Position of Quaternary Lower Boundary of the Arctic Chukotka According to Diatom Analysis

Pushkar V.S.

International Journal on Algae, 2022, 24(4): 339–346

ABSTRACT: The International Union of Geological Sciences proposed to establish the lower boundary of the Quarter at a level of 2.58 million years ago (Norway, 2009), and this was then adopted on the proposal of the International Commission on Stratigraphy. This decision caused heated discussion, requiring substantiation of the new position of the stratigraphic boundary and inclusion of the Gelazian stage of the Pliocene in the Quarter. This positioning could significantly affect the development of the structure and hierarchy of stratigraphic units of the Quarter. The issues
of the criteria for drawing a new border, their unification in various geographic regions and regional geological stratotypes are principally considered. This paper examines the queries of the criteria and eligibility of a new Neogene-Quaternary boundary in the Upper Cenozoic continental sediments of the Chukotka using data derived from diatoms.
KEY WORDS: Pliocene, Quarter, moraines, paleoclimate, Chukotka