Huge Ice-age lakes in Russia

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2001 (English)In: Journal of Quaternary Science, ISSN 0267-8179, E-ISSN 1099-1417, Vol. 16, no 8, p. 773-777Article in journal (Refereed)

Abstract [en]

During an early phase of the Last Ice Age (Weichselian, Valdaian), about 90 000 yr ago, an ice sheet formed over the shallow Barents and Kara seas. The ice front advanced on to mainland Russia and blocked the north-flowing rivers (Yenissei, Ob, Pechora, Dvina and others) that supply most of the freshwater to the Arctic Ocean. The result was that large ice-dammed lakes were formed between the ice sheet in the north and the continental water divides to the south. Here we present reconstructions and calculations of the areas and volumes of these lakes. The lake on the West Siberian Plain was nearly twice as large as the largest lake on Earth today. The well-mapped Lake Komi in northeast Europe and a postulated lake in the White Sea Basin would also rank before the present-day third largest lake. The lakes overflowed towards the south and thus the drainage of much of the Eurasian continent was reversed. The result was a major change in the water balance on the continent, decreased freshwater supply to the Arctic Ocean, and increased freshwater flow to the Aral, Caspian, Black and Baltic seas. A sudden outburst of the lakes’ water to the Arctic Ocean when the ice sheet thinned is postulated.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages

2001. Vol. 16, no 8, p. 773-777

Keywords [en]

northern Russia, Siberia, Arctic Ocean, Caspian Sea, ice-dammed lakes, Early Weichselian, Barents Ice Sheet, Kara Ice Sheet, Queen, SWEDARCTIC 1996, SWEDARCTIC 1998

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-1172DOI: 10.1002/jqs.661OAI: oai:DiVA.org:polar-1172DiVA, id: diva2:569308

Note

Source: Polardok by Swedish Polar Research Secretariat

Available from: 2012-11-15 Created: 2012-11-15 Last updated: 2017-12-07

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