Impact of bedrock surface topography on spatial distribution of Quaternary sediments and on the flow pattern of late Weichselian glaciers on the East European Craton (Russian Plain)

Abstract

This paper presents the first high quality maps of the bedrock surface topography and the Quaternary sediment distribution for the Late Weichselian glaciation area on the East European Craton (EEC) and the reasoning behind the estimated sediment distribution. Geographic information system (GIS)-based three-dimensional model of the bedrock surface topography, the current digital terrain model (DTM), and the ice flow pattern of the last glaciation provided the main source data for the analyses and interpretations. In the current continental area of the western EEC, which was covered by the last Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS), the bedrock lies overwhelmingly (85%) above the contemporary sea level, with an average altitude of ~54m above sea level. The topography of the bedrock surface is very well reflected in the current topography, and an 80-m difference in the ice bed surface altitudes results in the topographic focusing of the ice flow, and thus all late Weichselian ice streams were accommodated to the depressions in the subglacial surface. Such depressions are characterised by a thin (<10-m) layer of sediment with one till bed. Just 50m upslope from the bottom of the depressions, the thickness of the sediment increases two- to threefold and comprises five or more till layers, indicating relief enhancement through subsequent glaciations. The average calculated thickness of the Quaternary deposits in the study area was ~49m, and the total volume of sediments was ~20,280km3.