SEDIMENTATION AS A CLASSIFICATION CRITERION FOR LAKES ON THE EAST EUROPEAN PLAIN

Abstract

The article studies lake sedimentation on the East European Plain and adjacent areas. Lake sediment formation is
researched in detail in paleolimnology. The main aim of the present study is to describe the features of lake sedimentogenesis on the
East European Plain and to identify classes of lakes in accordance with the types of sedimentogenesis. PaleoLake Database, created
for the analysis, contains paleolimnological information about the bottom sediments of lakes of the East European Plain and nearby
territories. We analyzed 216 lakes located in different climatic and geological zones, for which the most complete information had
been collected: lithostratigraphy, age and thickness of bottom sediments, lake coordinates, water depth etc. Claster analysis of the
collected data identified three main types of lake sedimentation for the East European Plain. (1) Sedimentation of large deep-water lakes (minerogenic sedimentogenesis of the Pleistocene). The bottom sediments are represented by minerogenic sediments, mainly
clays and silts. (2) Sedimentation of isolated lake basins (mineragenic-organogenic sedimentogenesis of the Pleistocene and
Holocene). The main feature of the lithostratigraphy is the presence of three main sediment sequences: minerogenic sediments
formed in a large reservoir, transitional deposits formed during the isolation, organic deposits of a shallow basin. (3) Sedimentation
of lakes located outside maritime transgressions and regressions (organogenic sedimentogenesis of the Holocene). The bottom
sediments of such lakes are mainly represented by gyttja.