Landscapes, paleosols and climate in the north of Mongolia during the Holocene

Integrated paleogeographic studies have been performed on the loess and soil sequence in the lower reaches of the Orkhon R., northern Mongolia. The samples were taken continuously through the sequence and studied using a broad assortment of field and laboratory analyses. There are five paleosols exp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2020-01, Vol.438 (1), p.12027
Main Authors: Timireva, S N, Batkhishig, O, Sycheva, S A, Kononov, Yu M, Simakova, A N, Byambaa, G, Telmen, T, Samdandorj, M, Filippova, K G, Konsnantinov, E A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbonates
Holocene
Loess
Organic matter
Paleosols
Pollen
Presenilin 1
Presenilin 2
Radiometric dating
Salinity
Salinity effects
Soils
Steppes
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Summary:Integrated paleogeographic studies have been performed on the loess and soil sequence in the lower reaches of the Orkhon R., northern Mongolia. The samples were taken continuously through the sequence and studied using a broad assortment of field and laboratory analyses. There are five paleosols exposed in the section under study crowned with the present-day soil and separated from each other by loess horizons or proluvial-deluvial deposits. The dating by radiocarbon proved the soil development beginning from the early Holocene. The two lower soils (PS4 and PS5) formed at that interval are noted for the minimum salinity and a considerable content of carbonates. The soils dated to the middle Holocene (PS3 and PS2) contain the least proportion of organic matter and increased salinity, which may be attributed to a dryer climate (even at optimum intervals) than in the early and late Holocene. In common with the present-day soil, the PS1 buried soil is characterized by negligible (or absent) salinity, and a noticeable accumulation of organic matter and carbonates indicative of favorable warm and relatively wet conditions. All the pollen assemblages indicate the dominance of grass vegetation; it may be safely suggested that open meadow and steppe landscapes, occasionally replaced by semi-deserts, prevailed in the considered region during the Holocene.
ISSN:1755-1307
1755-1315
DOI:10.1088/1755-1315/438/1/012027