River sections at the Byzovaya Palaeolithic site – keyholes into the late Quaternary of northern European Russia

Abstract

Heggen, H. P., Svendsen, J. I. & Mangerud, J. 2009: River sections at the Byzovaya Palaeolithic site – keyholes into the late Quaternary of northern European Russia. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2009.00109.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The geological history of northern European Russia over the past two glacial cycles is reconstructed from the stratigraphy in river bluffs along the upper reaches of the Pechora River. From a till bed near the base of the sections it is inferred that the Barents–Kara Ice Sheet covered the area during the late Saalian (MIS 6). After deglaciation, and prior to the last interglacial, the area was flooded by an ice‐dammed lake, suggesting that the Pechora Basin was blocked by a subsequent ice advance at the very end of the Saalian. Ice‐wedge casts and periglacial sediments reflect a pronounced cooling with formation of permafrost during the Early Weichselian (MIS 5d). An overlying thick sequence of shallow lacustrine sediments accumulated in the ice‐dammed Lake Komi, formed by the advancing Barents–Kara Ice Sheet 80–100 kyr BP (MIS 5b?). Following drainage of the lake, many of the older formations were eroded by fluvial activity. Animal remains found together with palaeolithic artefacts within debrisflow sediments at the base of one of the incised gullies yielded radiocarbon ages around 28 000–30 000 14C yr BP (33–34 cal. kyr BP). The surface with traces of human activities was subsequently covered by aeolian sediments representing the northern extension of the European belt of periglacial coversand that accumulated in the cold and dry climate during the late Weichselian (MIS 2). The results of this work confirm the assumption that the last shelf‐centred ice sheet that covered this part of Russia occurred during the late Saalian (MIS 6), but that this glaciation was followed by a younger and less extensive ice advance that has not been described before. There are no indications that local glaciers originating in the Ural Mountains reached the Pechora River valley throughout the last two glacial cycles.

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region in northwestern Russia

“…Thicker units of aeolian sediments are found widely further to the east in the Pechora basin where severe periglacial conditions lasted until 12 ka (Heggen et al . ; Svendsen et al . ).…”

“…, b, ) and Heggen et al . () suggested that a huge lake (Lake Komi, around 100−80 ka) developed synchronously in western Siberia, in the Pechora region, and the lowlands between the Gulf of Finland and the White Sea. However, such regional distribution is in conflict with results from the area west of the Timan Ridge where there is evidence of northwards fluvial drainage at that time (Kjær et al .…”

Late Quaternary glaciation of the northern Urals: a review and new observations

“…There are also numerous radiocarbon dates with ages of up to 40-50 ka BP recovered from surficial Palaeolithic sites 10 and 14 in Fig. 3 Svendsen et al 2004;Heggen et al 2010). These facts in combination with the 10 subtill OSL dates, mean value 174 ka, and U/Th dates c. 200 ka at Seyda (12 in Fig.…”

“…; Heggen et al . ). These facts in combination with the 10 subtill OSL dates, mean value 174 ka, and U/Th dates c. 200 ka at Seyda (12 in Fig.…”

“…Kara (Nazarov et al 2009); 5 = Chernov glacier (Mangerud et al 2008); 6 = river YerkataAstakhov 2006); 7 = Sangompan and 8 = Pitlyar(Astakhov 2006); 9 = Shur peat(Astakhov et al 2005); 10 = Meskashor and 11 = river Bol. Usa(Svendsen et al 2014); 12 = river Seyda(Astakhov 2004); 13 = river Hanmei(Astakhov 2006), 14 = Byzovaya Palaeolithic site(Heggen et al 2010). See site 11 also in Figs 5 and 7.…”