Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 9, 2026

Ukrainian Shield

In geology, the Ukrainian Shield or the Ukrainian Crystalline Massif is the southwest shield of the East European craton. It has an area of about 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) and is approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) long and up to 250 km (160 mi) wide.

Last revised
Aug 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
171 w
Citations
3
Source
  1. Ukrainian Shield
source ↗

In geology, the Ukrainian Shield (Ukrainian: Український щит, romanizedUkrayinsʹkyy shchyt) or the Ukrainian Crystalline Massif (Ukrainian: Український кристалічний масив, romanizedUkrayinsʹkyy krystalichnyy masyv) is the southwest shield of the East European craton. It has an area of about 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi)1 and is approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) long and up to 250 km (160 mi) wide.

It is a pegmatite geologic province which can be divided into the following megastructures: Middle Prydniprovia, Western Pryazovia, Eastern Pryazovia, Ingulski, Rosynsko-Tikychki, Dnistersko-Buzki and Volyn, which differ in mineralogical composition and geochemical specialization.2

The Ukrainian Shield and the Voronezh Massif consist of 3.2-3.8 Ga Archean crust in the southwest and east, and 2.3-2.1 Ga Early Proterozoic orogenic belts.

The Ilyinets crater is located at the boundary of Rosynsko-Tikychki, Dnistersko-Buzki.3

References

References