<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>A set of 121 radiocarbon and OSL dates has been compiled from the Upper Dnieper River and tributary valleys, Western European Russia. Each date was attributed according to geomorphic/sedimentological events and classes of fluvial activity. Summed probability density functions for each class were used to establish phases of increasing and reducing fluvial activity. The oldest detected reduction of fluvial activity was probably due to glacial damming at LGM. Within the Holocene three palaeohydrological epochs of millennial-scale were found: (1) high activity at 12,000–8,000 cal BP marked by large river palaeochannels; (2) low activity at 8,000–3,000 cal BP marked by formation of zonal-type soils on -floodplains; short episodes of high floods occurred between 6,500—4,400 cal BP; (3) contrasting hydrological oscillations since 3,000 cal BP with periods of high floods between 3,000–2,300 (2,000) and 900–100 cal BP separated by long interval of low floods 2,300 (2,000)-900 cal BP when floodplains were not inundated — zonal-type soils were developing and permanent settlements existed on floodplains. In the last millennium, four centennial-scale intervals were found: high flooding intervals are mid-11–mid-15th century and mid-17–mid-20th century. Intervals of flood activity similar to the present-day were: mid-15–mid-17th century and since mid-19th century till present. In the context of palaeohydrological changes, discussed are selected palaeogeographic issues such as: position of the glacial boundary at LGM, role of changing amounts of river runoff in the Black Sea level changes, floodplain occupation by Early Medieval population.</p></abstract>

A set of 121 radiocarbon and OSL dates has been compiled from the Upper Dnieper River and tributary valleys, Western European Russia. Each date was attributed according to geomorphic/sedimentological events and classes of fluvial activity. Summed probability density functions for each class were used to establish phases of increasing and reducing fluvial activity. The oldest detected reduction of fluvial activity was probably due to glacial damming at LGM. Within the Holocene three palaeohydrological epochs of millennial-scale were found: (1) high activity at 12,000–8,000 cal BP marked by large river palaeochannels; (2) low activity at 8,000–3,000 cal BP marked by formation of zonal-type soils on -floodplains; short episodes of high floods occurred between 6,500—4,400 cal BP; (3) contrasting hydrological oscillations since 3,000 cal BP with periods of high floods between 3,000–2,300 (2,000) and 900–100 cal BP separated by long interval of low floods 2,300 (2,000)-900 cal BP when floodplains were not inundated — zonal-type soils were developing and permanent settlements existed on floodplains. In the last millennium, four centennial-scale intervals were found: high flooding intervals are mid-11–mid-15th century and mid-17–mid-20th century. Intervals of flood activity similar to the present-day were: mid-15–mid-17th century and since mid-19th century till present. In the context of palaeohydrological changes, discussed are selected palaeogeographic issues such as: position of the glacial boundary at LGM, role of changing amounts of river runoff in the Black Sea level changes, floodplain occupation by Early Medieval population.

Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper River system and its palaeogeographic implications

Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University, Vorobiovy Gory 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia

GADAM Centre of Excellence, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 2, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland

Faculty of Geography and Geoecology, Sankt-Petersburg State University, 10th Line, house 33, Sankt-Petersburg, 199178, Russia

Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetny Per. 29, Moscow, 119017, Russia

Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky Per. 7, Moscow 119017, Russia

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A set of 121 radiocarbon and OSL dates has been compiled from the Upper Dnieper River and tributary valleys, Western European Russia. Each date was attributed...

Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper River system and its palaeogeographic implications

Published Online: Jun 22, 2014

Page range: 278 - 293

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0154-1

Keywords
glacial damming, Holocene palaeohydrology, palaeofloods, buried floodplain soils, Dnieper River, Black Sea

© 2013 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper River system and its palaeogeographic implications

Published Online: Jun 22, 2014

Page range: 278 - 293

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0154-1

Keywordsglacial damming, Holocene palaeohydrology, palaeofloods, buried floodplain soils, Dnieper River, Black Sea

© 2013 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
glacial damming, Holocene palaeohydrology, palaeofloods, buried floodplain soils, Dnieper River, Black Sea