Lake-level changes during the past 100,000 years at Lake Baikal, southern Siberia

Abstract

Lake-level changes inferred from seismic surveying and core sampling of the floor of Lake Baikal near the Selenga River delta can be used to constrain regional climatic history and appear to be correlated to global climate changes represented by marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS). The reflection pattern and correlation to the isotope stages indicate that the topset and progradational foreset sediments of the deltas formed during periods of stable lake levels and warm climatic conditions. During warm stages, the lake level was high, and during cold stages it was low. The drop in the lake level due to cooling from MIS 5 through MIS 4 is estimated to be 33–38 m; from MIS 3 through MIS 2, it fell an additional 11–15 m. Because the lake level is chiefly controlled by evaporation and river input, we infer that more water was supplied to Lake Baikal during warm stages.