Age of organic-rich deposits in the Lenenergo section (southeastern Lake Ladoga region)

The Lenenergo section located on the Oyat River left bank in the south-eastern Lake Ladoga region is critical for studying the Holocene transgressions of Lake Ladoga. Uncertainty in the previously published organic-rich deposits age data substantiates the use of paleogeographic methods to reexamine them. The article presents lithological characteristics of the section as well as results of detailed pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of peat and gyttja. The organic-rich deposits accumulation occurred from 8,900 ± 150¹⁴C yrs BP (9,960 ± 210 cal BP) to 3,530 ± 80 ¹⁴C yrs BP (3,810 ± 110 cal BP). On the territory, the Preboreal period marked peat accumulation and sparse vegetation cover. Gyttja, whose age was 8,420 ± 90 ¹⁴C yrs BP (9,400 ± 100 cal BP), accumulated during the Boreal period and was characterized by dominance of pine and birch forests in the environment. The sedimentation hiatus lasting at least 3,500 years was revealed at the turn of the Boreal and Atlantic periods. Gyttja accumulation continued in the conditions of the Lake Ladoga paleolagoon during the Atlantic and Subboreal periods from 4,880 ± 200 ¹⁴C yrs BP (5,610 ± 250 cal BP) to 3,530 ± 80 ¹⁴C yrs BP (3,810 ± 110 cal BP). Pine, spruce, and birch forests with an admixture of broad-leaved species dominated. Diatom analysis and geochemical studies are projected to fully characterize sedimentation conditions in the southeastern Lake Ladoga region during the Holocene.

1. New data on the Ladoga transgression, the Neva River formation, and agricultural development of northwestern Rus­sia / A. L. Aleksandrovskii [et al.]. Doklady Earth Sciences. 2009; 425: 274–278. . https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X09020226(In Russ.).

2. Age of shore formations according to radiocarbon and palynologic data / Kh. A. Arslanov [et al.]; Publ. Ed. D. D. Kvasov. History of the Ladoga, Onega, Peipus, Baikal, and Khanka lakes. Leningrad: Nauka; 1990. P. 26–33. (In Russ.).

3. Biske Yu. S., Sumareva I. V., Sheetov M. V. Late Holocene paleoseismic event at southeastern coast of Lake Ladoga. I. Principles of research and deformation structures. Vestnik of Saint-Petersburg University. 2009; (1): 3–25. (In Russ.).

4. Koshechkin B. I., Ekman I. M. Holocene transgressions of Lake Ladoga. Evolution of natural conditions and current state of Lake Ladoga geosystem. St. Petersburg: Russ. Geogr. Soc.; 1993. P. 49–60. (In Russ.).

5. Lisitsyna G. N. The Neolithic paleogeography in north­western regions of the European part of the USSR. Gurina N. N. The ancient history of North-West European part of the USSR: Proceedings and Research in Archeology of the USSR / Publ. Ed. P. I. Borisovskiy. No. 87. Moscow; Leningrad; 1961. P. 535–578. (In Russ.).

6. New data on the Holocene history of Lake Ladoga / D. B. Malakhovskiy [et al.]. Evolution of natural conditions and current state of Lake Ladoga geosystem. St. Petersburg: Russ. Geogr. Soc.; 1993. P. 61–73. (In Russ.).

7. Relief and stratigraphy of the Quaternary deposits in the north-western part of the Russian Plain: Publ. for the Sixth Congress of INQUA Warsaw 1961 / Publ. Ed. K. K. Markov. Moscow: Publ. House of the Acad. of Sci. of the USSR; 1961. 252 p. (In Russ.).

8. Serebryannyy L. R., Chebotareva N. S. Some controver­sial issues of paleogeography and stratigraphy of the Qua­ternary deposits in the Central and North-West Russian Plain (in connection with radiocarbon data). Antropogen of the Rus­sian Plain and its stratigraphic components / Publ. Ed. M. I. Ney­shtadt. Moscow: Publ. House of the Acad. of Sci. of the USSR; 1963. P. 74–85. (In Russ.).

9. Starik I. E., Arslanov Kh. A. Radiocarbon age of some Quaternary samples. Doklady Akademii nauk. 1961; 138 (1): 102–105. (In Russ.).

10. Sheetov M. V. Holocene transgressions of Lake Ladoga: PhD diss. (Geology and Mineralogy): 25.00.01. St. Petersburg; 2007. 204 p. (In Russ.).

11. Archaeological sites of A. A. Inostrantsev and Holo­cene tectonics of South Ladoga region: Geological context / M. V. Sheetov [et al.]. Vestnik of Saint-Petersburg University. Earth Sciences. 2019; 64 (4): 628–650. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu07.2019.408. (In Russ.).

12. Delusin I. The Holocene pollen stratigraphy of Lake Ladoga and the vegetation history of its surroundings: An­nales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae. Ser. A. III. Geologica-Geographica. Vol. 153. Helsinki, Finland: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia; 1991. 66 p.

13. The Baltic Sea and Ladoga Lake transgressions and early human migrations in North-western Russia / P. M. Dolukhanov [et al.]. Quaternary International. 2009; 203 (1–2): 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2008.04.021.

14. Holocene oscillations of the Baltic Sea and Lake Lado­ga levels and early human movements / P. M. Dolukhanov [et al.] // Quaternary International. 2010; 220 (1–2): 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.09.022.

