Chapter 12 - European Russia: glacial landforms during deglaciation

Abstract

Major deglaciation occurred in European Russia from 18.9 to 14.6cal ka BP, when three glacial stades (stadials) of glacial advance or standstills and retreat were identified: Vepsa, Krestsy and Luga Stades. Each stade corresponds to an area with hummocky moraines and moraine ridges, commonly with glaciodislocations in their structures. Major ice-divide uplands were completely exhumed from beneath the ice and were exposed at boundaries between glacier streams during deglaciation. The main landforms formed in these deglaciation areas were: moraine and kames plateaus, plateau-like hills, moraine ridges annexed to the slopes of the plateaus and moraine hummocky terrain. The general trend for deglaciation in lowland areas was associated with detachment of major dead-ice blocks from the active glacier and the formation of glaciolacustrine basins around these ice-bodies, outwash plains and esker systems. In major uplands, deglaciation was marked by a gradual retreat of the glacier front interrupted by short-term oscillations or standstills, as well as end moraine belts broken by wide lacustrine basins and meltwater channels.