Pleistocene loess-soil sequence and aeolian relief of Western Siberia: chronology and features of their formation

The article discusses the current state of chronostratigraphy and paleogeography of the loess-soil sequence of the Pleistocene of Western Siberia, which is one of the most complete in Northern Eurasia. It is shown that genetically loess is closely related to eolian formations formed as a result of activation of eolian processes in earlier arid epochs of the Late Cenozoic in North Asia. A deflationary and accumulative eolian relief, paragenetically associated with the formation of the subaerial formation, is described, showing a slight transfer of material that forms the loess stratum. It has been established that the eolian relief and the activation of eolian processes occurred during the cold periods of the Pleistocene with the predominance of southwestern winds. The basis of the stratigraphic subdivision and correlation of sections of the loess strata are fossil soils formed under strictly defined climatic conditions. Consistent tracking of the loess and soil horizons of the loess sequence of the Pleistocene of Western Siberia, taking into account radiocarbon and luminescent dating and the use of climatostratigraphic correlations, showed that its structure and composition clearly reflect the uniqueness of each paleogeographic epoch, associated with changes in the intensity of atmospheric circulation in the cold and warm epochs of the Pleistocene. The features of each specific epoch are recorded in a combination of unique individual features of certain horizons of the loess-soil sequence. In the alternating horizons of loesses and soils, a record of global and regional changes in landscapes and climate has been preserved, reflecting the originality and uniqueness of the paleogeography of each time epoch. The structure and composition of the loess strata reflect the different intensity of atmospheric circulation during the cold and warm epochs of the Pleistocene. It is shown that the chronological sequence of the loess-soil sequence of Western Siberia, based only on OSL dates, does not always coincide with the loess-soil sequence of Western Siberia, built on the integration of various approaches, with the predominant use of the paleopedological method, and therefore needs to be corrected. The best correlation results are achieved by combining all available dating methods with the involvement of biostratigraphic, sedimentological and geological data, based on the climatostratigraphic principle.

1. Arkhipov S., Zykina V., Krukover A.A. et at. (1997) Stratigraphy and paleomagnetism of glacial and loess-soil deposits on the West-Siberian plain // Russian Geology and Geophysics. Vol. 38. No. 6. P. 1027-1048. (in Russ.)

2. Broecker W.S. (2000) Abrupt climate change: causal constraints provided by the paleoclimate record. Earth-Science Reviews. Vol. 51. P. 137–154.

3. Chirkin K.A., Smolyaninova L.G., Zykin V.S. et al. (2009) About Bruchnes-Matuyama boundary in subaeral deposites south-east part of Western Siberia. Fundamental'nye problemy kvartera: itogi izucheniya i osnovnye napravleniya dal'nejshih issledovanij. Novosibirsk: SO RAN (Publ.). P. 622–624. (in Russ.)

4. Chlachula J., Little E. (2011) A high-resolution Late Quaternary climatostratigraphic record from Iskitim, Priobie Loess Plateau, SW Siberia. Quaternary International. Vol. 240. No. 1-2. P. 139–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.01.045

5. Daxner-Höck G., Höck V., Badamgarav D. et al. (1997) Cenozoic Stratigraphy based on a sediment-basalt association in Central Mongolia as Requirement for Correlation across Central Asia. Mémoires et Travaux de l’Institut de Montpellier, E.P.H.E. Vol. 21. P. 163–176.

6. Ding Z.L., Sun J.M., Liu T.S. et al. (1998) Wind-blown origin of the Pliocene red clay formation in the central Loess Plateau, China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Vol. 161. P. 135–143.

7. Dodonov A.E. (2002) Chetvertichnyj period Srednej Azii: Stratigrafiya, korrelyaciya, paleogeografiya (The Quaternary Period of Central Asia: Stratigraphy, Correlation, and Paleogeography). Moscow: Geos (Publ.). 250 p. (in Russ.)

8. Dobretsov N.L., Zykin V.S., Zykina V.S. (2003) Structure of the pleistocene loess-soil sequence of Western Siberia and its correlation with the Baikalian and global records of climatic changes. Doklady Earth Sciences. Vol. 391. No. 6. P. 821–824. (in Russ.)

9. Drozdov N.I., Checha I.P., Hazarts P. (2005) Geomorfologiya i chetvertichnye otlozheniya Kurtakskogo geoarheologicheskogo rajona (Severo-Minusinskaya vpadina) (Geomorphology and Quaternary deposits of the Kurtak geoarchaeological area (North Minusinsk depression)). Krasnoyarsk: IPK KSPU (Publ). 109 p. (in Russ.)

