Development of the steppe zone in southern Russia based on the reconstruction from the loess-soil formation in the Don-Azov Region

Herbaceous communities in forest ecosystems on the southern part of the Russian Plain appeared in the Middle Miocene (∼10 Ma BP). In the Late Miocene (∼7 Ma BP), feather-grass steppe associations appeared among them. In the time span of 2.7 to 2.1 Ma BP (i.e., in the Early Quaternary, according to t...

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Published inDoklady earth sciences Vol. 445; no. 2; pp. 999 - 1002
Main Authors Velichko, A., Morozova, T. D., Borisova, O. K., Timireva, S. N., Semenov, V. V., Kononov, Yu. M., Titov, V. V., Tesakov, A. S., Konstantinov, E.., Kurbanov, R. N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01.08.2012
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecosystems
Forest ecosystems
Geography
Geological time
Grasslands
Holocene
Interglacial periods
Loess
Miocene
Pleistocene
Precipitation (Meteorology)
Quaternary
Soil formation
Soil sciences
Steppes
Terrestrial ecosystems
Russia
Late Miocene
Humus
DOKLADY Earth Science
Holocene
Middle Miocene
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Summary:Herbaceous communities in forest ecosystems on the southern part of the Russian Plain appeared in the Middle Miocene (∼10 Ma BP). In the Late Miocene (∼7 Ma BP), feather-grass steppe associations appeared among them. In the time span of 2.7 to 2.1 Ma BP (i.e., in the Early Quaternary, according to the current chronostratigraphic scale), the steppe zone arose on the southern Russian Plain in the Don-Azov Region. Seven stages of this zone development here have been distinguished throughout the Quaternary. The first one (Eopleistocene-Early Pleistocene) was characterized by savanna-like subtropic ecosystems. Then, in the Middle Pleistocene, the temperate zone ecosystems (tallgrass prairie-like steppes) developed here and were followed by steppe ecosystems close to the modern ones in Central Europe. The ecosystems of rich-species forb steppes developed in the Late Pleistocene. Finally, in the optimum of the modern interglacial (Holocene), steppes became similar to the modern ones here, but with a slightly higher precipitation. The general trend is characterized by reduction in heat and water provision and increase in aridization progressing from earlier to later stages.
ISSN:1028-334X
1531-8354
DOI:10.1134/S1028334X12080107