## 2 Geographical and Geological Setting  
The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania is located in the south of the Russian Federation, on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus (the eastern part of the Central Caucasus) and on the sloping plains adjacent to it between 43 deg50'-42 deg50' north latitude and 43 deg25'-44 deg57' east longitude (Figure 1).  
The Republic of North Ossetia-Alania occupies a special geopolitical and transport-geographical position in the south of Russia. It is due to the border position and the central place in the system of ciscaucasian and transcaucasian transport corridors [11]. A variety of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks, from Precambrian to modern, take part in the geological structure of the territory of North Ossetia. There are three structural and informational levels: Caledonian-Hercynian, which includes geological formations from Precambrian to Lower Jurassic, Lower Alpine (Lower Middle Jurassic), and Upper Alpine from Upper Jurassic to modern rocks.  
The Precambrian within the republic is unknown. Crystalline schists and graeises of the river basin. The Ardon (Buron Formation) is defined as Precambrian only on the basis of analogy with the crystalline formations of the Western Caucasus. The Middle Paleozoic includes the Kasar Formation of the outcrop of metamorphic shales, which form a strip 2-3 km wide in the upper reaches of the Tsei, Ardon, and Bad rivers.  
A very large and increasing in time and space for the socio-economic development of the republic, in contrast to world and Russian features, are natural emergencies, such as hazardous atmospheric phenomena, floods and avalanches, and some other hazardous natural and man-made natural processes. This is due to the great variety of geological, morphological, climatic, and overall landscape conditions of the predominantly mountainous territory of North Ossetia. The situation is aggravated by powerful anthropogenic pressure, which provokes the emergence, qualitative and quantitative growth of natural and natural-technogenic emergencies.  
The territory of the proposed construction of a recreational complex \"Mamison\" is part of the Alagir district of North Ossetia-Alania, unites 13 settlements with a total population of 110 people for 2020 as part of the local government of the Zaramagsky rural settlement (village N. Zaramag), located in the upper reaches of the river. Ardon on the northern slope of the main range of the Greater Caucasus (Figure 1). The area is sparsely  
Figure 1: Geographical and geological setting of the study area: geologic scheme of the North Caucasus (modified from the work of [10]) and location of the Republic of the North Ossetia-Alania.  
populated. There are no resources for industrial and agricultural development, and the mining industry is unprofitable. At the same time, the region has prospects for economic development due to the maximum use of the natural and climatic resources of the territory in an environmentally safe mode. This resource consists of: unique natural and climatic conditions for the organization of an all-season ski complex and tourist routes of various categories of difficulty along the objects of the geopark; numerous mineral springs (waters carbonic hydrocarbonate, sodium-calcium), the largest of which are: Kartysuar, Kalak, Kamsko, Dvugolovy, Lisri and Tib-1, Tib-2.