10. Frechen M., Zander A., Zykina V. et al. (2005) The loess record from the section at Kurtak in Middle Siberia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Vol. 228. P. 228–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paleo.2005.06.004

11. Goudie A., Kent P., Viles H. (2016) Pan morphology, Distribution and formation in Kazakhstan and Neighbouring areas of the Russian federation. Desert. Vol. 21. No. 1. P. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.22059/JDESERT.2016.58313

12. Guo Z.T., Ruddiman W.F., Hao Q.Z. et al. (2002) Onset of Asian desertification by 22 Myr ago inferred from loess deposits in China. Nature. Vol. 416. P. 159–163. https://doi.org/10.1038/416159a

13. Haesaerts, P., Chekha, V.P., Damblon, F. et al. (2005): The loess-palaeosol succession of Kurtak (Yenisei basin, Siberia): a reference record of the Karga stage (MIS3). Quatenaire. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 3–24. https://doi.org/10.4000/quaternaire.171

14. Höck V., Daxner-Höck G., Schmid H.P. et al. (1999) Oligocene-Miocene sediments, fossils and basalts from the Valley of Lakes (Central Mongolia) - An integrated study. Mitt. Österr. Geol. Ges. Bd. 90. P. 83–125.

15. Karabanov E. B., Prokopenko A.A., Kuz´min M.I. et al. (2001) Glacial and interglacials perods of Siberia: paleoclimatic record of Lake Baikal and correlation with West Siberian stratigraphy scheme (Brunhes Chron). Russian Geology and Geophysics. Vol. 42. No. 1-2. P. 48-63. (in Russ.)

16. Kes A.S., Fedorovich B.A. (1975) The problem of zoning and age of eolian-soil fine earths (loesses and their analogues). Problemy regional'noj i obshchej paleogeografii lessovyh i periglyacial'nyh oblastej. M.: Nauka (Publ.). P. 90–101. (in Russ.)

17. Kornutova E.I. (1984) Stratigraphy of Paleogene and Neogene deposits of the Shilka-Onon region of Transbaikalia. Sreda i zhizn' na rubezhah epoh kajnozoya v Sibiri i na Dal'nem Vostoke. Novosibirsk: Nauka (Publ.). P. 128–132. (in Russ.)

18. Krukover A.A. (1992) Chetvertichnye mikroteriofauny prilednikovoj i vnelednikovoj zon Zapadnoj Sibiri (Quaternary microtheriofauna of the periglacial and extraglacial zones of Western Siberia). PhD thesis. Novosibirsk. 19 p. (in Russ.)

19. Krukover A. (2007) Quaternary arvicolid faunas of the southern West Sibirian Plain. CFS Cour Forschungsinstitut Senckenb. Vol. 259. P. 93–98.

20. Kukla G.J., An Z.S., Melice J.L. et al. (1990) Magnetic susceptibility record of Chinese loess. Trans Royal Society Edinburgh: Earth Science. Vol. 81. P. 263–288. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300020794

21. Kurbanov R.N., Taratunina N.A., Volvakh N.E. (2020) Experience in the use of OSL dating in the study of loess-soil series of Northern Eurasia. Aktual'nye problemy paleogeografii plejstocena. Nauchnye dostizheniya Shkoly akademika K.K. Markova. Moscow: Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University (Publ.). P. 595–613. (in Russ.)

22. Lisiecki L.E., Raymo M.E. (2005) A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography. Vol. 20. PA. 1003. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001071

23. Maloletko A.M. (1976) Hollow-ridged relief of the Steppe Ob and Kulunda and its origin. Voprosy geografii Sibiri. Vol. 9. Tomsk: Tomsk University (Publ.). P. 124–141. (in Russ.)

24. Manabe S., Broccoli A.J. (1990) Mountains and Arid Climates of Middle Latitudes. Science. Vol. 247. P. 192–195.

25. Meshcheryakova O.A., Volvakh N.E., Kurbanov R.N. et al. (2022) The Upper Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequence at Solonovka on the Cis-Altai plain, West Siberia – First luminescence dating results. Quaternary Geochronology. Vol. 73. P. 101384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2022.101384

26. Muhs D.R. (2013) Loess Deposits: Origins and Properties. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. P. 573–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53643-3.00145-X

27. Muhs D.R., Bettis A.E. (2003) Quaternary loess-paleosol sequences as examples of climate-driven sedimentary extremes. Extreme depositional environments: Mega and members in geological time. Geological Society of America. Special Publication. Vol. 370. P. 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2370-1.53

28. Petit J. R., Jouzel J., Raynaud D. et al. (1999) Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature. Vol. 399. P. 429–436. https://doi.org/10.1038/20859

29. Petit J. R., Mounier L., Jouzel J. et al. (1990) Paleoclimatological and chronological implications of the Vostok core dust record. Nature. Vol. 343. No 6253. P. 56–58. https://doi.org/10.1038/343056a0

30. Pinkhasov B.I. (1984) Neogen-chetvertichnye otlozheniya i novejshaya tektonika YUzhnogo Priaral'ya i Zapadnyh Kyzylkumov (Neogene-Quaternary deposits and recent tectonics of the Southern Aral Sea and Western Kyzyl Kum). Tashkent: FAN (Publ.). 150 p. (in Russ.)

