New genetic types of landforms and deposits of the coastal part of the western sector of the Laptev Sea and the Lena River Delta

The aim of the study is to clarify the origin and age of the oriented landforms and components of the Quaternary deposits of the western segment, which are widespread on the southern coast of the western segment of the Laptev Sea. The objectives of the study are: 1 – to establish the distribution of oriented landforms and their typification; 2 – to determine the composition of sediments composing oriented landforms; 3 – to establish the genesis of the identified forms and their constituent deposits; 4 – to establish the age of the identified forms and their constituent deposits; 5 – to establish the reasons for the formation of oriented forms. The main methods used in the investigation are: 1. Deciphering high­resolution satellite images of SAS Planet ­ ESPI ArcGIS Landsat package; 2. Generalization of the published materials on geomorphology and Quaternary sediments when working on the basic project of the P.I. Melnikov Permafrost Institute SB RAS «Regularities of the development of coastal and underwater permafrost in the Laptev and East Siberian Seas»; 3. Field route studies carried out by V.B. Spektor during different years in the mouth area of the Lena River, on the western coast of the Laptev Sea during the implementation of scientific programs of the P.I. Melnikov Permafrost Institute SB RAS, as well as joint research with the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (headed by M.G. Grosswald) and Stockholm University (Professor Karlen Vibjorn).As a result of the studies, it was established that the territory of the coast of the Laptev and East Siberian Seas is a scabland ­ a geomorphological landscape created by a hydrospheric catastrophe. The hydrospheric catastrophe (megaflood) probably occurred as a result of the emergence of a glacial dammed lake from the shores. The lake had been formed in the Pleistocene in front of the ice shelf, which played the role of a dam. The sediments of the catastrophic flows (diluvium) include areas of overcompensated sedimentation – sandy formations on the high islands of the Lena river delta, the lower part of the Tukulannaya suite, which is widespread in the flat areas of Central Siberia, watershed cover sandy loams, loams and sands with pebbles. The areas of scabland development are the territories of the distribution of parallel troughs, oriented ridges, giant ripples, large structurally organized landforms. In the area of the Tiksi Bay, the distribution of marginal formations of the ice shelf was established: glacial deposits, exaration fields, drumlins, gouging troughs, through valleys, and glaciotectonic moraines.

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