Determining the age of the megaflood event in the biya river valley (Altai) through the study of high terrace deposits near Karabinka village

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

We studied a new section of the high (Biya) terrace on the Biya River near Karabinka village. The two identified sedimentary units – fluvial (lower) and subaerial (upper) – correlate well with known sections of the Biya terrace in the vicinities of Biysk city and Staraya Azhinka village. Results of deposits correlation, radiocarbon and optically simulated luminescence (OSL) dating reveal that the fluvial unit of the Biya terrace was accumulated by an enormous glacier-dammed lake outburst megaflood that traveled along the Biya River valley ca. 50–45 ka, during the first half of the interglacial MIS 3 stage. This was followed by the formation of the subaerial cover of the upper part of the terrace. For a long time up to 14.5 ka, dammed lakes existed in the tributaries of the Biya River that were blocked by giant bars. The good convergence of results of radiocarbon and OSL dating indicates that under proper control of the bleaching degree of quartz grains megaflood sands are usable for determination of the ages of large hydrological events. Dating the fluvial unit of the Biya terrace is important since it represents a regional stratigraphic marker that enables the correlation of Upper Pleistocene deposits of the Gorny Altai and the Fore-Altai Plain.

About the authors

G. G. Rusanov

Gorno-Altaisk Expedition of the JSC “Siberian PGO”

Author for correspondence.
Email: rusgennadij@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Maloeniseyskoe

E. V. Deev

Novosibirsk State University; Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the RAS

Email: deevev1@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Novosibirsk; Novosibirsk

