Lower Kolyma River development during Pleistocene

Abstract

Five stages of the Kolyma Lowland formation can be identified on the base of the geomorphic interpretation of large-scale aerial photographs as well as field studies conducted by the author at the lower reaches of the Kolyma River. The stages are as follows: Neogene-Early Pleistocene (N-Q₁), Middle Pleistocene (Q₂¹⁺²), two stage during Late Pleistocene (Q₃¹⁺² and Q₃³⁺⁴) and recent - Holocene (Q₄). Each stage left relicts of ancient valleys and deltas of the Kolyma River at the modern topography. The relicts show evidence that during the Quaternary a series of block subsidences along fault lines resulted in the river migration eastward (until it took its present position), the distance of the migration being 135 kilometers.