31. Pospelova G.A., Gnibidenko Z.N. (1982) Magnetostratigraphic sections of Neogene and Quaternary deposits of North Asia and southeastern Europe and problems of their correlation. Geofizicheskie metody v regional'noj geologii. Novosibirsk: Nauka (Publ.). P. 76–94. (in Russ.)

32. Pötter S., Lehmkuhl F., Weise J. et al. (2023) Spatiotemporal model for the evolution of a mega-yardang system in the foreland of the Russian Altai. Aeolian Research. Vol. 62. P. 100866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2023.100866

33. Prokopenko A.A., Karabanov E.B., Williams D.F. et al. (2001) Biogenic Silica Record of the Lake Baikal Response to Climatic Forcing during the Brunhes. Quaternary Research. Vol. 55. P. 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.2000.2212

34. Smolyaninova L.G., Zykin V.S., Chirkin K.A. (2011) New magnetostratigraphic data and the position of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary in the reference section Belovo (Ob steppe plateau). Paleomagnetizm i magnetizm gornyh porod. Materialy vserossijskoj shkoly-seminara. Borok: GO «Borok» IFZ RAN (Publ.). P. 89–92. (in Russ.)

35. Vangengeim E.A., Vislobokova I.A., Godina A.Ya. et al. (1993) On the Age of Mammalian Fauna from the Karabulak Formation of the Kalmakpai River (Zaisan Depression, Eastern Kazakhstan). Stratigraphy. Geological correlation. Vol. 1. No. 2. P. 37–47. (in Russ.)

36. Velichko А.А., Timireva, S.N. (2005) Western Siberia, the great Late-Glacial desert // Priroda. No. 5. P. 54–62. (in Russ.)

37. Volkov I.A. (1971) Pozdnechetvertichnaya subaeralnaya formaciya (Late Quternary subaerial sedimentary association). Moscow: Nauka (Publ). 253 p. (in Russ.).

38. Volkov I.A. (1976) Rol eolovogo faktora v evolutsii rel´efa (The role of eolian factor in the topography evolution) In Timofeev D.A. (ed.) Problemy ekzogennogo rel'efoobrazovaniya (Kniga 1). ( Problems of exogenic topography formation.) Book 1. Nauka, (Publ.) Moscow, 264-269.

39. Volkov I.A. (1980) Cyclicity of formation of Quaternary subaerial sediments of the temperate belt and climate fluctuations. Ciklichnost' formirovaniya subaeral'nyh porod. Vol. 457. Novosibirsk: Nauka (Publ.). P. 25–33. (in Russ.)

40. Volkov I.A., Zykina V.S., Semyonov V.V. (1984) Lower boundary of the Quaternary system in the subaerial strata of West Siberia. Stratigrafiya pogranichnyh otlozhenij neogena i antropogena Sibiri. Novosibirsk: IGiG SB RAS (Publ.). С. 72–84. (in Russ.)

41. Volvakh N.E. (2022) Lyuminescentnaya geohronologiya lessovo-pochvennoj posledovatel'nosti neoplejstocena yugo-vostoka Zapadno-Sibirskoj ravniny (Luminescent geochronology of the loess-soil sequence of the Neopleistocene of the southeast of the West Siberian Plain). PhD thesis. Novosibirsk: 23 p. (in Russ.)

42. Volvakh N.E., Kurbanov R.N., Volvakh A.O. et al. (2021) The First Results of Luminescent Dating of Loess-Paleosol Series in the South of Western Siberia (Lozhok Reference Section). Izvestiya RAN. Seriya Geograficheskaya. Vol. 85. No. 2. P. 284–301. (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S2587556621020151

43. Volvakh N.E., Kurbanov R.N., Zykina V.S. et al. (2022) First high-resolution luminescence dating of loess in Western Siberia. Quaternary Geochronology. Vol. 73. P. 101377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2022.101377

44. Zander A., Frechen M., Zykina V. et al. (2003) Luminescence chronology of the Upper Pleistocene loess record at Kurtak in Middle Siberia. Quaternary Science Reviews. Vol. 22. P. 999–1010. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-379(03)00034-9

45. Zazhigin V.S. (1980) Gryzuny pozdnego pliocena i antropogena yuga Zapadnoj Sibiri (Late Pliocene and Anthropogene Rodents of the South of the Eastern Siberia). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.). 156 p. (in Russ.)

