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Early Pleistocene Pedosediments of the Lori Basin (Armenia): Genesis, Properties, and Paleogeographic Interpretation

  • GENESIS AND GEOGRAPHY OF SOILS
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Abstract

Red-colored pedosediments were described in the sections of the Lori Basin in northern Armenia. The environmental conditions in the period of their formation have been reconstructed. The Early Pleistocene pedosediments in Yagdan and Kurtan-IV sections are available for study due to their conservation under the products of volcanic activity, which are dated earlier than 2 and 1.4 Ma, respectively. Prior to burial, the pedosediments were exposed to molten lava, which affected their composition and properties. We used the micromorphological method to study the pedosediments and determined the magnetic susceptibility, particle-size and total chemical composition, the content of carbon and nitrogen, and the biomorphs. Signs of the formation of the studied pedosediments in a humid warm (subtropical) climate were found, which corresponded to the results of earlier studies. Based on the combination of features, soil formations from the Yagdan section were assigned to Cambisols with Argic, Vitric, and Chromic qualifiers. Additional elements were input from the above layer of basalt lava to the sediments: copper, chromium, nickel, cobalt, and vanadium, which was reflected in an increase in the specific magnetic susceptibility and enabled us to specify the soil and sediments by geochemical coefficients. Pedosediments from Kurtan-IV section were characterized by Stagnic and Luvic features. They were also formed in a humid but cooler climate.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to E.V. Belyaeva for the opportunity to participate in terrain work, to Senior lecturer of the Department of Physical Geography and Landscape Planning of St. Petersburg State University A.G. Ryumin for the performing CHN analysis, and to freelance researcher of the Department of Soil Geography and Evolution of the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Doc. Sci. (Geogr.) A.A. Gol’eva for the analysis of phytoliths.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, projects nos. 18-00-00592 and 19-29-05024-mk. The micromorphological analysis was performed on the equipment of the Common Use Center of the Institute of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences within the framework of state assignment no. 0191-2019-0046.

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  1. St. Petersburg State University, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Revunova & A. V. Rusakov

  2. Institute of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290, Pushchino, Russia

    O. S. Khokhlova

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  1. A. V. Revunova
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Revunova, A.V., Khokhlova, O.S. & Rusakov, A.V. Early Pleistocene Pedosediments of the Lori Basin (Armenia): Genesis, Properties, and Paleogeographic Interpretation. Eurasian Soil Sc. 54, 1449–1462 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321100100

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