Lithological matrix of surface soils in the area of lake basins as a palaeogeographic proxy of the Yaroslavl Volga Region in the Late Glacial period

The study of an ancient lake basin adjacent to the right side of the Ustye River valley (northern macroslope of the Borisoglebsk Upland) was conducted. The set of methods included a detailed study of the catena laid within the coastal zone of the lake basin, hierarchical morphological analysis of sediments and soils at the macro-, meso- and microlevels, granulometric and bulk chemical analysis, general chemical properties and composition of clay mineralogy. The study was supported by OSL dating. The results of the studies do not indicate the existence of a uniform network of periglacial dammed lakes in the Last Glacial Maximum of the Valdai glaciation, primarily due to the absence of a runoff threshold for the lake basins. The lake basin we studied is associated with isolated lake basins with local aquicludes and drainage systems. In the coastal zone, under the thickness of lake sediments at a depth of about 2 meters, a glacial till of Moscow age is exposed. The presence of four different layers of lake sediments is associated with the flooding/drying cycles of the lake basin. All layers show combination of features of both mesomorphic and hydromorphic pedogenesis, reflecting the complex dynamics of the lake basin. Lake sedimentation ended in the Middle Valdai interstadial (31±3 thousand years ago). The subaerial stage of the lake basin evolution was manifested in three stages of aeolian sedimentation 18.5±1.3 (layer III), 16.6±1.3 (layer II) and 12.0±0.9 thousand years ago (layer III). The sediments of the first two stages are represented by thin layers and lenses of sand (layer III) and silty loam (layer II). A mantle of loamy-sandy loam aeolian sediments of the final stage (layer I) universally covers the lake sediments, and beyond the basin – the glacial till. The Bt horizons formed in the glacial till do not differ in the surface and buried bedding, which clearly indicates that the soils formed in glacial tills of Moscow age were under the influence of soil formation during the last interglacial.

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