GEOSCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF THE AREA
ALONG TURKISH-GEORGIAN BORDER

SUMMARY
        The General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration-Turkey (MTA), The State Department of Geology-Georgia (SDG) and The Geological Institute of the  Academia of Sciences-Georgia (GIN) conducted this project with the objective of  studying the geological characteristics of the area along the Turkish and Georgian border in the framework of the protocol signed on the 3rd of November, 1993. The study was started in the beginning of 1994, as a step towards developing  multidisciplinary international geological projects and it was completed in the end of 1996. The report was writen in the first half of 1997.
        The study area is situated along the border strip of Turkey and Georgia and contain totally four and a half geological map sheets at 1/100.000 scale. This area is a part of the Easternmost tip of the Pontide-Southern Transcaucasus system and is represented by the Adjara-Trialeti unit in the north and Artvin-Bolnisi unit in the south.
        The present study is actually aimed at correlating geological information gathered by Georgian and Turkish researchers to solve controversial and obscure geological  problems and to eliminate the existing contradictions. We hope that, the realization of this project will also contribute towards a better atmosphere for frienship and cooperation between the two countries.
        This report has been prepared according to MTA standards and supported by MTA funding. In the following, the whole report has been summarized in the frame of its chapters.
        Regional Geology
        One of the purposes of this study has been to evaluate the main geological characteristics of the border area in the frame of regional context and to present a  joint correlative geological map.
        The study area is a part of the Pontian-Transcaucasus system. But, only two main units of this system have been observed along the border, which are respectively the Adjara-Trialeti unit to the north and the Artvin-Bolnisi unit to the south. The lowermost level of these units, particularly in the study area, is characterized by the Late Cretaceous arc association of the Eastern Pontide-Southern Transcaucasus.
        Along the Adjara-Trialeti unit, Maastrichtian-Paleocene hemipelagic limestones and turbiditic terrigenous elastics overlie the arc-related rocks conformably and pass gradually upwards into the Eocene volcanic rocks. Middle Eocene rocks are represented by three levels including from bottom to top as an alternation of turbiditic rocks and basaltic volcanics, dellenitic volcanics and also shallow marine basaltic volcanoclastic rocks. As a whole they appear to be at least 7 km in thickness. This sequence is followed conformably by the Late Eocene shohonitic volcanics.
        Along the Artvin-Bolnisi unit, the Maastrichtian-Paleocene shallow marine  limestones and turbiditic terrigenous elastics overlie the arc-related rocks and pass upwards into the Eocene volcano-clastic rocks with local unconformities.