The chronology and formation conditions of floodplain generations in the lower reaches of the Belaya River (Upper Angara region)

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Abstract

A geomorphological study of a key section of the Belaya River valley in the lower reaches is conducted to reconstruct the Holocene history of the development of the valley. The spatial distribution of floodplain generations of different morphology and low terrace levels is analyzed. To clarify the age relationships of various surfaces, a study of the facies structure and composition of deposits of ten pits and seven boreholes on a cross-section profile was carried out, the age of formation of alluvial strata was determined by radiocarbon dating. The structure of the longitudinal profile of the floodplain and the channel, the absence of signs of constrative accumulation of alluvium, suggests the absence of the tectonic influence on the formation of alluvium in the floodplains and low terraces of the Belaya River. However, the control of the development of a number of bands in the lower reaches of the Belaya River by system of lineaments and the associated stability of these landforms determined their representativeness for assessing the rhythm of alluvial sedimentation and the development of fluvial processes in the Holocene. The landscape-climatic changes at the end of the Late Glacial and Holocene caused the alternation of the stages of high and low water level and the stages of development of the Belaya River valley associated with them within the plain part of its basin. Stages of a relatively small river runoff, typical for time intervals 12.9–7.0; 5.6–4.5; 4.1–2.3 and 0.3–0 kyr BP changed by stages of high-water levels and active floodplain sedimentation 7.0–5.6; 4.5–4.1 and 2.3–0.3 kyr BP. The development of fluvial processes and the rhythmicity of the formation of the studied floodplains correlates well with the context of regional temperature and humidity changes during the Late Glacial and Holocene, allowing us to consider the floodplains of the left-bank tributaries of the Angara River as significant paleogeographic archives.

About the authors

V. A. Golubtsova

Sochava Institute of geography SB RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: tea_88@inbox.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk

M. Yu. Opekunova

Sochava Institute of geography SB RAS; Irkutsk National Research Technical University

Email: opek@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk; Irkutsk

M. V. Smirnov

Sochava Institute of geography SB RAS; Institute of Earth’s crust SB RAS

Email: tea_88@inbox.ru
Russian Federation, Irkutsk; Irkutsk

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2. Fig. 1. Location of investigated territory within the Belaya River basin.

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3. Fig. 2. Geomorphological structure of investigated territory. 1 – water objects; floodplain: 2 – low, 3 – middle, 4 – high; terraces: 5 – first terrace, 6 – second and third terraces; 7 – oxbows (bottoms of former channels); 8 – crests; 9 – bedrock slopes; 10 – built-up areas; 11 – pits and boreholes (1 – Mogoy-2, 2 – Mogoy-1, 3 – B-1-22, 4 – B-2-22, 5 – B-19, 6 – B-7-22, 7 – B-4-22, 8 – B-5-22, 9 – Kholmushino, 10 – Berezovyi); 12 – cross section.

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4. Fig. 3. Cross-section across the Belaya River valley. 1–3 – buried soils horizons; 4 – loams; 5 – sandy loams; 6 – sands; 7 – pebbles; 8 - sampling sites for radiocarbon dating; 9 – charcoals; 10 – debris inclusions; 11 – cryogenic features; 12 – peats; 13 – red-ox features; 14 – investigated sections and boreholes; 15 – bedrock; 16 – section numbers.

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5. Fig. 4. Structure of investigated sections and radiocarbon age of paleosols. Horizons of buried soils: 1 – dark humus, 2 – gray-humus, 3 – illuvial, 4 – carbonate accumulative; 5 – loams; 6 – sandy loams; 7 – sands; 8 – pebbles; 9 – samples for radiocarbon dating; 10 – calendar age; 11 – charcoals; 12 – debris inclusions; 13–14 – cryogenic features; 15 – buried peats; 16 – krotovinas; 17 – red-ox features.

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6. Fig. 5. Correlation between the stages of formation of the studied floodplain-channel complexes and landscape-climatic changes during the Holocene. (а) – temperature fluctuations in Fore-Baikal region (Vorobyova, 2010); (б) – global changes of temperatures during last 2 kyr (Mann et al., 2009); (в) – changes in the content of diatoms in the bottom sediments of the Lake Baikal (Karabanov et al., 2000); (г) – humidity fluctuations in the Baikal region, according to (Wang, Feng, 2013, г1) and (Tarasov et al., 2007, г2); (д) – aeolian processes dynamics in the Belaya River valley (Golubtsov et al., 2020); (е) – dynamics of development of the studied surfaces (MF – middle floodplain; HF – high floodplain; I T – first terrace). 1 – stages of pedogenesis; 2 – cover deposits; 3 – floodplain deposits; 4 – sediments of the near-channel shallow facies. The blue horizontal stripes correspond to the stages of increased flood activity, the brown ones correspond to the decrease in flood activity and low dynamics of fluvial processes.

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