Chapter 50 - European Russia: glacial landforms from the Last Glacial Maximum

Abstract

The current data on stratigraphy of glacial sediments in European Russia indicate the gradual readvance of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) from west to east and northeast during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; Late Valdaian in the local name). The FIS did not reach its maximum extent during the LGM maximum cooling, which occurred at 25–23cal ka BP. The Ladozhskiy stream of the FIS reached its maximum size at approximately 20–18cal ka, where Bologoye–Yedrovo end moraines of the Sloboda and Valday Uplands indicate its extent. Other FIS ice streams along the Mologa–Sheksna and Severnaya Dvina Lowlands, as well as along the Kubena Lake depression into the Upper Sukhona River valley reached their maximum extent after the LGM, approximately at 19–16cal ka. In the east and northeast of European Russia, the LGM foreland formations are mainly expressed by meltwater landscapes and minor glacial landforms. On these lowlands, glacier-dammed lakes were formed during the LGM and drained into the Volga River basin.