The Surozhian epoch in the late Pleistocene history of the Black Sea
https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0579-9414.5.80.5.4
Abstract
The paper presents the results of a palaeogeographic study based on facies-lithological, malacofaunal, and radiocarbon analyses of cores from three boreholes from the Black Sea shelf, 12 km southeast of the Zhelezny Rog Cape. The findings confirm the existence of the Surozh transgressive basin in the Late Pleistocene history of the Black Sea. Coarse-grained sand and shell deposits associated with the Surozh coastal facies were identified at varying depths, ranging from 9,0–6,0 to 5,2–4,2 m, at the absolute elevations between –26 and –30 m. The malacofaunal assemblage includes euryhaline marine, brackish, and freshwater species, apparently inherited from the final phase of the Karangatian transgression basin, which was influenced by the inflow of Hyrcanian waters of the Caspian Sea. This composition indicates a markedly freshened marine basin, with salinity levels not exceeding 12‰. Radiocarbon dating places the accumulation of the Surozh deposits between approximately 43 and 32 kaBP, corresponding to the interstadial warming of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3). The Surozh transgression appears to occur synchronously with the Early Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea. However, no definitive evidence currently supports the existence of a Khvalynian Strait connecting the two basins during that time.
Supporting agencies: Authors are grateful to S. Woodborne, Ph.D., Researcher of the iThemba LABS (Johannesburg, South Africa), for radiocarbon dating performed. The study was carried out under the state assignment theme no. 121051100135-0 “Paleogeographical reconstructions of natural geosystems and forecasting of their changes”.
About the Authors
T. A. Yanina
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography, Laboratory of Recent Deposits and Pleistocene Paleogeography
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Т.А. Yanina - Head of the Laboratory, D.Sc. in Geography
V. M. Sorokin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geology, Department of Oil and Gas Sedimentology and Marine Geology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
V.M. Sorokin - Professor, D.Sc. in Geology
D. V. Semikolennykh
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
South Africa
South Africa
D.V. Semikolennykh - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ph.D. in Geography
B. F. Romanyuk
Morinzhgeologiya LLC
Latvia
Latvia
B.F. Romanyuk - Senior Geologist, Ph.D. in Geology
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Review
For citations:
Yanina T.A., Sorokin V.M., Semikolennykh D.V., Romanyuk B.F. The Surozhian epoch in the late Pleistocene history of the Black Sea. Lomonosov Geography Journal. 2025;(5):45-55. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0579-9414.5.80.5.4
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