Application of Rock Weathering and Colonization by Biota for the Relative Dating of Moraines from the Arid Part of the Russian Altai Mountains

For the Altai Mountains’ region, especially the arid southeastern part of the Russian Altai, the data on glacier fluctuations in the Pleistocene and Holocene are still inconsistent. The study area was the Kargy River’s valley (2288–2387 m a.s.l.), a location that is not currently affected by glaciat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geosciences (Basel) 2021-08, Vol.11 (8), p.342
Main Authors: Ganyushkin, Dmitrii A., Lessovaia, Sofia N., Vlasov, Dmitrii Y., Kopitsa, Gennady P., Almásy, László, Chistyakov, Kirill V., Panova, Elena G., Derkach, Ekaterina, Alekseeva, Anastasiya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Arid regions
Biota
biota colonization
Chronology
Colonization
Dating
Dating techniques
Disintegration
Earth science
Geomorphological mapping
Geomorphology
Glacial drift
Glacial periods
Glaciation
Glacier fluctuations
Glaciers
Glaciology
Holocene
Methods
Mineralogy
moraine relative dating
Moraines
Mountains
Oxidation
Pleistocene
Pleistocene glaciation
Pleistocene moraines
Porosity
rock porosity
Rocks
Schist
Schists
Sediments
Self-similarity
Specificity
Weathering
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Summary:For the Altai Mountains’ region, especially the arid southeastern part of the Russian Altai, the data on glacier fluctuations in the Pleistocene and Holocene are still inconsistent. The study area was the Kargy River’s valley (2288–2387 m a.s.l.), a location that is not currently affected by glaciation and the glacial history of which is poorly studied. Field observations and geomorphological mapping were used to reveal the configuration of Pleistocene moraines. The relative dating method was applied to define the degree of weathering as an indicator of age. Three moraine groups of different ages (presumably MIS 6, MIS 4, and MIS 2) were identified based on a detailed investigation of their morphological features and the use of relative dating approaches. The latter were primarily based on weathering patterns. Data on the rock mineralogy, porosity, and specificity of biological colonization as an agent of weathering were obtained for the moraine debris. The studied moraines were composed of fine-grained schist, in which the specific surface area and fractality (self-similarity) were more developed in the older moraine. The growth of biota (crustose lichen and micromycetes) colonizing the rock surface led to rock disintegration and the accumulation of autochthonous fragments on the rock surface. Despite the fact that the initial stage(s) of moraine weathering affected by biota was fixed, the correlation trends of biota activity and moraine ages were not determined.
ISSN:2076-3263
2076-3263
DOI:10.3390/geosciences11080342