Stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Sartan glaciation in West Siberia

Climate History and Early Peopling of Siberia

“…(Chlachula, 1999). During glacial periods, the northward drainage of the Yenisei and the Ob River was diverted by the ice barrier of the northern inland (Arctic) ice-sheet to the southwest into the Aral and Caspian Sea (Arkhipov, 1998). The regional (palaeo)relief of southern Siberia with intermountain depressions preconditioned formation of large river dams blocked by glaciers periodically causing high-magnitude floods.…”

“…The Cenozoic neo-tectonic activity with the Pleistocene glaciations and interglacial geomorphic processes modeled the configuration of the present relief of Siberia and the adjoining Ural Mountains. During the cold Pleistocene periods, the vast extra-glacial regions of West Siberia south of the NW Arctic ice-sheet were transformed into a large periglacial super zone (Arkhipov, 1998), which became a major sedimentation area of aeolian (silty) deposits cyclically derived by winds from the continental ice-front ablation surfaces. Main palaeoenvironmental records, spanning over several hundred thousand years, have been preserved in deeply stratified sections within the major basins (Ob, Yenisei, Angara and www.intechopen.com Lena River) exposed after progressive erosion triggered by constructions of large dams (Drozdov et al, 1990;Medvedev et al, 1990).…”

Maximum extent of the Eurasian ice sheets in the Barents and Kara Sea region during the Weichselian

“…The maximum ice-sheet limit in the European part of the Russian Arctic is correlated with similar ice-pushed morainic ridges in the Ob and Yenissei river valleys on the West-Siberian Lowland (Arkhipov 1998;Astakhov 1998). Based on the character of ice-marginal forms, it is suggested that during the glacial maximum the Kara Ice Sheet was merging with a separate ice cap centred on the Putorana Plateau (Makkaveyev et al 1982).…”

“…Unlike the European part of the Russian mainland, there is evidence to suggest that the northern part of the West Siberian Lowland and the central Taimyr Peninsula were inundated by a marine transgression following the last deglaciation (Arkhipov 1998;Möller et al 1999). From the Taimyr Peninsula, Möller et al (1999) describe marine deltaic sediments not covered by till at an altitude of around 100 m a.s.l., reflecting a strong glacioisostatic depression caused by the former ice load.…”

“…The map is based on Lademanns Verdensatlas (Anon. 1984). are also many sites with marine sediments correlated with the Eemian that are covered by till (Arkhipov 1998;Astakhov 1992). Another observation that supports a Weichselian age for this glaciation is the frequent occurrence of buried glacier ice within areas affected by the Eemian transgression (Astakhov & Isayeva 1988).…”