Vasili Kolka

Postglacial relative sea-level change and stratigraphy of raised coastal basins on Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia

A relative sea-level curve for the Holocene is constructed for Polyarny on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia. The curve is based on 18 radiocarbon dates of isolation contacts, identified from lithological and diatomological criteria, in nine lake basins situated between 12 and 57 m a.s.l. Most of the lakes show a conformable, regressive I–II–III (marine–transitional–freshwater) facies succession, indicating a postglacial history comprising an early (10,000–9000 radiocarbon years BP) phase of rapid, glacio-isostatically induced emergence (∼5 cm year−1) and a later phase (after 7000 years BP,) having a moderate rate of emergence (<0.5 cm year−1). Three lakes together record a phase of very low rate of emergence or slight sea-level rise at a level of ∼27 m a.s.l., between 8500 and 7000 years BP, which correlates with the regional Tapes transgression. Pollen stratigraphy in the highest lake shows that the area was deglaciated before the Younger Dryas and that previously reconstructed Younger Dryas glacier margins along the north Kola coast lie too far north.

The Keiva ice marginal zone on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia: a key component for reconstructing the palaeoglaciology of the northeastern Fennoscandian Ice Sheet

One of the key elements in reconstructing the palaeoglaciology of the northeastern sector of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet is the Keiva ice marginal zone (KIZ) along the southern and eastern coast of Kola Peninsula, including the Keiva I and II moraines. From detailed geomorphological mapping of the KIZ, primarily using aerial photographs and satellite images, combined with fieldwork, we observed the following. (1) The moraines display ice contact features on both the Kola side and the White Sea side along its entire length. (2) The Keiva II moraine is sloping along its length from c. 100 m a.s.l. in the west (Varzuga River) to c. 250 m a.s.l. in the east (Ponoy River). (3) The KIZ was partly overrun and fragmented by erosive White Sea-based ice after formation. From these observations we conclude that the KIZ is not a synchronous feature formed along the lateral side of a White Sea-based ice lobe. If it was, the moraines should have a reversed slope. Rather, we interpret it to be time transgressive, formed at a northeastward-migrating junction between a warm-based Fennoscandian Ice Sheet expanding from the west and southwest into the White Sea depression, and a sluggish cold-based ice mass centred over eastern Kola Peninsula. In contrast to earlier reconstructions, we find it unlikely that an ice expansion of this magnitude was a mere re-advance during the deglaciation. Instead, we propose that the KIZ was formed during a major expansion of a Fennoscandian Ice Sheet at a time pre-dating the Last Glacial Maximum.

Geomagnetic secular variations of high-latitude glaciomarine sediments: data from the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia

Abstract Geological, radiocarbon and paleomagnetic investigations of paleobays were carried out in the northwestern part of the Kola Peninsula (the Pechenga and Shuonijoki river valleys). The period from 10.3 to 9.5 kyear ago was characterized by the accumulation of glaciomarine sediments while the period 8.6–9.5 kyear was characterized by marine ones. Ca. 8.6 kyear marks the beginning of the formation of marine sediment transgression series. The clay sequences, accumulated in paleobays during a few hundred years, are an important object for studying the ancient geomagnetic field secular variations at high latitudes. Paleomagnetic signals in three outcrops from Pechenga river valley (69.5°N) record high-latitudinal inclination and declination variations in the time interval 8.5–10.0 kyear ago which correlate well with the secular variations of Early Holocene lacustrine deposits in the northern part of Ladoga Lake (61.5°N). A characteristic feature of the paleosecular variations at high latitudes is the proximity VGP to the observation point. Near to vertical inclination with declination variation amplitudes up to 150 took place ca. 9700-9500 year ago. The geomagnetic pole drifted south or crossed the Kola Peninsula at that time. The inclination and declination variations may be used in correlating the Early Holocene marine and lacustrine deposits in adjacent regions.

Varved clay paleomagnetism: Sedimentogenesis and secular variation record

The genesis, varve, and paleomagnetic informativeness of glaciolacustrine sediments are considered based on paleomagnetic and lithological studies. The magnetic properties of varved clays from periglacial basins have been considered using the sedimentological model of formation of varved clays as products of glacial turbidity currents, which explains the differences in the magnetic characteristics and degree of paleomagnetic informativeness of these clays. The distal zone sediments (formed due to precipitation from glacial turbidity currents, suspension, and sometimes along the periphery of the proximal zone) are most successfully used to study secular variations. The possible errors of the secular variation records in varved clays and such errors in estimating annual bedding of these clays have been analyzed. It has been indicated that information about the composition, concentration, and magnetic fraction size should be completed with detailed lithological studies, which make it possible to reconstruct the character of clastic material income into a basin and to decipher a paleomagnetic record. An analysis of the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy parameters and the magnetization formation in a sediment makes it possible to take into account disturbances caused by the sedimentation process and, thereby, to detect a pure geomagnetic signal

Environment and age of marginal formations of the last ice sheet in the southeastern Kola Peninsula

Abstract Studies of marginal glacial features in southeastern Kola Peninsula provide evidence that the eastern part of the northern Terskiye Keyvy ridge systems began to form between the Ponoy Ice Dome and the White Sea Ice Lobe, and later developed along the margin of the latter. The process most probably occurred throughout the whole of the Early Dryas. The second marginal belt (lying farther south) was also formed by the ice lobe which flowed across the White Sea basin, but is attributed to the Middle Dryas. Therefore for the first time data are presented which clearly indicate that marginal features corresponding to the Luga and Neva glacial stages were formed in the Kola Peninsula.