15. Markov K. K. Postglacial history of the southeastern shore of Lake Ladoga. Voprosy Geografii / Publ. Ed. K. K. Markov. Vol. 12. Moscow: State Publ. House of Geogr. Books; 1949. P. 213–220. (In Russ.).

16. Markov K. K., Poretskiy V. V., Shlyapina E. V. Fluctuations in the levels of Ladoga and Onega lakes in the postglacial peri­od. Proceedings of the Quaternary Research Commission. Vol. IV, no. 1. Leningrad: Publ. House of the Acad. of Sci. of the USSR; 1934. P. 71–129. (In Russ.).

17. Atlas of Leningrad region / T. A. Andreeva [et al.]; Chief Ed. D. A. Subetto. St. Petersburg: Herzen Univ.; 2022. 111 p. (In Russ.).

18. Geomorphology and Quaternary deposits of the North- West European part of the USSR (Leningrad, Pskov, and Novgo­rod regions) / Publ. Eds. D. B. Malakhovskiy, K. K. Markov. Len­ingrad: Nauka; 1969. 256 p. (In Russ.).

19. Pleshivtseva E. S., Garkusha V. I., Gorshkova S. S. Mi­kulino lakes within the Pasha and Oyat interfluve (Leningrad region). The History of Pleistocene lakes of the East European Plain. St. Petersburg: Nauka; 1998. P. 111–114. (In Russ.).

20. Geobotanical zoning of the Non-Black Earth region of the European RSFSR / V. D. Aleksandrova [et al.]; Publ. Ed. V. D. Aleksandrova, T. K. Yurkovskaya. Leningrad: Nauka; 1989. 63 p. (In Russ.).

21. Chronology of vegetation and paleoclimatic stages of northwestern Russia during the Late Glacial and Holo­cene / Kh. A. Arslanov [et al.]. Radiocarbon. 1999; 41 (1): 25–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200019317.

22. Berglund B. E., Ralska-Jasiewiczowa M. Pollen analysis and pollen diagrams. Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology / Ed. B. E. Berglund. Chichester; New York; Brisbane; Toronto; Singapore: John Wiley & Sons; 1986. P. 455–484.

23. Stockmarr J. Tablets with spores used in absolute pol­len analysis. Pollen et Spores. 1971; 13: 615–621.

24. Spores of ferns and pollen of gymnosperms and monocotyledonous plants of the flora of the European part of the USSR / A. E. Bobrov [et al.]. Leningrad: Nauka; 1983. 208 p. (In Russ.).

25. Kupriyanova L. A., Aleshina L. A. Pollen and plant spores of the flora of the European part of the USSR. Lenin­grad: Nauka; 1972. Vol. 1. 171 p. (In Russ.).

26. Kupriyanova L. A., Aleshina L. A. Pollen and plant spores of the flora of the European part of the USSR. Len­ingrad: Nauka; 1978. Vol. 2. Pollen of dicotyledonous plants of the flora of the European part of the USSR. 183 p. (In Russ.).

27. Moore P. D., Webb J. A., Collinson M. E. Pollen analysis. 2nd ed. Oxford; 1991. 216 p.

28. Arslanov Kh. A. Radiocarbon: Geochemistry and geo­chronology / Publ. Ed. Yu. A. Shukolyukov. Leningrad: Lenin­grad State Univ. Publ. House; 1987. 298 p. (In Russ.).

29. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age cali­bration curve (0–55 cal kBP) / P. J. Reimer [et al.]. Radiocarbon. 2020; 62 (4): 725–757. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.41.

30. Vegetation and climate changes in northwestern Rus­sia during the Lateglacial and Holocene inferred from the Lake Ladoga pollen record / L. A. Savelieva [et al.]. Boreas. 2019; 48 (2): 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12376.

31. Paleoenvironmental changes on the Onega-Ladoga Isthmus during the Holocene / T. V. Sapelko [et al.]. Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society. 2016; 148 (2): 35–44. (In Russ.)

32. Climate and environment on the Karelian Isthmus, north­western Russia, 13000–9000 cal. yrs BP / D. A. Subetto [et al.]. Bo­reas. 2002; 31 (1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2002.tb01051.x.

33. Rasсhke E. A., Savelieva L. A. Subrecent spore-pollen spectra and modern vegetation from the Lena River Del­ta, Russian Arctic. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 2017; 10: 395–410. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425517040084. (In Russ.).

34. Doronina A. Yu. Vascular plants of the Karelian Isthmus (Leningrad region). Moscow: KMK Sci. Press Ltd., 2007. 574 p. (In Russ.).

35. Ludikova A. V. Diatom evidences for the mid-Holocene Lake Ladoga transgression. Proceedings of the Russian Geo­graphical Society. 2015; 147 (4): 38–51. (In Russ.).

36. New diatom and sedimentary data confirm the existence of the northern paleo-outlet from Lake Ladoga to the Baltic Sea / A. V. Ludikova [et al.]. Quaternary. 2024; 7 (3): 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7030031.

37. A review of storms and marine coastal flooding in the Baltic Sea — insights from instrumental, historical and sedimentary record / K. Leszczyńska [et al.]. Earth-Science Reviews. 2025; 266: 105137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earsci­rev.2025.105137.

38. Bolshiyanov D. Yu. Modern multi-year fluctuations of Ladoga Lake water level and possible reason of the Late Holocene Ladoga transgression. Proceedings of the Rus­sian Geographical Society. 2018; 150 (4): 15–31. https://doi.org/10.7868/S0869607118040023. (In Russ.).