On the nature of the Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea

Abstract

This paper presents a reconsideration of the hypothesis that the Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea resulted from an abundant inflow of meltwaters from Siberian proglacial lakes through the Aral Sea and via the Uzboi channel and may be considered as a prototype of Noah’s Flood. A thorough analysis of the evidence suggested by the proponents of this hypothesis revealed a lack of factual substantiation; there are no facts indicating the existence of the Aral flow-through lake or of the Siberian proglacial water supply to the Caspian Sea. The spatial distribution of the mollusk fauna provides no support for the view that the Khvalynian transgression was essentially influenced by thawing of ice sheets on the Russian Plain. The Khvalynian transgression, though geologically short-term, could not be an analogue of Noah’s catastrophic flood. The sea level rose at a rate of a few centimeters per year for a few thousand years; this interval covered the lifetimes of many generations of the Caspian coast inhabitants. The Khvalynian water overflowing via the Manych Strait into the Pontian basin provided an even smaller influence. It resulted in flooding of the middle part of the Black Sea shelf, in a 30-m sea level rise, and in a water salinity increase by 5‰.