ИСТИНА

Реконструкция природных условий прошлого. Изучение пространственно-временных особенностей строения, состава, структуры и закономерностей развития географической оболочки в плейстоцене и голоцене. Получение надежных данных для сопоставления палеогеографических обстановок в разных регионах, оценка глобальности природных процессов. Обеспечение локальных и региональных стратиграфических схем современными данными абсолютного датирования.

The proposed project is aimed at solving a fundamental problem of modern science - studying the history of the development of the natural environment of Northern Eurasia to predict global and regional changes in climate and natural environment in the near future. The project provides for the study of unique paleogeographic archives of the Quaternary period - loess-soil series, which structure had recorded the history of the evolution of landscapes and the climate of ancient eras. The most significant areas of loess distribution in the world are represented in Russia, and developed in a variety of geological and geomorphological conditions. In modern paleogeography, loess-soil series are one of the main archives for reconstructing the dynamics of the natural environment of the Quaternary period, since their structure reflects the alternation of warm interglacial epochs (paleosol horizons) and cold stages of glaciation (loess horizons). The study of loess-soil series has a long history. A significant amount of factual data had been accumulated. However, at present, there is no reliable correlation between loess-soil series of different regions for the territory of Russia, which have their own characteristics determined by the local conditions of sedimentation. Comparison of the loess-soil series of individual regions has been carried out so far on the basis of a stratigraphic approach and correlation with global scales by methods of relative chronology. The goal of the project is to identify the patterns of evolution of the natural environment of five reference regions of the distribution of loess in Russia on the basis of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study using modern methods and massive absolute dating of deposits. The implementation of the project will reveal the impact of global and regional changes in the climate and the natural environment on the evolution of the relief and soils of the loess belt in the territory of Russia in the Quaternary period, determine their possible state and stability for various chronological sections, including the warmest stages of the Pleistocene. There are three main areas of the research within the project: (1) stratigraphy of loess-soil series and determination of the absolute age of sediments; (2) inter-regional correlations and comparisons with global scales; (3) paleogeographic reconstructions based on a complex of modern methods. To accomplish these tasks, the study of loess will be carried out in five reference regions: the Azov region, the Kuban valley, the Taman Peninsula, the Ob loess plateau, and Transbaikalia. Generalizations of the published information and previously collected by the project participants, large-scale field studies of loess sections, a significant complex of analytical work on classical (paleopedological, lithological, paleolandscape, paleo- and petromagnetic) and the latest (luminescence and cosmogenic dating, U/Pb dating on detrital zircons and other) techniques will be published. The most important task of the project is to consolidate the significant groundwork of various groups working on loess-paleosoil direction with the addition of the available results with the latest methods. The basis of the project is a number of studied sections (archives), where general schemes of chronostratigraphic subdivision, the first results on paleogeography had already received. These sections are planned to be further studied within the framework of modern standards of paleogeographic studies of loess-soil series and, based on the use of the latest methods, to develop a number of regional schemes for the development of the natural environment, on the basis of which an interregional correlation for various parts of the Eurasian loess belt is planned. The proposed project is a logical continuation of many years of research carried out by the participants in the south of the East European Plain, in Western Siberia and in Transbaikalia. The study will be carried out on modern analytical equipment at the Institute of Geography Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Physics of the Earth Russian Academy of Sciences, V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy SB RAS and Institute of the Earth's Crust SB RAS. The project team is represented by both experienced paleogeographers and geologists and young scientists and graduate students who are actively researching the geochronology of the Quaternary period. The project participants have significant experience in expeditionary research, scientific internships in the world's leading geochronological laboratories. The large-scale plan of analytical research of the project is based on close scientific contacts with the world's leading geochronological laboratories. The large-scale plan of analytical research of the project is based on close scientific contacts with the world's leading geochronological laboratories. The complexity of the project, significant chronological framework and geography, modern research methods, a large backlog, experience in conducting expeditionary and analytical research, active international relations, a wide laboratory base are the basis for the successful implementation of research tasks and the preparation of a series of scientific articles for leading domestic and international publications.