Structure and evolution of dune massifs in the Vilyui River Basin over the Late Quaternary Period (by the example of the Makhatta and Kysyl-Syr Tukulans)

Abstract

The data of the comprehensive study of deposits of dune sand massifs—the Makhatta and Kysyl-Syr Tukulans—in the Vilyui River Basin (Central Yakutia) are given. We have revealed the structure and preliminarily reconstructed the evolution of tukulans in the Vilyui River basin and the environmental conditions of the surrounding area in the Late Pleistocene–Holocene period (the chronological period of the formation of tukulans) on the basis of lithological and palynological data and 17 radiocarbon datings. It has been revealed that the tukulans should be assigned to eolian deposits formed on sediments of complicated facial structure. We have distinguished four stages in the vegetation evolution within the last 40000-year period and three chronostratigraphical phases in the development of dune massifs.