Relief of the area south-east of the Zaisan Lake and some characteristics of the Quaternary sedimentation

Abstract

Four stages are distinguished in the relief development in the Zaisan Lake basin, each of them being associated with a complex of built-up surfaces: 1) glacial-fluvioglacial-lacustrine stage ( Kiinzhirian) - the end of the Middle Pleistocene; 2) glacial-alluvial - lacustrine (Katonian) - beginning of the Late Pleistocene; 3) lacustrine-alluvial stage (post-glacial) - the end of the Late Pleistocene; 4) alluvial - the Holocene. Geomorphic structure and the Quaternary sediments distribution suggest general upwarping of the area during the Quaternary, the movement amplitudes decreasing gradually.