KUNGURIAN STAGE

lowest stage of rock strata of the Late Permian Period (258 to 245 million years ago) in Russia and Kazakstan, with well-developed exposures in the Ural region. The Kungurian exhibits complex facies relationships. In the Mughalzhar Hills (Kazakstan) and southern Ural regions, Kungurian deposits are primarily terrigenous (formed by erosion), consisting of red beds and lagoonal sediment types; elsewhere, conglomerates, sandstones, and other red beds occur. To the east, thick evaporite sequences of gypsum, halite, and potash form the salt basin of the upper Kama River, the largest in the world. Marine limestones occur in the province of Perm, and reef carbonates occur in the western portions of the Mughalzhar Hills.