HOLOCENE OF THE MIDDLE TAIGA SUBZONE OF WESTERN SIBERIA ACCORDING TO PALYNOLOGICAL DATA OF THE SECTION IN THE VALLEY OF THE R. MULYMYA

Abstract

The purpose of the research was a comprehensive palaeoecological study of peat deposits from a core in the floodplain of the Mulymya river, reconstruction of changes in climatic parameters and vegetation in the Holocene according to spore-pollen analysis (SPA) and radiocarbon dates. In the course of the study, new data were received from the SPA of the Mulymya core, provided with a series of AMS dates, which made it possible to record changes in climatic parameters and the transformation of forest formations of the Konda left-bank middle taiga province for the period 10180–2720 BP / 8463–977 BC. In the late glacial period (up to 10,000 BP / 8250 BC), the territory represented open spaces with widespread permafrost. In the Early Holocene, 9750–8200 BP / 7750–650 BC, the expansion of woody vegetation began: there was an expansion of forest areas from sparse forests to closed forests. From the beginning, woody vegetation grew in islands of open spruce forests with an admixture of larch and birch with a moss-shrub cover. Pine and birch dominated in the composition of forests by the Middle Holocene, spruce, larch, fir and Siberian cedar were found in admixtures. The instability of the climate is reflected in the variegated stratigraphy of the peat deposit: the alternation of sedge-cotton grass and woody peat with the participation of sphagnum mosses indicates to the hydrological regime fluctuations. The Late Holocene (from 4760–3670 BP / 2850–1650 BC) is characterized by relatively stable climatic conditions; spruce-cedar-pine forests grew in the territory under consideration. The floodplain communities were represented by sedge-cotton grass associations. From 3670 to 2900 BP / 1650–1100 ВС, the floodplain was afforested, which is indicated by the remains of wood in the peat.