46. Zykin V.S. (1982) New data on Neogene sequence near the city of Pavlodar. Problemy stratigrafii i paleogeografii plejstocena Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Nauka (Publ.). P. 66–72. (in Russ.)

47. Zykin V.S. (2012) Stratigrafiya i evolyuciya prirodnoj sredy i klimata v pozdnem kajnozoe yuga Zapadnoj Sibiri (Stratigraphy and evolution of environments and climate during Late Cenozoic in the Southern West Siberia). Novosibirsk: GEO (Publ.). 487 p. (in Russ.)

48. Zykin V.S., Zazhigin V.S., Zykina V.S. (1995) Changes in the natural environment and climate in the early Pliocene of the south of the West Siberian Plain. Geologiya i geofizika. Vol. 36. No. 8. P. 40–50. (in Russ.)

49. Zykin V.S., Zykina V.S., Orlova L.A. (2003) Reconstruction of changes in the natural environment and climate of the Late Pleistocene in the south of Western Siberia according to the sediments of the Aksor Lake basin. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. No. 4, P. 2–16. (in Russ.)

50. Zykin V.S., Zykina V.S., Smolyaninova L.G. et al. (2017) New Stratigraphic Data on the Quaternary Sediments in the Peschanaya River Valley, Northwestern Altai // Archaeology, Ethology and Antropology of Eurasia. Vol. 45. No 3. P. 3-16. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.003-016

51. Zykin V.S., Zykina V.S., Orlova L.A. et al. (2009) On the development of Lake Chany in the late Pleistocene-Holocene time. Geografiya – teoriya i praktika: sovremennye problemy i perspektivy. Barnaul: Altai university (Publ.). P. 95–98. (in Russ.)

52. Zykina V.S. (1986) Fossil soils - the basis for the division of Quaternary subaerial deposits of Western Siberia. Biostratigrafiya i paleoklimaty plejstocena Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Nauka (Publ.). P. 115–121. (in Russ.)

53. Zykina V.S., Krukover A.A. (1988) New data on the division and correlation of Quaternary deposits of the Pre-Altai Plain. Perspektivy razvitiya mineral'no-syr'evoj bazy Altaya. Ch. 1. Barnaul: Poligrafist (Publ.). P. 47–49. (in Russ.)

54. Zykina V.S., Orlova L.A., Chekha V.P. (2000) Reconstruction of the natural environment and climate of the subaerial sequence of the Kurtak section. Paleogeografiya kamennogo veka. Korrelyaciya prirodnyh sobytij i arheologicheskih kul'tur paleolita Severnoj Azii i sopredel'nyh territorij. Materialy Mezhdunarodnoj Konferencii. Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical University (Publ.). P. 62–64. (in Russ.)

55. Zykina V.S., Volkov I.A., Dergacheva M.I. (1981) Verhnechetvertichnye otlozheniya i iskopaemye pochvy Novosibirskogo Priob'ya (Upper Quaternary deposits and fossil soils of the Novosibirsk Ob region). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.). 203 p. (in Russ.)

56. Zykina V.S., Volkov I.A., Semenov V.V. (2000) Reconstruction of Neopleistocene climates in West Siberia based on study of Belovo key section. Problemy rekonstrukcii klimata i prirodnoj sredy golocena i plejstocena Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS Press (Publ.). P. 229–249. (in Russ.)

57. Zykina V.S., Zykin V.S. (2012) Lessovo-pochvennaya posledovatelnoct i evolyutsya prirodnoi sredy i klimata Zapadnoi Sibiri v pleistotsene (Loess-soil sequence and environment and climate evolution of West Siberia in Pleistocene). Novosibirsk: GEO (Publ.). 478 p. (in Russ.)

58. Zykina V.S., Zykin V.S., Volvakh A.O. et al. (2019) Loess-Paleosol Sequence at the Krasnogorskoye Sectin, the Low-Hill Zone of the Northtastern Altai Mountains. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. Т. 47. No 1. P. 3-14. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0100.2019.47.1.003-014

59. Zykina V.S., Zykin V.S., Volvakh N.E. et al. (2021) New data on the chronostratigraphy of the Upper Pleistocene loess–soil series in Southwestern Siberia. Doklady Earth Sciences. Vol. 500. P. 870–874. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X21100202

60. Zykina V.S., Zykin V.S. (2003) Pleistocene warming stages in Southern West Siberia: soils, environment, and climate evolution. Quaternary International. Vol. 106-107. P. 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(02)00175-1

61. Zykina V.S., Zykin V.S. (2008) The loess-soil sequence of the Brunhes chron from West Siberia and its correlation to global climate records. Quaternary International. Vol. 179. P. 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2007.10.010