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Sediment provenance of late Quaternary morainic, fluvial and loess‐like deposits in the southwestern Verkhoyansk Mountains (eastern Siberia) and implications for regional palaeoenvironmental reconstructions
Author(s) -
Popp Steffen,
Belolyubsky Innokenty,
Lehmkuhl Frank,
Prokopiev Andrei,
Siegert Christine,
Spektor Valentin,
Stauch Georg,
Diekmann Bernhard
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geological journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1099-1034
pISSN - 0072-1050
DOI - 10.1002/gj.1088
Subject(s) - geology , provenance , loess , moraine , fluvial , geochemistry , alluvium , foreland basin , river terraces , quaternary , heavy mineral , tributary , glacial period , geomorphology , aeolian processes , conglomerate , sedimentary rock , paleontology , structural basin , cartography , geography
A provenance analysis of late Quaternary deposits from tributaries of the Aldan and Lena rivers in Central Yakutia (eastern Siberia) was carried out using analysis of heavy minerals and clay mineralogy. Cluster analysis revealed one assemblage that is characterized by relatively high proportions of amphibole, orthopyroxene and garnet as well as pedogenic clay minerals, reflecting a sediment provenance from the wide catchment area of the Lena and Aldan rivers. In contrast, the three other clusters are dominated by stable heavy minerals with varying amounts of clinopyroxene, apatite and garnet, as well as high percentages of illite and chlorite that are indicative of source rocks of the Verkhoyansk Mountains. Glacial moraines reveal the local mountain source signal that is overprinted by the Lena‐Aldan signal in the oldest moraines by reworking processes. Alluvial sediments in the Verkhoyansk Foreland show a clear Lena source signal through intervals of the middle and late Pleistocene, related to a stream course closer to the mountains at that time. Loess‐like cover sediments are characterized by the dominant Lena provenance with increasing proportions of local mountain sources towards the mountain valleys. Aeolian sands in an alluvial terrace section at the mountain margin covering the time between 30 ka and 10 ka BP reflect temporarily dominant inputs of aeolian materials from the Lena Plains. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.