EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

2.a.4 Maramorosh (Ukraine)
Abiotic conditions
Being a part of the Carpathain Biosphere Reserve (CBR), this cluster is located on the
northern megaslope of the Rakhiv Mountain Ridge – an offshoot of the Maramorosh
crystalline massif, at 380−1.940 m (Rakhiv-Chyvchynska Physical-Geographic Region of the
Eastern Carpathian Subprovince).
This territory is very close to the Romanian National Nature Park “Maramures
Mountains”. It is unique within the clusters because being of the part of the Rakhiv and the
Radomyr functional zones and the Maramorosh crystalline massif. There are also flysh
carbon-terigen sediments of the bottom chalk, volcanic rocks of the main constitution, upper
Jurassic carbonate rocks, as well as metamorphic rocks of the basal complex (upper
Proterozoic shist and gneiss, Vendian-Cambrian shist and quartz shist), and also carbonateterigen
rocks (conglomerate and conglomerate-breccia, sandstone, aleurite, upper Paleozoic
and Jurassic limestone and argillite).
The landscapes of the cluster are mainly Middle Mountain erosion with patches of
leveled denudation surfaces and fragments of ancient (Pleistocen) glacial landscapes. The
essential part of this cluster consists of erosion-denudation slopes of valleys and mountain
ridges complicated by smaller morphologic-sculptural fragments.
The climatic conditions here are softer than the same within other Carpathian Highlands.
Average annual temperature is +7° C; average precipitation is 600 mm (430 mm fall during a
warm season). Thickness of snow cover is ca. 40-60 cm (sometimes till 50−100 cm).
The cluster covers the upper part of Tysa’s left tributaries drainage basins.
Acid (dystrophic) brown soils dominate in the topsoil of the cluster. The characteristic
features of soil here are: high pH level (pH 4.0), a powerful profile of 80-100 cm, rich
content of rough humus – 10-12% in upper horizons and 1-2% in transitional and bottom
horizons, a low content of amphoteric bases (degree of saturation less than 30%). The upper
part corresponds to acid (dystrophic) brown soil, and the bottom one – to eutrophic saturated
with calcium brown soils with neutral reaction. Soils are very stony, mostly mid-loamy with
good penetration of water and air into them.
Biota (vegetation and flora)
The total area of the Maramarosh cluster is 8.474 ha: core zone is 582 ha, buffer zone is
7.892 ha.
The forest mountain belt occurs at 380–1.680 m above sea level, and most of forests here
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