Snake Mountain (Khan's Mountain, Khan's Grave)

1.5 km south-east of Mikhaylovka village, 0.5 km south-west of Belyaevka village. Geological (paleontological) natural monument, area – 33.2 hectares.

It is a high right-bank cliff of erosive origin between the villages of Mikhaylovka and Belyaevka, which is surrounded by a steep bend of the Berdyank River. The cliff is unique in that it reveals an almost continuous section of Upper Jurassic sediments with rich assemblages of fauna. The following tiers of the Upper Jurassic have been uncovered, from bottom to top: 1) middle Keloway – quartz sands are greenish and yellowish-gray, cemented to sandstones at the top, with a thickness of 5 m. There are interlayers of sandy seashell (brachiopods, pelecypods, belemnites); 2) upper Callovian – gray sandstones with belemnites 4-5 m thick; 3) Oxford tier, composed in the lower reaches of light gray siltstones and marls, passing upward into calcareous sandstones with limestone interlayers. The fauna of this horizon is Ammonites and Belemnites. The thickness of the layer is 25 m; 4) Kimmeridgian stage – sands and sandstones are greenish-gray and yellowish with thin interlayers of nodular phosphorites, with accumulations of ammonites. The thickness of the horizon is 6-7 m; 5) the Lower Volga sublayer is calcareous sandstones with interlayers of sandy limestones, light gray, overflowing with shells of belemnites and ammonites. The bones of a large marine lizard, apparently a plesiosaur, were found in them. The thickness of the horizon is 12-14 m. The outcrops of the horizon are found in the edge of the cliff and in the quarry on the plateau-like area above the cliff.

The abundance of fossil fauna and the beauty of the tract attract numerous educational and educational excursions to the mountain, from which memorable souvenirs are usually brought – belemnite rostra, mother-of-pearl ammonite shells. To the north of the cliff at the top of the mountain, the mining of Jurassic shells for construction needs is underway.