Abstract
Lacustrine sedimentary records are valuable archives of regional paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic changes. High-resolution seismic reflection data collected in 2013, in conjunction with data from sediment core Co1309, provide a detailed reconstruction of the preglacial and postglacial environmental and sedimentological history of Lake Ladoga (NW Russia) during the late Quaternary. The exceptionally good quality of the seismic data reveals an up to 90-m-thick sedimentary infill in undisturbed places, containing four distinct sequences documented in unprecedented detail. The deepest sequence S1 most likely represents the bedrock of the lacustrine basin, which was reshaped during the subsequent glaciations. The overlying sequence S2 contains large-scale mounds of variable dimension, shape and internal architecture, which suggest a complex history of formation and deformation. We interpret these mounds as a moraine-mound complex resulting from thrusting and bulldozing processes of pre-existing, subglacial sediments during the overall retreat of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet following the Last Glacial Maximum. The finely-layered sequence S3 coincides with varved sediments in core Co1309 that mark the Scandinavian Ice Sheet deglaciation in the Ladoga basin. The youngest sequence S4, characterised by a semi-transparent facies in the acoustic data, coincides with lacustrine sediments in core Co1309 that were deposited during the Holocene. Our results also document major thoroughgoing fault systems in the northwestern part of the lake basin, along with unconformities related to lake-level fluctuations, notably in the eastern-, western- and southernmost regions. By coupling hydroacoustic and sedimentological data, we are able to pinpoint lateral variations and modifications of sedimentary inputs through time during the evolution of the Ladoga basin, along with unravelling the paleoenvironmental history of Lake Ladoga since the pre-LGM.
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