Abstract
Geological and seismic profiling data (more than 25000 km of seismic profiles and about 1000 sediment sampling stations) collected during the last 30 yr by research vessels of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences are summarized. Seismic records are directly correlated with sediment cores. The distribution map (scale 1 : 500000) of Quaternary lithofacial complexes corresponding to certain stages of the Baltic Sea evolution is compiled. The following four complexes are distinguished (from the base to the top): (I) moraine, with maximum thicknesses 60 and 170 m in valleys and ridges respectively: (II) varved clay of periglacial basins and from the Baltic Ice Lake (BIL), up to 25 m thick in depressions; (III) lacustrinemarine homogeneous clay with a thickness up to 4–8 m in depressions; (IV) marine sediments (mud, aleurite, coarse-grained deposits) accumulated in environments with intense bottom currents activity (thickness 2–4 m in the Gotland Basin, 4–6 m in the Gdansk Basin, and 10–20 m in fans and prodeltas). The Quaternary sequence is cut through by inherited valleys, where the thickest Holocene sediments are noted. Today, these valleys serve as routes of sediment transport to slope bases and central parts of basins. Outblows of deep gas (through faults and fractures) and diagenetic gas (from sediments) to the bottom surface also occur in the valleys. Sedimentation rates are higher in the Gdansk Basin (up to 100–120 cm/ka). Thick sand, aleurite, and mud bodies are accumulated here (about 15–20 m in the Visla River prodelta). The sedimentation rate is slower in the Gotland Basin (up to 50–60 cm/ka), where thin (2–4 m) sections of more fine-grained mud occur
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baczyk, J. and Nowak, B., Die Bodenbeschaffenheit der Sandbank von Hel und Ihre Erforschung Mittels Sediment Petrographischer Methode,Baltica, Vilnius: Dept. Geography AS LSSR, 1965, no. 8, pp. 87–93.
Bjerkeus, M., Gelumbauskaite, Z., Sturkell, E., Floden, T., and Grigelis, A., Paleochannel in the East Central Part of the Baltic Proper,Baltica, Vilnius: Academia, 1995, no. 8, pp. 15–25.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Types of Bottom Sediments,Geologiya Baltiiskogo morya (Geology of the Baltic Sea), Gudelis, V.K. and Emelyanov, E.M., Eds., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976, pp. 187–212.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Lithostsratigraphic Complexes of Deep Water Sediments of the Baltic Sea,Litoi biostratigrafiya donnykh otlozhenii Baltiiskogo morya (Litho and Biostratigraphy of Bottom Sediments of the Baltic Sea), Gudelis, V.K., Ed., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1985, pp. 15–53.
Blazhchishin, A.I.,Paleogeografiya i evolyutsiya pozdnechetvertichnogo osadkonakopleniya v Baltiiskom more (Paleogeography and Evolution of the Late Quaternary Sedimentation in the Baltic Sea), Kaliningrad: Yantarnyi Skaz, 1998.
Blazhchishin, A.I. and Lukashev, V.K., Lithological and Stratigraphic Complexes of Late Quaternary Sediments,Osadkoobrazovanie v Baltiiskom more (Sedimentation in the Baltic Sea), Lisitsyn, A.P. and Emelyanov, E.M., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1981, pp. 232–246.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Gudelis, V.K., Litvin, V.M., Sviridov, N.I., and Kharin, G.S., Geological Structure of the Sea floor,Geologiya Baltiiskogo morya (Geology of the Baltic Sea), Gudelis, V.K. and Emelyanov, E.M., Eds., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976a, pp. 35–94.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Lukashevichus, L.S., and Sviridov, N.I., Physical Properties of Quaternary Sediments of the Baltic Sea,Okeanologiya, 1976b, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 839–845.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Vypykh, K., Rossa, B., and Lange, D., Acoustic Stratigraphy,Litoi biostratigrafiya donnykh otlozhenii Baltüskogo morya (Litho and Biostratigraphy of Bottom Sediments of the Baltic Sea), Gudelis, V.K., Ed., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1985, pp. 53–65.
Blazhchishin, A.I., Sviridov, N.I., and Litvin, V.M., Geological Structure of the Gdansk Basin,Peribaltikum (Peribalticum), Rossa, B., Ed., Gdansk: Gdan’skoe Izd., 1991, no. 5, pp. 27–42.
