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Valdaian glacial maxima in the Arkhangelsk district of northwestern Russia

2004; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1571-0866(04)80082-4

2212-1161

Igor Demidov, Michael Houmark‐Nielsen, Kurt H. Kjær, Svend Funder, Eiliv Larsen, Astrid Lyså, J.P. Lunkka, Matti Saarnisto,

Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

The marginal configurations and ages of the Valdaian (Weichselian) glacial maxima in northern Russia have hitherto not been well established, thus, numerous versions of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) positions of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet are known (Fig. 1B). New data on ice sheet growth and decay indicate at least three glacial maxima during the Late Pleistocene each with individual spreading centres and different ages. Results of modern investigations in the Arkhangelsk region, conducted by the authors, are compared with an analysis of previous data on the Late Quaternary geology of Northwest Russia, which comprises a thorough presentation of Russian literature on this subject. This has allowed us to question and revise former models on Valdaian glaciation history and ice-marginal positions in a major part of the Russian North. An Early-Middle Valdaian (c. 70 ka BP) glaciation from the east and southeast, possibly originating on the Timan ridge, crossed the Pyoza River basin and reached the White Sea coast along the Bay of Mezen. The southern terminus of the ice sheet is probably found along parts of the Mezen River (Fig. 2A,B). The presence of an Early-Middle Valdaian Scandinavian glaciation, which covered the Arkhangelsk region and in neighbouring areas of Karelia and Vologda is not supported by geological data. In the Middle Valdaian (c. 70 ka BP) an ice sheet from the Barents-Kara Sea flowed from the north, northeast and reached the lower Pyoza River and the south and western shores of Mezen Bay on the White Sea coast. The terminal formations of its maximal stage stretch from west to east just north of Pyoza River and then run marginal to the Timan ridge from the north joining with the Markhida end-moraines on the Pechora Lowland (Fig. 2A, B). During the Late Valdaian, the Scandinavian Ice Sheet occupied the northwestern part of the Arkhangelsk region around 19-17 ka BP. The limit of this Late Valdaian glacial maximum runs from the White Sea shore of the Kanin Peninsula in the north, along the Kuloi River south of Mezen to the Middle Pinega River, crossing the rivers Severnaya Dvina and Vaga near the villages of Cherevkovo and Ust-Padenga. The glacial boundary bordered the Melovian and Nyandoma high ground and continued southwestwards to Lake Kubenskoe in the Vologda region. The Pyoza, Mezen and Vashka river basins remained ice-free during the Late Valdaian time, this area being covered by fluvial flood plains, with abundant evidence of permafrost and lakes. The latter have yielded pollen evidence indicating an arctic to subarctic environment between 18-10 ka BP (Fig. 2A, B).