogenous processes, and studying natural hazards. Our research results can be used to trace the evolution of relief and the de-velopment of tectonic units in other areas of the folded Carpathians. The designed module can be of practical use in modelling morphometric surfaces of different order and genesis, which will enhance the understanding of morphogenesis and the neotec-tonics of complex mountainous volcanic relief terrain.