Dating the Khvalynian Strait within the Late Pleistocene history of the Manych depression

At the end of the Late Pleistocene the Early Khvalynian transgression with maximum level of 45–50 m was progressing in the Caspian basin. As soon as its waters exceeded the height of the watershed with the AzovBlack Sea basin the Early Khvalynian Strait was opened, mainly through the Manych Depression – a vast low area in the south of the European Russia. Despite the long investigation history of the region, the opinions of researchers regarding the age of the deposits of the Early Khvalynian Strait differ. Until now the time period of the strait existence was not unambiguously correlated with the global chronostratigraphic scheme. The article presents the results of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of the Lower Khvalynian deposits exposed in the coastal outcrop of the western tip of the Levyi Island in the central part of the Manych Depression. In total, nine dates were obtained: six of them characterize the aquatic stages of the territory evolution, and three are for the subaerial ones. Biostratigraphic analysis of the mollusc fauna confirmed that marine sediments exposed in the section of the Levyi Island belong to the Early Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea. Based on the dating results, the time when the Early Khvalynian waters penetrated into the Manych Depression was determined at 17,7–14,9 thousand years ago, thus corresponding to the epoch of degradation of the Late Valdai ice sheet (the Ostashkov stage, MIS 2). The subaerial sedimentation in the central part of the Manych Depression started at the beginning of the Holocene.

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