History of Sinii Utes

Around four hundred years ago, soon after the foundation of Tomsk, a watchtower was erected on the Sinii Utes. Here the guards could transmit the signals to the watchmen of the Lagerny Garden. Further these signals were transmitted to the defenders of Tomsk fortress.

Later on, when a peaceful caravan route from China and Mongolia entered the Spassky route, an Embassy for foreign and Siberian guests and traders was established on the Sinii Utes. It marked the foundation of Spasskoe village. Siniy Utes, surrounded by the chain of pine forest, opens a beautiful panorama to the ancient village of Kolarovo with its famous white church.

 

Spasskoe was the first village in the department of Tomsk. The peasants erected a church (1644) and supported the priest with their own money. In 1924 the village got the name Kolarovo in honor of the famous Bulgarian communist Vasily Kolarov.
Straight over the Sinii Utes there is a health resort with the same name. The nature monument "Sinii Utes" is located in a specially protected natural area ("The bank slope of the river Tom between Tomsk, Kolarovo and the Tomsk-Kolarovo highway»). The protected area is approved by the decree N 7 of Tomsk region head of administration from   16.01.96.

 

   The area of geological monument of nature «Sinii Utes » is about 100 hectares. The highest rocks are about 50 meters.

    The bank of the river, where «Sinii Utes » is situated, is constantly prone to blowing of soil and water erosion. In former times very high coast was at this place and water reached the bottom of rock exposure. Now there is relative true plane surface with pieces of geological materials.

The bank is a unique natural, cultural and historic complex with high recreational and educational potential because of its picturesque relief, unique compound landscape and hillside type of terrain with many sites of sliding landscape. There are also a lot of rare species of plant communities, unusual for local climatic conditions, very rich flora and evidences of the culture of an ancient man (archaeological monuments) at this place.

Types of subsurface rocks, their names:

 

 - Beat of shale rocks, mudrocks with interbeds of siltstones of the Basandai formation of Lower Carboniferous. The shales are bluish-black, so that the cliff was called "Blue". Clay shales in one place are broken by a dyke of porphyritic dolerites with a thickness of about 2.5 m.

 

The formation (direction of formation), depth of formation:

-direction of formation: spreading of shale rocks (not clear) on the North- East, falling to South-East. Only in one lower place (downstream) one can observe the falling of layers on the South 1170 at an angle of 800.

- depth of formation: represents an outcrop of rocks up to 3 km in length. The height of the bank is about 80 m, 40 m of which is the outcrop of bedrocks.

Outcropping of “Sinii  Utes” from the upper to lower layers demonstrates three main horizons:

 1. Substantial mudrocks of dark-gray color with a light gray shade with poor stratification. Shales are coarse-grained, with a great admixture of sandy material. The shales contain a large number of oval concretions, with organic remains found. (25 m)

2.  Mudrocks, containing thin inter-layers of close grained polymictic sandstones. The concretions are rarely occurred.  (50 m)

3. Dark- grey clay shales, with a very weak stratification. Shales are rather sulfidated, sometimes close –graned pyrite is occurred, they are shaled.

 

The age of subsurface rocks

The age of “Sinii Utes”  deposits was determined  by numerous  paleontological remains. Sedimentary  magmatic and metamorphic compositions of Tom’ – Kolyvan folding area, having Riphean – Paleozoic age,  merge in younger loose and weak cemented Mesozoic –neozoic deposites of West –Siberian plate.
The general aspect of the fossil sea fauna is pelecipods (bivalve mollusks), less commonly gastropods. According to scientists, outcrop refers to the deep sea facies and reflects one of the most important stages in the history of Earth’s development.

 

What part of the tectonic structure is?

• The deposits of “Sinii Utes”  belong to the Kolarovo Formation of the Visean Stage and also they are the most upper in the section of the carbon deposits.

 

Are there any prints of fossils?

• The fauna is represented by kernels and prints of pelecypods, less frequently by gastropods and brachiopods, and also by crinoid segments and orthoceratids. Fauna more often refers to larger concretions, while small concretions are often "empty" or with a black organic pulverulent substance inside. General appearance of the Kolar fauna is marine, but his pool is abnormally salty.

The natural monument “Sinii Utes” (local name "The Devil's Finger") is very important for  a person in  many aspects.

        Scientific significance

Sinii Utes («Blue Cliff») is one of the most picturesque places in Tomsk region.

This natural monument is unique, as it gives the common view to the history of the Earths development and to the sea foretime of the West-Siberian lowland.

On the right verge of the river Tom next to the village Spasskoe in Tomsk region, there is an unusual geological monument of Nature –Sinii Utes

It is called in such away, because of its dark blue color. The reason of such color is the clay argillite which enters into the composition of the cliff.

The length of Sinii Utes  is 3 km in length and 50 metres in high.

The results of the erosion take place here, and it explains the reason that clay state changes into the white clay.

There are a lot of minerals, fossils, organic debris. In the surroundings of the nature monument grow flowers entered in the Red Book of Tomsk region and the Russian Federation – lady’s slipper large flowered, adder’s-fern Siberian, feather grass.