A. V. Shpansky

National Research Tomsk State University

Email: shpansky@ggf.tsu.ru
Russian Federation, Tomsk

References

  1. Adamenko O.M. (1967). Osnovnye zakonomernosti geologicheskogo razvitiya Kulundinskoi vpadiny (Main regularities of the geological development of the Kulunda Basin). PhD thesis. Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk. Gos. Un-t (Publ.). 39 p. (in Russ.)
  2. Adamenko O.M. (1974). Mezozoi i kaynozoi Stepnogo Altaya (Mesozoic and Cenozoic of the Steppe Altai). Novosibirsk: Nauka. Sib. Otdelenie (Publ.). 168 p. (in Russ.)
  3. Adamenko O.M., Kazakov P.E., Kanopa V.V. (1962). On the age of the Biysk terrace. Vestnik Zapadno-Sibirskogo i Novosibirskogo geologicheskogo upravleniya. № 3. P. 32–38. (in Russ.)
  4. Arkhipov S.A. (1971). Chetvertichnyi period v Zapadnoi Sibiri (Quaternary period in Western Siberia). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.). 331 p. (in Russ.)
  5. Arkhipov S.A. (1973). Stratigraphy and geochronology of terraces and buried valleys in the Upper Ob Basin. In: Pleistotsen Sibiri i smezhnykh oblastei. Moscow: Nauka (Publ.). P. 7–21. (in Russ.)
  6. Babin G.A. (Ed.). (2007). Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. (2007). Masshtab 1:1 000 000 (tret’e pokolenie). Seriya Altaye-Sayanskaya. List N-45 – Novokuznetsk (State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1:1 000 000 (third generation). Altai-Sayan series. Sheet N-45 – Novokuznetsk). Sankt-Peterburg: Кartfabrika VSEGEI (Publ.). 3 p. (in Russ.)
  7. Babin G.A., Gusev N.I., Yuriev A.A. et al. (2007). Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Masshtab 1:1 000 000 (tret’ye pokoleniye). Seriya Altaye-Sayanskaya. List N-45 – Novokuznetsk. Ob”yasnitel’naya zapiska (State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1:1 000 000, 3rd Series: Altai-Sayan series. Sheet N-45 – Novokuznetsk. Explanatory note). Sankt-Peterburg: Kartfabrika VSEGEI (Publ.) 665 p. (in Russ.)
  8. Baryshnikov G.Y. (1976). Morphology and loose deposits of the Biya river valley. In. Questions of geomorphology of the Altai Territory. Leningrad: Geograficheskoe obshchestvo SSSR (Publ.). P. 14–17. (in Russ.)
  9. Baryshnikov G.Y. (1992). Razvitie rel’efa perekhodnykh zon gornykh stran v kainozoe (na primere Gornogo Altaya) (Development of the relief of transitional zones of mountainous countries in the Cenozoic (on the example of Gorny Altai). Tomsk: TGU (Publ.). 182 p. (in Russ.)
  10. Baryshnikov G.Y. (2012). Rel’ef perekhodnykh zon gornykh stran (Relief of transitional zones of mountainous regions). Barnaul: Altaiskii gosudarstvennyi universitet (Publ.) 499 p. (in Russ.)
  11. Baryshnikov G., Panin A., Adamiec G. (2016). Geochronology of the late Pleistocene catastrophic Biya debris flow and the Lake Teletskoye formation, Altai Region, Southern Siberia. Int. Geology Rev. V. 58. Iss. 14. P. 1780–1794. https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2015.1062733
  12. Butvilovsky V.V. (1985). Catastrophic discharges of waters of ice-dammed lakes of the South-Eastern Altai and their traces in the relief. Geomorfologiya. № 1. P. 65–74. (in Russ.)
  13. Butvilovskii V.V. (1993). Paleogeografiya poslednego oledeneniya i golotsena Altaya: sobytiino-katastroficheskaya model’ (The Late Glacial and Holocene paleogeography of Altai: an event-catastrophic model). Tomsk: TGU (Publ.). 253 p. (in Russ.)
  14. Carling P.A., Kirkbride A.D., Parnachov S. et al. (2002). Late Quaternary catastrophic flooding in the Altai Mountains of south-central Siberia: a synoptic overview and introduction to flood deposit sedimentology. Martini I.P., Baker V.R., Garzon G. (Eds.). In: Flood and Megaflood Processes and Deposits: Recent and Ancient Examples, Special Publication 32 of the IAS. Oxford: Blackwell Science. P. 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304299.ch2
  15. Carling P.A., Martini I.P., Herget J. et al. (2009). Megaflood sedimentary fill: Altai mountains, Siberia. Burr D.M., Carling P.A., Baker V.R. (Eds.). In: Megaflooding on Earth & Mars. CUP. P. 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511635632.013
  16. Deev E., Turova I., Borodovskiy A. et al. (2019). Large earthquakes in the Katun Fault zone (Gorny Altai): Paleoseismological and archaeoseismological evidence. Quat. Sci. Rev. V. 203. P. 68–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.11.009
  17. Deev E.V., Zolnikov I.D., Bortodovsky A.P. et al. (2012). Neotectonics and paleoseismicity of the lower Katun’ valley (Gorny Altai). Russian Geology and Geophysics. V. 53. P. 883–894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2012.07.004
  18. Deev E.V., Zolnikov I.D., Lobova E.Yu. (2015). Late Pleistocene–Holocene coseismic deformations in the Malyi Yaloman River valley (Gorny Altai). Russian Geology and Geophysics. V. 56. P. 1256–1272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2015.08.003
  19. Durcan J.A., King G.E., Duller G.A.T. (2015). DRAC: Dose Rate and Age Calculator for trapped charge dating. Quat. Geochronology. V. 28. P. 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.03.012
  20. Fedak S.I., Gusev A.I., Turkin Yu.A. et al. (2018). Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Masshtab 1:200 000. Izdanie vtoroe. Seriya Gorno-Altayskaya. List N-45-KHKHXIII (Krasnogorskoe). Ob”yasnitel’naya zapiska (State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1:200 000. Second edition. Gorny Altai series. Sheet N-45-ХХXIII (Krasnogorsk). Explanatory note). Moscow: Moskovskii filial FGBU “VSEGEI” (Publ.) 140 p. (in Russ.)
  21. Kirillov A.S., Sentsova V.F. (1945). Geology of the area of conjugation of the Salair, the central part of the Neninsk-Chumysh Basin and the western of Gornaya Shoria. Otchet o rabotakh Soltonskoi geologo-s’emochnoi partii v yuzhnoi chasti lista N-45-XXVII v 1944 g. Novosibirsk. 131 p. (in Russ.)
  22. Kuzmin A.M. (1929). Materials for the dismemberment of the ice age in the Kuznetsk-Altai region. Izvestiya Zapadno-Sibirskogo otdela Geologicheskogo komiteta. V. 8. Iss. 2. 62 p. (in Russ.)
  23. Maloletko A.M. (1963). Neotectonics of the Pre-Altai part of Western Siberia. In: Novye dannye po geologii i poleznym iskopaemym Altaiskogo kraya. Novosibirsk. P. 19–22. (in Russ.)
  24. Maloletko A.M. (1972). Paleogeografiya predaltaiskoi chasti Zapadnoi Sibiri v mezozoye i kainozoe (Paleogeography of the Pre-Altai part of Western Siberia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic). Tomsk: TGU (Publ.). 227 p. (in Russ.)
  25. Moskvitin A.I. (1960). Experience in applying a unified stratigraphic scheme to the Quaternary deposits of Western Siberia. Trudy GIN AN SSSR. V. 2. P. 11–36. (in Russ.)
  26. Murray A.S., Wintle A.G. (2003). The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: Potential for improvements in reliability. Radiation Measurements. V. 37. P. 377–381 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1350-4487(03)00053-2
