New data on the age and evolution of the late Pleistocene cryogenesis in the southern Caspian Lowland

The article presents new data on cryogenic structures of different periods found in sections in the south of the Lower Volga Region. Based on a comprehensive cryolithological analysis, cryogenic origin of these structures was confirmed. Absolute dating by the method of optically stimulated luminescence was used to determine the age of enclosing, overlying deposits and filler of the structures. Four stages of cryogenesis were established in firth-marine deposits of the Lower Volga region: I stage ~115—105 ka (КОС-4 and КОС-3 horizons), II stage ~90—83 ka (КОС-2), III stage ~47—45 ka (CY-1), IV stage ~23—22 (КОС-1). In the south of the Caspian Lowland, with generally arid conditions existed through-out the Late Pleistocene, the humidity of sediments (determined by the geomorphological position of the sections) played a decisive role in the development of cryogenesis of cold stages. This study makes it possible to move the boundary of the maximum distribution of the Late Pleistocene permafrost area for this territory by 250 km to the south than previously assumed. The new data significantly refine our understanding of the stages and scales of the development of cryogenesis in the southeast of the East European Plain, and allow us to improve paleogeographic reconstructions for the Late Pleistocene of the Caspian Lowland.

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