Sedimentation rates on the floodplains of lowland rivers in the center of the European Part of Russia according to the study of soil-alluvial chronosequences

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Abstract

The floodplain deposition rates for the Istra, Oka and Seim rivers valleys were estimated based on a combination of dating methods (radiocarbon, radiocesium and historical-archaeological) for various time windows of the Holocene. In addition, a new method to estimated sedimentation rate, based on the assessment of the degree of soil profile development of paleosols buried in alluvium was applied. Spatio-temporal differences in the rates of floodplain sedimentation have been established based on chronological and soil-geomorphological studies. It was found that sedimentation rates on the young floodplain of Seim and Istra rivers is 1.8–23 mm year–1), 2–15 mm year–1, respectively. While on the ancient floodplains of Oka and Seim rivers during different periods, the floodplain deposition rate varied within the range of 0.01–0.7 mm year–1. The periods of increased sedimentation rates were short in time. Based on the study of a young, rapidly growing Istra River floodplain, the deposits of which are dated on the basis of historical and archaeological materials, new sedimentation rates that characterize the floodplains of the center part of the East European Plain were obtained: alluvium without signs of pedogenesis is formed at a sedimentation rate of more than 15 mm year–1, with signs of pedogenesis at a rate of 2–15 mm year–1, cumulative soils at a rate of 0.5–2 mm year–1. Cyclic fluctuations in the sedimentation rate in the Holocene were established on the basis of 14C and archaeological dates for to the Nikitino section located on the Oka River floodplain, where a large series of well-developed paleosols were distinguished. It was found that during periods with active accumulation of alluvium layers, sedimentation rate was about 2 mm year–1, which is 20 times higher than in longer periods soil formation, when sedimentation rates were 0.07–0.14 mm yr–1.

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About the authors

A. L. Aleksandrovskii

Institute of Geography RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: alexandrovski@igras.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. N. Golosov

Institute of Geography RAS; Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: alexandrovski@igras.ru

Faculty of Geography

Russian Federation, Moscow; Moscow

I. V. Zamotaev

Institute of Geography RAS

Email: alexandrovski@igras.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Location of studied sites within the center of the European part of Russia: Lgov – the Seim River, Nikitino – the Oka River, Nikon Skete – the Istra River.

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3. Fig. 2. Topographic profile (A–Б) on the floodplain of the Seim River and location of soil pits (а); stratigraphy of soil profiles (б) and a view of the segment of the Seim River valley (в). 1 – numbers of pits; 647 ± 51 – age of deposits.

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4. Fig. 3. Soil pit at floodplain of the Istra River, the Nikon Skete site. Below at a depth of 270–300 cm lies the paleosoil which was formed during the time of the Skete construction is identified at the depth of 270–300 cm bricks and other artifacts of the middle of the XVIII century were found at a depth of 170 cm; coarse-layered alluvium, characterized the stagewith high rate of floodplain sedimentation occupied the middle part of soil section, 135–235 cm.

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5. Fig. 4. A plot of the 137Cs vertical distribution in sections 1 (а) and 2 (б) located in the oxbow depression and on the river bank diagonal bar, respectively (see fig. 2). 1986, 1963 and 1954 – the surface of the alluvial soil at the time of initial fallout from the atmosphere of Chernobyl-derived 137Cs, the maximum of bomb-derived 137Cs and the beginning of bomb-derived 137Cs fallout, respectively.

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6. Fig. 5. Diagram of the phases of floodplain alluvium and buried soils development. (а) – scenario 1 (simple). The stage of accumulation of the alluvium layer (L2) is replaced by the stage of soil formation (S2), during which there is no sedimentation. The sedimentation rate is calculated for the initial thickness of the alluvium layer (“a”). (б) – scenario 2 (complex). The soil 2 is cumulative, it partially develops in depth, partially grows upwards, which is indicated by arrows 1 (pedogenesis) and 2 (sedimentation). The sedimentation rate for the period of soil development S2 is calculated only for the layer accumulated during this time (“d”). For the original alluvium layer (L2) on which this soil formed, it is the same as in Scenario 1. Other designations are explained in the text.

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7. Fig. 6. The rate of alluvium accumulation on the Oka River floodplain (Nikitino site) (а): 1 – Curve based on 14C dating; curve 2 – based on 14C dating and data, which were received based on the duration of periods of pedogenesis (see tabl. 3). (б) – Lubbock Like section – curve is constructed with taking into account the duration of periods of pedogenesis (Holliday, 1992).

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