  27. Musaev A.M., Pervukhin O.V., Bozhukha A.P. et al. (2010). Otchet po rabotam za 2007–2010 gg. Maloeniseiskoe. Otchet po rabotam za 2007–2010 gg. Tom 1. (Exploration for brown coal within the Shaburovskaya area (Altai Territory). Report on work for 2007–2010. Vol. 1). Maloeniseiskoe. 224 p. (in Russ.)
  28. Neshumaeva K.D., Bessonenko V.V. (1955). Otchet Biiskoi partii za 1954 g. po geologicheskoi s”emke masshtaba 1:200000 severnoi chasti lista N-45-XXXIII (Report of the Biysk party for 1954 on the geological survey at a scale of 1:200000 of the northern part of sheet N-45-XXXIII). Novosibirsk. 248 p. (in Russ.)
  29. Panin A.V., Baryshnikov G.Y., Deev E.V. et al. (2021). Geomorphological and sedimentological data to refining the chronology of the Altai megafloods. In: Puti evolyutsionnoi geografii: Materialy II Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoi pamyati professora A.A. Velichko (g. Moskva, 22-25 noyabrya 2021 g.). Moscow: IInstitut geografii RAN (Publ.). P. 822–825. (in Russ.)
  30. Panychev V.A. (1979). Radiouglerodnaya khronologiya allyuvial’nykh otlozhenii Predaltaiskoi ravniny (Radiocarbon chronology of alluvial deposits of the Pre-Altai Plain). Novosibirsk: Nauka. (Publ.). 103 p. (in Russ.)
  31. Parnachev S.V. (1999). Geologiya vysokikh altaiskikh terras (Yalomano-Katunskaya zona) (Geology of high terraces in the Altai (Yaloman-Katun’ Zone). Tomsk: IPF TPU (Publ.). 137 p. (in Russ.)
  32. Parvitskaya N.I. (1948). Otchet Togul’skoi geologicheskoi partii za 1947 god (Report of the Togul Geological Party for 1947). Novosibirsk. 118 p. (in Russ.)
  33. Ragozin L.A. (1948). About the ratio of terraces of the Central Altai and foothills in the Katun River system. Trudy II Vsesoyuznogo geograficheskogo s”ezda. V. 2. P. 188–192. (in Russ.)
  34. Reimer P., Austin W.E.N., Bard E. et al. (2020). The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon. V. 62. Iss. 4. P. 725–757. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.41
  35. Reuther A.U., Herget J., Ivy-Ochs S. et al. (2006). Constraining the timing of the most recent cataclysmic flood event from ice-dammed lakes in the Russian Altai Mountains, Siberia, using cosmogenic in situ ¹⁰Be. Geology. V. 34. P. 913–916. https://doi.org/10.1130/G22755A.1
  36. Rudoy A.N., Zemtsov V.A. (2010). New data on modeling the hydraulic characteristics of late Quaternary diluvial flows from the Chuya and Kurai ice-dammed lakes in Altai. Lеd i sneg. № 1. P. 111–118. (in Russ.)
  37. Rusanov G.G. (2007). Ozera i paleogeografiya Severnogo Altaya v pozdnem neopleystotsene i golotsene (Lakes and paleogeography of Northern Altai in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene). Biysk: GOU VPO BPGU (Publ.). 164 p. (in Russ.)
  38. Rusanov G.G., Karabitsina E.A. (2018). Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Masshtab 1:200 000 (izdanie vtoroe). Altaiskaya seriya. List N-45-XXXIII (Krasnogorskoye). Karta chetvertichnykh obrazovaniy (State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1:200 000 (second edition). Altai series. Sheet N-45-XXXIII (Krasnogorsk). Map of Quaternary deposits). Moscow: Moskovskii filial FGBU “VSEGEI” (Publ.) 1 p. (in Russ.)
  39. Rusanov G.G., Kolpakova E.A. (2021). Gosudarstvennaya geologicheskaya karta Rossiiskoi Federatsii. Masshtab 1:200 000 (izdanie vtoroe). Kuzbasskaya seriya. List N-45-XXVII (Solton). Karta paleogen-chetvertichnykh obrazovanii (State Geological Map of the Russian Federation. Scale 1:200 000 (second edition). Kuzbass series. Sheet N-45-XXVII (Salton). Map of Paleogene-Quaternary deposits). St. Petersburg: Kartfabrika VSEGEI (Publ.). 1 p. (in Russ.)
  40. Rusanov G.G., Orlova L.A. (2013). Radiouglerodnye datirovki (SOAN) Gornogo Altaya i Predaltayskoi ravniny: katalog (Radiocarbon dating (SOAN) of the Altai Mountains and the Pre-Altai Plain: a catalogue). Biysk: FGBOU VPO AGAO (Publ.). 291 p. (in Russ.)
  41. Rusanov G.G., Deev E.V., Ryapolova Y.M. et al. (2013). Paleohydrothermal activity of faults in the Gorny Altai based on travertine dating. In: Geology and Mineral Resources of Siberia. V. 4(16). P. 53–64. (in Russ.)
  42. Schukina E.N. (1960). Patterns of distribution of Quaternary deposits and their stratigraphy in the territory of Altai. Trudy GIN AN SSSR. V. 26. Moscow: AN SSSR (Publ.). P. 127–164. (in Russ.)
  43. Shpansky A.V. (2018). Chetvertichnye krupnye mlekopitayushchie Zapadno-Sibirskoi ravniny: usloviya obitaniya i stratigraficheskoe znachenie (Quaternary large mammals of the West Siberian Plain: habitat conditions and stratigraphic significance). Doctor of science thesis. Tomsk. 313 p. (in Russ.)
  44. Svitoch A.A., Boyarskaya T.D., Voskresenskaya T.N. et al. (1978). Razrez noveishikh otlozhenii Altaya (opornye razrezy noveishikh otlozhenii) (Section of the latest deposits of Altai (reference sections of the latest deposits). Moscow: MGU (Publ.). 208 p. (in Russ.)
  45. Zhivago A.V. (1949). Experience in the application of the schlich method in the morphological analysis of the Biya Valley (Altai). Trudy Instituta Geografii AN SSSR. V. 39. P. 115–122. (in Russ.)
  46. Zolnikov I.D. (2008). Stratotypes of quaternary deposits of the Yaloman-Katun’ zone (Gorny Altai). Russian Geology and Geophysics. V. 49. P. 682–691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2007.09.021
  47. Zolnikov I.D. (2009). Neopleistocene glacial megafloods in Gorny Altai and their relationship with the evolution of sediments and relief of the West Siberian Plain. Byulleten’ komissii po izucheniyu chetvertichnogo perioda. № 69. P. 59–70. (in Russ.)
  48. Zolnikov I.D., Deev E.V., Kotler S.A. et al. (2016). New results of OSL dating of Quaternary sediments in the Upper Katun’ valley (Gorny Altai) and adjacent area. Russian Geology and Geophysics. V. 57. P. 933–943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2015.09.022
  49. Zolnikov I.D., Deev E.V., Nazarov D.V. et al. (2015). Comparative analysis of megaflood deposits and alluvium of the Chuya and Katun’ river valleys (Gorny Altai). Russian Geology and Geophysics. V. 56. P. 1162–1172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2015.07.007
  50. Zolnikov I.D., Kurbanov R.N., Deev E.V. et al. (2021). Biya terrace as an analogue of the superflood Saldzhar strata of Altai mountains. In: Puti evolyutsionnoi geografii: Materialy II Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoi pamyati professora A.A. Velichko (g. Moskva, 22–25 noyabrya 2021 g.). Moscow: Institut geografii RAN (Publ.). P. 789–791. (in Russ.)
  51. Zolnikov I.D., Mistryukov A.A. (2008). Chetvertichnye otlozheniya i rel’ef dolin Chui i Katuni (Quaternary sediments and terrain in the Chuya and Katun valleys). Novosibirsk: Parallel (Publ.). 184 p. (in Russ.)

