Formation of the Mineral Composition of Neopleistocene Basal Moraines in the European Russian Subarctic

The results of long-term studies of the heavy mineral composition in Neopleistocene basal moraines, carried out according to a unified technique in numerous outcrops in the European Russian Subarctic, are summarized. The heavy fraction of moraines was formed due to the transport of material from three different glacial feeding provinces: distal, transit, and proximal. With the activation of glacier dynamics and increase in the exaration activity of the mainland ice, local features of the underlying rocks had a decisive influence on the moraine composition. Taking into account other lithological data, the established age and spatial tendencies of regular variability in the mineral composition of different-age moraine horizons made it possible to identify reliably their stratigraphic position.