Lithogeochemistry of rocks of the Upper Neopleistocene Ust-Oda reference section in the Irkutsk Amphitheater of the Siberian Platform

Abstract

The results of study of rocks of the Ust-Oda section, one of the key outcrops of Upper Neopleistocene sediments in the Irkutsk Amphitheater of the Siberian Platform, are presented. It is shown that primary sediments were deposited in the Neopleistocene under subarid conditions and relatively high sedimentation rates. Similar contents of trace elements in all rock lithologies suggest that the provenance was unaltered during sedimentation. It is shown that variation in the sediment transport mechanism is one of the signs of changes in the paleoclimatic setting. Climatic cyclicity of the Ust-Oda section formation and succession of sedimentation setting, which were reconstructed on the basis of grain size data, correspond to variations in the petrochemical correlations and geochemical coefficients.