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. Overview map of the study area based on https://yandex.ru/maps

Download (661KB)
Indexing metadata
3. Fig. 2. Geology of the study area in Salair, the Biya Range and the Nenya-Chumysh Depression without Quaternary deposits modified after (Babin, 2007; Rusanov, Karabitsina, 2018; Rusanov, Kolpakova, 2021).

Download (1MB)
Indexing metadata
4. Fig. 3. Wall fragment of an abandoned quarry that exposed the Biya terrace near Karabinka village.

Download (528KB)
Indexing metadata
5. Fig. 4. Lithological chart of the Karabinka section. Insets show sampling locations for OSL dating.

Download (1MB)
Indexing metadata
6. Fig. 5. Biya terrace sections upstream of Staraya Azhinka village modified from (Rusanov, 2007). (а) – the main section; (б) – outcrop fragment in the lower part of the section of the Biya terrace 3 km upstream of Staraya Azhinka village. 1 – aeolian clayey and silty sand; 2 – clay; 3 – silty sand; 4 – silt; 5 – fine to coarse sand; 6 – coarse sand with pebbles; 7 – fine pebble; 8 – pebble; 9 – cobble and boulders; 10 – travertine; 11 – bedrock; 12 – fossil bone; 13 – sampling locations for radiocarbon dating; 14 – stripping area.

Download (382KB)
Indexing metadata
7. Fig. 6. Travertines of the Staraya Azhinka section. (а) – sand with travertine cement covering Paleozoic bedrock; (б) – grape-like sand-carbonate aggregates; (в) – travertine crusts covering the surfaces of alluvial cobbles and pebbles; (г) – druse aggregates of calcite in free space between pebbles.

Download (1MB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences