Valery Ivanovich Astakhov

Saint Petersburg State University | SPBU · Department of Sedimentary Geology

Because global sea level during the last interglacial (LIG; 130–115 ka) was higher than today, the LIG is a useful approximate analogue for improving predictions of future sea-level rise. Here, we synthesize sea-level proxies for the LIG in the glaciated Northern Hemisphere for inclusion in the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS) da...

This collection of papers devoted to the Ice Age of northern Russia provides illustrated descriptions of landforms and sediments revealing former ice sheets of the arctic shelf that inundated northern Russia. It shows that a peculiar Siberian type of inland glaciation is inferred from preserved Ice Age features. This type of glacial environment imp...

The Middle and Late Pleistocene glaciations of northern Eurasia had a great impact on the evolution of the modern drainage system. This paper presents a review and synthesis on the palaeogeography of glacial lakes, their drainage and impact on the re-organization of the drainage systems during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. We will focus...

This is an overview of the latest data on the age of topographically expressed glacigenic formations of the Polar Urals obtained by international geological teams by modern dating techniques including optical luminescence, radiocarbon and cosmogenic beryllium in exposed boulders. The new dates combined with the results of geological mapping and rem...

This is a synthesis of the glacial history of the northern Urals undertaken using published works and the results of geological surveys as well as recent geochronometric and remote sensing data. The conclusions differ from the classical model that considers the Urals as an important source of glacial ice and partly from the modern reconstructions....

This is an overview of glacial features of the Russian Federation from the western border to the Laptev Sea in the form of an explanatory note to the map of ice marginal formations and ice limits 600 to 11 ka old. Attached is a generalized version of Glaciomorphological Map of the Russian Federation, scale 1:2 500 000, compiled by Geological Resear...

The paper summarizes the results of recent studies of Late Pleistocene postglacial geological events which occurred in the flatlands of northern Russia stretching from the Timan Ridge to the Laptev Sea coast. The available sedimentary record includes thawed and perennially frozen subaerial sediments and in places lacustrine and fluvial formations....

New luminescence dates and lithostratigraphic information from key section Bolshoi Shar on the Lower Yenissei shed light on the history of terrestrial sedimentation between 100 and 40 ka BP and change the chronostratigraphic position of two major ice advances of the Late Pleistocene.

a b s t r a c t We describe and discuss the glacial and climate variations in the Polar Ural Mountains in northern Russia over the last 100 000 years. A series of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radio-carbon ages from sediment cores demonstrate that there has been continuous deposition of lacustrine sediments throughout the last 65 ka i...

In recent decades, knowledge of the glacial history of the last Pleistocene glaciation in Eurasia has changed tremendously. According to recent investigations, a major ice advance first entered the Russian mainland as early as 80–100 ka, blocking all drainage and damming huge lakes in West Siberia and European Russia. Drainage was diverted southwar...

In the middle Pleistocene, Eurasia was affected by three major glaciations. The extent of the largest glaciation, the Don glaciation, is still incompletely known. For the Elsterian glaciation as well, the eastern limits are only roughly estimated. The ice sheet probably covered the West Siberian Plain and may have been the most extensive glaciation...

The size, age and dynamics of Pleistocene glaciers, especially ice sheets that periodically covered the northern seaboard of Eurasia, are crucial for understanding the evolution of arctic climates, sea‐level changes, the biota and tectonism. General ideas on the glacial history of the vast areas of northern Russia between 48° and 148°E, beyond the...

While glaciation of Antarctica began as early as the Oligocene, glaciation of South America and Greenland started only some 14. Ma. Continental-scale glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere began only some 1. Ma in the Late Matuyama Chron, although smaller-scale glaciation was established in Greenland and Iceland at the beginning of the Quaternary. S...

The size, age and dynamics of Pleistocene glaciers, especially ice sheets that periodically covered the northern seaboard of Eurasia, are crucial for understanding the evolution of arctic climates, sea-level changes, the biota and tectonism. General ideas on the glacial history of the vast areas of northern Russia between 48° and 148°E, beyond the...

This paper explains the updated maps of Pleistocene glaciations in northern Russia. Late Saalian ice limits in Siberia and Middle-Weichselian arctic glaciers are added to the 2004 year maps. Late Weichselian glaciation has shrunk to the Barents Sea shelf and to hypothetical ice caps over the Putorana Plateau.

A geochronometric database, comprising 121 optically stimulated luminescence and 59 radiocarbon dates plus U/Th date on peat from 24 key sections in northern West Siberia is presented and discussed. These data have been obtained during Russian–Norwegian joint research for the past 15 years and are augmented by reports on radiocarbon dated mammoth c...

A lake coring campaign in the Polar Urals is carried out within the framework of the Russian-Norwegian IPY-project "The Ice Age Development and Human Settlement in Northern Eurasia" (ICEHUS). The purpose is to improve the description and understanding of the Late Quaternary glacial and climate changes in this part of the Russian Arctic. Sediment co...

Traditional reconstructions of Weichselian environments saw the Peri-Uralian plains as arena either of Late Weichselian glaciation or of predominant aqueous activity which is incompatible with the latest finds of Upper Palaeolithic human activity in the Peri-Uralian Arctic and Subarctic. Now it is proven that the last ice sheet disintegrated before...

This paper summarizes the principal results produced by the European Science Foundation's programme, Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North (QUEEN). These results concern the distribution of late Quaternary glaciers of different ages across northern Eurasia. The pattern of glaciation is compared with the west–east climatic gradient of the con...

Quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) forms the basis for the chronology of Weichselian ice advances in Arctic Eurasia developed over the last few years. There is almost no age control on this chronology before 40 ka, except for some marine sediments correlated with marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e on the basis of their palaeofauna. Results f...

The paper is an overview of geological results on the Late Cenozoic history internationally obtained in the arctic sector between 130°F and 50°W during the last 25 years. These have been mostly efforts by European Science Foundation projects PONAM (Late Cenozoic Evolution of the Polar North Atlantic Margins) and QUEEN (Quaternary Environments of th...

The article discusses geological data on proglacial lakes and spillways in the West Siberian Plain, data on crucial features of the Late Pleistocene reorganization of the drainage pattern of northern Eurasia. The discussion focuses on Late Pleistocene sediments along the margin of the last ice sheet and south of it, including new data recently obta...

Four climatholiths of the Upper Pleistocene are used in Siberia as regional stratigraphic horizons: Kazantsevo, Zyrjanka, Karginsky, and Sartan. Their geochronological basis is discussed in this paper. A conclusion is made that they are erroneously correlated in the official stratigraphie scheme. New detailed data obtained by international teams on...

New geochronometric data on a key section of the Karginsky terrestrial sediments on the Malaya Kheta River, a western tributary of the Yenisei, demonstrate that the corresponding warm Pleistocene interval is significantly older than has previously been assumed. Copright

Results of absolute dating and pollen analysis of a thick fossil peat on the Lower Ob are presented in this paper in order to improve the Late Pleistocene stratigraphy of West Siberia.

This chapter presents an explanatory note to the digitized map of ice limits compiled for the Russian North, beyond the limits of the Fennoscandian glaciation. Although the principal ice limits in Central Russia were already established at the beginning of geological mapping by the Emperor's Geological Committee in the late 19th century, the size o...

This paper summarizes the results of studies of the Late Weichselian periglacial environments carried out in key areas of northern Eurasia by several QUEEN teams (European Science Foundation (ESF) programme: ''Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North''). The palaeoglaciological boundary conditions are defined by geological data on timing and ex...

Geological data on the pre-Eemian glaciations ofnorthern Russia, including the latest results by the Russian-Norwegian PECHORA project, are synthesized in order to present evidence for comparison with other early glaciations around the Arctic. The bulk ofevidence indicates that Arctic and Subarctic regions ofEuropean Russia, ofwestern and central S...

This issue is the final synthesis report by QUEEN (Quaternary Environments of the Eurasian North), an a la carte programme of the ESF (European Science Foundation) Standing Committee for Life and Environmental Sciences (LESC), supported through funds from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition to...

The results of absolute dating of mineral organic remains on Ob along the Polar Circle are presented. The most interesting data in the range 25-15.5 thousand years for the first time demonstrate that in the period of so-called 'the last glacial maximum' sub-arctic Zaural'e was not a glacial desert but represented a pasture land for the typical Uppe...

During the Quaternary period, ice sheets centred over the Barents and Kara seas expanded several times onto mainland Russia and blocked northflowing rivers, such as the Yenissei, Ob, Pechora and Mezen. Large ice-dammed lakes with reversed outlets, e.g. toward the Caspian Sea, formed south of these ice sheets. Some lakes are reconstructed from shore...

