The structure of denudation cycles in the forest-steppes of Middle Siberia

Abstract

A comparison between the evidence from station-based investigations into contemporaneous denudation with the data on the structure of reference sections of the loess formation from the late Pleistocene revealed a hierarchical structure of denudation cycles in the submontane forest-steppes of Middle Siberia. It is established that an elementary 3–5-year cycle exhibits features typical of high-order cycles. Similarity features manifest themselves in the denudation mechanism, and in the sequence of phase change inside the cycles. A denudation cycle of any hierarchical level inheritedly from the late Pleistocene includes accumulation phases of Aeolian material, redistribution of matter by the slope processes, and of fluvial removal of matter from the system.