Morphotectonics, deformations of loose sediments and stages of tectonic activation of the Sambia (Kaliningrad) Peninsula in the Late Neopleistocene and Holocene

Morphotectonic studies of the Sambian (Kaliningrad) Peninsula using remote sensing, DEMs, and geologic mapping confirmed the existence of recently active block-and-fault structure expressed in the topography and Quaternary sediments structure. Tectonic deformations of sediments exposed in the coastal abrasion scarps were studied and systematized. The morphological structure of the Peninsula is a superposition of several morpho-lineament systems defining the differential vertical displacements of blocks with the changing role of morpho-lineament systems in different parts of the Peninsula: a) the flanks are dominated by the la- titudinal and meridional system, reflecting the most General laws of neotectonic movements and associated with the formation of Gotland Baltic system of grabens; b) in the axial part of the Peninsula – the NorthWestern system, controlling the main Holocene uplift; c) in its north-eastern part, the GCC is a meridional one, which determines the development of the Curonian Lagoon; d) in the south-western part – the northeastern one, which sets the general plan of the Vistula Depression. In the coastal scarps on the western and northern shores of the peninsula, deformations associated with tectonic activation of different ages have been studied: a) faults and ruptures with amplitudes from centimeters to several meters; b) folds and flexures from microforms to gentle synclines with an amplitude of up to meters and a width of up to the first hundred meters and to compressed near-fault anticlines; c) various forms of liquefaction, including deformation horizons with a thickness of 10 cm to the first meters with flame-like textures, homogenized deposits and intra-layer fragmentation. Traces of 5 stages of tectonic activation are recorded in the sediments: a) end of Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) (weakly active); b) after the end of PGP (maximally active); c) end of Eemian interglacial period (active); c) end of the Last Glacial Period – Early Holocene (weakly active); d) Later Holocene (weakly active). The most intense tectonic movements occurred after the end of PGP when the amplitudes of vertical displacements along the breaks reached the first tens of meters, and the thickness of the liquefaction horizons exceeded 1 m. Later, the intensity decreased, reflecting in the amplitudes of vertical displacements from several tens of centimeters to the first decimeters, accompanied by liquefaction (pre-Weichselian stage) and up to first centimeters in the Holocene.

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