Correlation of Neopleistocene tills in the northern Russian plain: Evidence from petrography of the coarse-clastic material

Abstract

The petrographic composition of boulder–pebble material from numerous till sections of the Timan–Pechora–Vychegda region was scrutinized to establish locations of glacial provenances and pathways of the terrigenous material transport during different Neopleistocene glaciations. Analysis of a great body of factual materials confirmed high feasibility of the application of petrographic data on the coarse-clastic material and the ratio of distal and proximal components in tills for their subdivision and correlation. The most reliable and regionally consistent criteria are represented by index boulders and orientation of elongated rock clasts, as well as isotope datings of rock clasts in till horizons.