Quaternary sediments in the Garevo and Zhuravsky sections in the Lower Pechora River

Research subject. Quaternary sediments exposed near the Garevo village and Zhuravsky settlement (latitudinal section of the Pechora River, Ust-Tsilemsky District of the Komi Republic).

Aim. The objective of this study is to reveal the lithological and palynological characteristics and peculiarities of the geological structure of the Neopleistocene sediments.

Materials and Methods. Field observations, including measurements of clast fabric in moraines, were supplemented by the study of sediments by mineralogical, petrographic and palynological methods.

Results. In the consolidated section of Quaternary sediments, three horizons of moraine diamictons and separating them fluvioglacial and interglacial sediments are distinguished. The moraine of the Pomusovka (Oka) glaciation is characterized by the presence of crystalline rocks among the coarse clastic material and its north-northwest orientation. Sands and silts, probably fluvioglacial sediments, separate the Pomusovka sediments from the diamicton of the Pechora (Dnieper) moraine. The Pechora moraine is characterized by an assemblage of boulders without crystalline rocks and an increased proportion of sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. The orientation of the long axes of the debris is multidirectional. The Pechora morainic diamicton is overlain by Rodionovo (Shklov), presumably alluvial-marine (deltaic) sands and lake clays. The clays contain “cold” spore-pollen spectra, indicating the existence of sparse birch forests and shrub tundra at the beginning of the Rodionovo Interglacial. The overlying diamicton of the Vychegda (Moscow) moraine is characterized by the presence of crystalline rocks as a part of a complex of boulders with northeastern, northwestern, and sublatitudinal orientations. The upper part of the section is composed of Laya (Podporozhye) coarse sandy sediments with gravel and pebbles and Polar (Ostashkov) cover silts.

Conclusions. The features of the geological structure and stratigraphic position of the Quaternary sediments in the vicinity of the Garevo village and Zhuravsky settlement in the lower course of the Pechora River have been established. The composite section of Quaternary deposits consists of glacial and interglacial sediments of the Pomusovka, Pechora, Rodionovo, Vychegda, Laya and Polar horizons. Palynocomplexes from the Rodionovo sediments indicate the development of sparse birch forests and shrub tundra at the beginning of the Rodionovo Interglacial. The presence of significantly different ideas about the structure of the sections according to different authors is shown, and the lithological variability of the same age morainic diamictons is noted, which deserves further study.

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