The environment of the hyrcanian epoch in the caspian sea (based on paleontological data)

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Abstract

Environment of the Hyrcanian transgressive epoch in the late Pleistocene history of the Caspian Sea is reconstructed on the basis of the results of malacofaunistic and palinological analyses of sediments in the core of boreholes drilled in the areas of engineering-geological research Rakushechnaya and Shirotnaya in the North Caspian. Hyrcanian sediments include 18 species of molluscs, principal part of which are the Caspian endemic; Didacna subcatillus and D. cristata are characteristic species. The malacofaunal composition indicates the salinity of the basin 6–10‰ and its warm water. The consistent change of faunal communities from the Hyrcanian thickness in the borehole IGS 4 of the Korchagin field demonstrates the transgressive development of the basin from shallow water to the basin with its highest level. In the sequence of spore-pollen spectra in these sediments three palinozones and seven subpalinozones are distinguished. They were the basis for reconstruction of the chronicle of climatic and phytocenotic changes and changes in natural conditions, reflecting the development of interglacial forest-steppe and forest landscapes on the territory of the Northern “Pre-Caspian” adjacent to the Hyrcanian basin. Judging by the participation in the composition of the dendropalinoflora of representative species of the Mikulino flora of the south of the Russian Plain, as well as the high content (against the backdrop of the alder pollen dominatiion) of broad-leaved pollen and the predominance of pollen Carpinus betulus in the widely complex, the accumulation of the Hyrcanian sediments occurred during a long interval of the thermo-hygrotic stage of the Mikulino interglacial. In the two optimal phases of this warm interval in the adjacent territory of the Northern PreCaspian, broadleaf hornbeams forests with an admixture of oak, lipa and elm and black alder (Alnus glutinosa) trees dominated. In forest communities of intrasonally and automorphic landscapes of interglacial (endothermal) cooling time, alder stands dominated. The climatic conditions of the Hyrcanian warm transgressive stage were more humid, than during the existence of the Late Khazarian Basin, distinguished by the dominance of steppe landscapes.

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About the authors

T. A. Yanina

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography

Author for correspondence.
Email: didacna@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

N. S. Bolikhovskaya

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography

Email: natbolikh@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. M. Sorokin

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geology

Email: valmsor@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow

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2. Fig. 1. Location of Rakushechnaya (1) and Shirotnaya (2) Areas. Space image of the northern part of the Caspian Sea.

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3. Fig. 2. Schematic structure of the borehole core in Rakushechnaya Area (area 1, boreholes I, II, III) and Shirotnaya (area 2, boreholes IV, V, VI). 1 – sand; 2 – sandy loam; 3 – clay; 4 – loam; 5 – mollusc shells and detritus; 6 – plant remnants; deposits: nk – Novocaspian, hv – Khvalynian, hc – Hyrcanian, hz2 – upper Khazarian.

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4. Fig. 3. Malacofauna from Hyrcanian deposits of the Nothern Caspian Sea. The shells of the species: 1 – prevail, 2 – many, 3 – rare, 4 – single.

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5. Fig. 4. Characteristic species of Didacna Eichwald genus in the Hyrcanian fauna. 1 – D. D. hyrcana, 2 – D. D. subcatillus, 3 – D. D. parallela, 4 – D. D. umbonata, 5 – D. D. cristata.

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6. Fig. 5. IGS 4 Korchagin core structure and sampling location for palinological (squared) and malacological (circle) analisys. Deposits: nk – Novocaspian, mg – Mangyshlakian, hv – Khvalynian, hc – Hyrcanian, hz – Khazarian. Symbols in the fig. 2. The colors in the schematic drawing correspond to the color of the sediments in the core.

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7. Fig. 6. Images of the pollen and spores are detected in the Hyrcanian sediments of the Northern Caspian Sea core IGS 4: (a) – pollen and spores in situ (without amorphous silica); (б) – pollen in situ (with amorphous silica inside or on the surface of the exina); (в) – redeposited pollen. Zoom ×400. The scale shown on each photo of pollen and spores is 10 microns. Sample numbers are shown in parentheses.

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