Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Bug loess (Pleistocene: Upper Vistulian) between Kiev and Odessa (Ukraine)

Authors

  • Roman Chlebowski Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw, Al. Zwirki i Wigury 93, PL-02-089 Warszawa, Poland
  • Petro Gozhik Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Gonchara 55b, 01-054 Kiev, Ukraine
  • Leszek Lindner Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw, Al. Zwirki i Wigury 93, PL-02-089 Warszawa, Poland
  • Maria Łanczont Institute of Earth Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Kraśnicka 2D, PL-20-718 Lublin, Poland
  • Józef Wojtanowicz Institute of Earth Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Kraśnicka 2D, PL-20-718 Lublin, Poland

Keywords:

Ukraine, Kiev-Odessa area, alimentation areas, heavy minerals, last glaciation, loess

Abstract

Documented type sections (Vyazivok, Stayky, Uman, Troitskoye, Altestovo, Roxolany and Lebedivka) provide a basis for Pleistocene stratigraphy between Kiev and Odessa, and have been used to characterise the heavy mineral composition and part of the light fraction of the Bug loess in this area. These sections document an almost complete succession of climatic change during the last 780 ka, worked out mostly using loesses and palaeosols though also in the case of the first two sections, of glacial deposits. The heavy mineral composition of the Bug loess in these sections documents five mineral groups on the basis of their resistance to weathering and susceptibility to deflation and aeolian transport. Radar charts with particular mineral groups indicate mineralogical and genetic trends in the loesses. Moreover, in some sections the light fraction of the loess investigated contains derived microfossils (mainly foraminifers) of Cretaceous age, indicating source areas for the loess-forming material, and constraining the palaeowind directions. The data obtained allow distinction of three accumulation zones of the Bug loess in this area, reflecting loesses derived from different source areas and transported by winds from different directions. In northern sections (zone A), the Bug loess was accumulated by winds blowing from the west and north-west. More to the south (zone C), the same loess was accumulated by winds from the east and south-east. Loess preserved in zone B, between these areas, could be accumulated by winds from either of these directions.

Downloads

Published

2010-03-27

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 3 (2003)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and earlier and more frequent citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).