Davydova, N.N., Dzhinoridze, R.N., Kvasov, D.D., Masitska, G., and Spiridonova, E.A., New Data on the Stratigraphy of Bottom Sediments of the Southern Baltic Sea Region,Baltica, Vilnius: Minus, 1970, no. 4, pp. 33–44.
Doronin, Yu.R, Karlin, L.N., Kreiman, K.D., and Menzin, A.B., Modeling of the Baltic Sea Regime,Tr. XII konferentsii baltiiskikh okeanografov (Proc. XII Conf. Baltic Oceanographists), Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1981, pp. 21–26.
Eitminowicz, Zb., Submarine Delta of the Wisla River in the Gulf of Gdansk (Some Results of Continuous Seismic Profiling),Baltica, Vilnius: Department of Geography AS LSSR, 1982, no 7, pp. 65–74.
Elhammer, A., Axberg, S., and Kjellin, B., The Marine Geological Map 070/470 Forö: Description and Appendices,Maringeologiska Kartan, Scala 1: 100000, Upsala: SGU Geological Survey of Sweden, 1988; Serie Am., no. 2.
Emelyanov, E.M., Conclusions: Main Features of Sedimentogenesis,Protsessy osadkonakopleniya v Gdan’skom basseine (Baltiiskoe more) (Processes of Sedimentation in the Gdansk Basin, Baltic Sea), Emelyanov, E.M., Ed., Kiev: Inst. Okeanologii Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1987, pp. 248–259.
Emelyanov, E.M., Biogenic Sedimentation in the Baltic Sea and Its Consequences,The Baltic Sea, Vinterhalter, B., Ed., Geologian Tutkimuskeskus, Espoo, 1988, pp. 127–136.
Emelyanov, E.M., Middle and Upper Holocene Sediments,Gidrometeorologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR (Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the Soviet Union, vol. 3: Baltic Sea, issue 1: Hydrometeorological Conditions, part 1: Morphometric Characteristic and Geology of the Sea), Terziev, F.S., Rozhkov, V.A., and Smirnova, A.I., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992, pp. 50–73.
Emelyanov, E.M.,Baltic Sea: Geology, Geochemistry, Paleoceanography, Pollution, Kaliningrad: Yantarny Skaz, 1995.
Emelyanov, E.M.,Bar’ernye zony v itokeane (Barrier Zones in the Ocean), Kaliningrad: Yantarnyi Skaz, 1998.
Emelyanov, E.M. and Lukashina, N.P., Stratigraphy,Geology of the Bornholm Basin, Emelyanov, E., Christiansen, Ch., and Michelsen, O., Eds., Aarhus: Aarhus Geoscience (Geologisk Institut, Aarhus Universitet), 1995, vol. 5, pp. 37–41.
Emelyanov, E.M. and Gritsenko, V.A., The Role of Bottom Currents in the Formation of Bottom Sediments in the Gotland Basin, Baltic Sea,Okeanologiya (in press).
Emelyanov, E.M., Gaigalas, A.I., and Repečka, M., Pleistocene and Early Holocene Sediments,Gidrometeorologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR (Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the Soviet Union, vol. 3: Baltic Sea, issue I: Hydrometeorological Conditions, part 1: Morphometric Characteristic and Geology of the Sea), Terziev, F.S., Rozhkov, V.A., and Smirnova, A.I., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992b, pp. 36–50.
Emelyanov, E.M., Litvin, V.M., Nikitin, G.A., and Stryuk, V.L., The Relief of Seafloor,Gidrometeorologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR (Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the Soviet Union, vol. 3: Baltic Sea, issue 1: Hydrometeorologic Conditions, part 1: Morphometric Characteristic and Geology of the Sea), Terziev, F.S., Rozhkov, V.A., and Smirnova, A.I., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992c, pp. 13–18.
Emelyanov, E.M., Litvin, V.M., Nikitin, G.A., and Stryuk, V.L., The Evolution of Sea,Gidrometeorologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR (Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the Soviet Union, vol. 3: The Baltic Sea, issue 1: Hydrometeorological Conditions, part 1: Morphometric Characteristic and Geology of the Sea), Terziev, F.S., Rozhkov, V.A., and Smirnova, A.I., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992, pp. 18–26.
