Landscape of Northern Eurasia with Frost Relief as a Reflection of the Quaternary Period Paleogeography and the Global Climate Dynamics

Aim. Study of northern Eurasia landscapes with cryogenic relief in order to obtain information about the Quaternary history and climate dynamics in the Pleistocene-Holocene.

Methodology. The study is based on the analysis of landscapes with cryogenic relief in three regions of northern Eurasia in their sublongitudinal sequence – in the Russia European territory north (ETR), in the Western Siberia north and in the Eastern Siberia north. Based on a large amount of factual material, the author’s own and from the literature, a large genetic diversity of such landscapes and their spatial patterns are revealed. Comparison of these patterns with modern climatic zonation, features of the rocks thermal state and with the regional geomorphological structure made it possible to establish in which eras this or that cryogenic relief type was formed, and what natural  conditions and climate corresponded to their development.

Results. It has been established that most of the landscapes with cryogenic relief were formed in the Holocene, and in their distribution correspond to modern climatic zonality. Among them there are types that were formed on pre-Holocene surfaces, but in their distribution and stages of development they are subject to modern zonality. A number of modern cryogenic relief types in their distribution do not correspond to modern zonality and the modern rocks thermal state. They were formed on ancient surfaces in the Middle Pleistocene, and reflect the climate of ancient cold eras, which were characterized by climatic hyperzonation. The good preservation of these forms indicates the absence of glacial covers in the region in the Pleistocene. The location of cryogenic relief forms in the geological section indicates the existence of a marine basin in the Northern Eurasia western sector (ETR and Western Siberia) during most of the Pleistocene, and in the eastern sector (Eastern Siberia) – a similar continental regime throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. The predominance of polygonal relief in all eras indicates the absence of glaciation in the region in the Pleistocene.

Research implications. The proposed research is relevant because the Quaternary period paleo-geography has been the subject of ongoing debate for decades. Landscapes with cryogenic relief, which formed along with the emergence of the permafrost zone for 2,5 million years, changed during this time and maintained continuity in their development, contain information about the natural processes in the Pleistocene-Holocene, their evolution and climate dynamics. Therefore, identifying the genetic and spatial patterns of such landscapes can be used in paleogeographic reconstructions and be an additional argument in a geological dispute.

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