The maximum limits of the Eurasian ice sheets during four glaciations have been reconstructed: (1) the Late Saalian (>140 ka), (2) the Early Weichselian (100–80 ka), (3) the Middle Weichselian (60–50 ka) and (4) the Late Weichselian (25–15 ka). The reconstructed ice limits are based on satellite data and aerial photographs combined with geological...

The maximum limits of the Eurasian ice sheets during four glaciations have been reconstructed: (1) the Late Saalian (>140 ka), (2) the Early Weichselian (100–80 ka), (3) the Middle Weichselian (60–50 ka) and (4) the Late Weichselian (25–15 ka). The reconstructed ice limits are based on satellite data and aerial photographs combined with geological...

It has been a long-standing discussion whether the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet expanded onto mainland Russia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In this paper, we describe many well-dated (by conventional and AMS 14C methods and optically stimulated luminescence) sedimentary sequences in the controversial area of Northern Russia. The sequences discus...

by MAIK " Nauka /Interperiodica" (Russia). New data on the geological structure and geochro-nometry of Quaternary sediments, containing the first find of relict glacier ice in European Russia, are dis-cussed below to constrain the geological age of the last inland glaciation of the arctic plains. Relict glacier ice in perennially frozen Siberian lo...

During an early phase of the Last Ice Age (Weichselian, Valdaian), about 90 000 yr ago, an ice sheet formed over the shallow Barents and Kara seas. The ice front advanced on to mainland Russia and blocked the north-flowing rivers (Yenissei, Ob, Pechora, Dvina and others) that supply most of the freshwater to the Arctic Ocean. The result was that la...

The development of stratigraphic ideas and terminology for the area of Late Pleistocene glaciation beyond the limit of the Fennoscandian ice sheet is discussed. The original meaning and subsequent distortions of the Siberian stratigraphic terms Zyryanka, Karginsky, Sartan and others are described. Stratigraphic schemes traditionally used in Siberia...

Beach and shoreface sediments deposited in the more than 800-km long ice-dammed Lake Komi in northern European Russia have been investigated and dated. The lake flooded the lowland areas between the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet in the north and the continental drainage divide in the south. Shoreline facies have been dated by 18 optical stimulated lumines...

Beach and shoreface sediments deposited in the more than 800-km long ice-dammed Lake Komi in northern European Russia have been investigated and dated. The lake flooded the lowland areas between the Barents-Kara Ice Sheet in the north and the continental drainage divide in the south. Shoreline facies have been dated by 18 optical stimulated lumines...

Recent results concerning the extent of the last Weichselian (Valdaian) Kara Sea Ice Sheet in the area around the Polar Urals and the north-eastern Russian Plain allow reconstruction of the surface form of this part of the ice sheet by using a combination of moraine-ridge elevation data and ice-flow indicators. The resulting reconstruction suggests...

March): Marginal formations of the last Kara and Barents ice sheets in northern European Russia. Boreas, Vol. 28, pp. 23–45. Oslo. ISSN 0300-9483. Glacial landforms in northern Russia, from the Timan Ridge in the west to the east of the Urals, have been mapped by aerial photographs and satellite images supported by field observations. An east–west...

The youngest ice marginal zone between the White Sea and the Ural mountains is the W-E trending belt of moraines called the Varsh-Indiga-Markhida-Harbei-Halmer-Sopkay, here called the Markhida line. Glacial elements show that it was deposited by the Kara Ice Sheet, and in the west, by the Barents Ice Sheet. The Markhida moraine overlies Eemian mari...

Based on field investigations in northern Russia and interpretation of offshore seismic data, we have made a preliminary reconstruction of the maximum ice-sheet extent in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Early/Middle Weichselian and the Late Weichselian. Our investigations indicate that the Barents and Kara ice sheets attained their maxim...

The youngest ice marginal zone between the White Sea and the Ural mountains is the W-E trending belt of moraines called the Varsh-Indiga-Markhida-Harbei-Halmer-Sopkay, here called the Markhida line. Glacial elements show that it was deposited by the Kara Ice Sheet, and in the west, by the Barents Ice Sheet. The Markhida moraine overlies Eemian mari...

Glacial landforms in northern Russia, from the Timan Ridge in the west to the east of the Urals, have been mapped by aerial photographs and satellite images supported by field observations. An east-west trending belt of fresh hummock-and-lake glaciokarst landscapes has been traced to the north of 67°N. The southern boundary of these landscapes is c...

Based on field investigations in northern Russia and interpretation of offshore seismic data, we have made a preliminary reconstruction of the maximum ice-sheet extent in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Early/Middle Weichselian and the Late Weichselian. Our investigations indicate that the Barents and Kara ice sheets attained their maxim...

The ice dispersal features on the Siberian mainland unanimously indicate that the last ice domes were positioned on the Kara Sea shelf and adjacent coastal plains. The age of the last glacial maximum evokes much controversy. The problem may be solved by sorting out the available radiocarbon dates, both statistically and using geological common sens...

The Vastiansky Kon' is the largest exposure of Quaternary deposits in the Pechora lowland, northern Russia. Morphologically the site belongs to the so-called Markhida Moraine; a complex, east–west trending zone of ice-marginal landforms deposited by the Kara Sea Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. The site exhibits a succession of sediments more...

The apparent similarity of glacial and periglacial hummocky landscapes often leads to errors in delimiting former glaciated and perennially frozen areas by means of aerial mapping. To avoid the misinterpretation a set of morphological criteria is suggested, based on inherent difference between relief development by thermokarst sinking in permafrost...

The Vastiansky Kon' is the largest exposure of Quaternary deposits in the Pechora lowland, northern Russia. Morphologically the site belongs to the so-called Markhida Moraine; a complex, east-west trending zone of ice-marginal landforms deposited by the Kara Sea Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. The site exhibits a succession of sediments more...

Investigation of glacigenic diamictons and landforms in the central Russian Arctic has established that continental glaciation was widespread during late glacial time. Diamictons in West-Central Siberia containing marine foraminifera and mollusca include glacitectonic deformation features, and are associated with glacial landforms. These sediments...

Subglacial permafrost is usually referred to as a factor impeding basal glacial processes, and the deformation of soft substrata in particular. In West Siberian, widespread glacial disturbances present in permafrost of Pleistocene age suggest that frozen sediments, if clayey and/or icy, can readily deform, thus translating basal glacial stress into...

The Markhida Moraine is a broad zone of ice marginal landforms and deposits running E-W across the Pechora lowland in northern Russia. It was formed along the southern margin of an ice sheet advancing onto the coast from the Kara Sea. Previous researchers (Grosswald, 1980, 1983, 1994a: Grosswald et al., 1974) concluded that the moraine was formed d...

The W Siberian Plain is principally drained by the Yenesei and Ob-Yrtish. Between them they discharge 1024 km3/yr, 30% of the surface drainage of the USSR. The early history of these rivers is not clear as they did not drain in the most probable direction, but during and after glacial times there is better understanding of their alignment and evolu...

The geological structure of one of the southernmost sites of thick ice beds in the Yenisei valley near the Arctic Circle is discussed. The erosion contacts of the foliated and contorted ice, abundance of glacial debris and the position between the basal till and ablation cover indicate a glacial origin for the ice layer. The ice occurs in the cores...

Geological and geomorphological conditions pertaining to Ledyanaya Gora, the well‐known body of buried Pleistocene glacier ice on the lower reaches of the Yenisey, were investigated. It was found that the beds of folded ice are located in the cores of ridges and hummocks and that the sediments overlying the ice consist mainly of flow tills. A terra...

In answer to the criticism of his views on the structure of the upper sedimentary cover of West Siberia, based, to a large extent, on space image (SI) and high-altitude photograph interpretations, and the author explains the basic principles he has followed in his geological interpretation. The origin of major landforms in the old glacier area of t...

The positions of ice dispersal centers and of ice cap limits, both on land and on the sea bed, have been located fairly precisely by means of an analysis of marginal features produced by the last glaciation of Northern Eurasia, using in particular new data on the geomorphology of the beds of the Barents and Kara seas. The configuration of the vario...

The basic principles applied to geological space image interpretation of Siberia are explained in response to Kuzin's critical paper. The origin of large relief forms in the old glaciation area of the W Siberian plain is discussed.-ITC Bibliography

This paper summarizes the results of studies of the Late Weichselian periglacial environments carried out in key areas of northern Eurasia by several QUEEN teams (European Science Foundation (ESF) programme: ''Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North''). The palaeoglaciological boundary conditions are defined by geological data on timing and ex...

During an early phase of the Last Ice Age (Weichselian, Valdaian), about 90 000 yr ago, an ice sheet formed over the shallow Barents and Kara seas. The ice front advanced on to mainland Russia and blocked the north-flowing rivers (Yenissei, Ob, Pechora, Dvina and others) that supply most of the freshwater to the Arctic Ocean. The result was that la...