Emelyanov, E.M., Aibulatov, N.A., Zhindarev, L.A., Trimonis, E.S., and Slobodyanik, V.M., Processes of Sedimentation,Gidrometeorologiya i gidrokhimiya morei SSSR (Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the Soviet Union, vol. 3: Baltic Sea, issue 1: Hydrometeorological Conditions, part 1: Morphometric Characteristics and Geology of the Sea), Terziev, F.S., Rozhkov, V.A., and Smirnova, A.I., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 1992a, pp. 73–85.
Emelyanov, E.M., Bustrem, K., Trimonis, E.S., Bublitts, G., Vestman, P., Kuptsov, V.M., Leipe, T., Lukashina, N.P., and Slobodyanik, V.M., Stratigraphy and Composition of the Reference Column from the Gotland Basin (Baltic Sea),Okeanologiya, 1995, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 108–113.
Floden, T.,Seismic Stratigraphy and Bedrock Geology of the Central Baltic (Stockholm Contributions in Geology: Acta Uneversitatis Stockhomiensis), Stockholm, 1980.
Gaigalas, A.I.,Glyatsiosedimentatsionnye tsikly pleistotsena Litvy (Glaciosedimentation Cycles of the Pleistocene in Lithuania), Vilnius: Mokslas, 1979.
Geodekyan, A.A. and Trotsyuk, V.Ya., Gas Craters on the Baltic Seafloor as Indicators of Hydrocarbon Migration from the Earth’s Interiors,Geoakusticheskie i gazo-litogeokhimicheskie issledovaniya v Baltiiskom more. Geologicheskie osobennosti razgruzki flyuidnykh potokov (Geoacoustic and Gaseous-Lithogeochemical Studies in the Baltic Sea: Geological Features of the Fluid Flow Discharge), Geodekyan, A.A., Trotsyuk, V.Ya., and Blazhchishin, A.I., Eds., Moscow: Inst. Okeanologii, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1990, pp. 6–11.
Goretskii, G.I., The Study of Genetic Relations of Marginal Glacial Formations, Glacial Rafting and Washout Ravines, Glacial Dislocations, and Outliers,Kraevye obrazovaniya materikovykh oledenenii (Marginal Formations of Continental Glaciation), Goretskii, G.I., Pogulyaev, D.I., and Shik, S.M., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1972, pp. 64–69.
Grigyalis, A.A., Sviridov, N.I., Kharin, G.S., Repečka, M.A., Gyalumbauskaite, Zh.A., and Litvina, V.M., The Study Procedure and Principle of Map Compilation: Geological Interpretation of the Low-Frequency Seismic Profiling,Geologiya i geomorfologiya Baltiiskogo morya. Svodnaya ob yasnitel’naya zapiska k geologicheskim kartam m-ba 1: 500000 (Geology and Geomorphology of the Baltic Sea: General Explanatory Note for Geological Maps, Scale 1 : 500000), Grigyalis, A.A., Ed., Leningrad: Nedra, 1991, pp. 25–40.
Gudelis, V.K. and Litvin, V.M., The Bottom Geomorphology,Geologiya Baltiiskogo morya (Geology of the Baltic Sea), Gudelis, V.K. and Emel’yanov, E.M., Eds., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976, pp. 25–34.
Gyalumbauskaite, Zh.A., Litvin, V.M., Mal’kov, B.I., Moskalenko, P.E., and Yushkevichs, V.V., Geomorphology,Geologiya i geomorfologiya Baltiiskogo morya. Svodnaya obyasnitel’naya zapiska k geologicheskim kartam m-ba 1: 500000 (Geology and Geomorphology of the Baltic Sea: General Explanatory Note for Geological Maps, Scale 1 : 500000), Grigyalis, A.A., Ed., Leningrad: Nedra, 1991, pp. 291–337.
Kuptsov, V.M., Zel’dina, B.B., and Ivanova, T.R., Rates of Sedimentation in the Baltic Sea,Geologicheskaya istoriya i geokhimiya Baltiiskogo morya (Geological History and Geochemistry of the Baltic Sea), Lisitsyn, A.P., Ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1984, pp. 110–121.
Kvasov, D.D.,Pozdnechetvertichnaya istoriya krupnykh ozer i vnutrennikh morei Vostochnoi Evropy (The Late Quaternary History of Large Lakes and Inland Seas of Fast Europe), Leningrad: Nauka, 1975.
Meleshite, M., The Distribution and Genesis of Paleoincisions,Pogrebennye paleovrezy poverkhnosti dochetvertichnykh porod Yuzhnoi Pribaltiki (Burried Paleoincisions in the Pre-Quaternary Rock Surface of the Southern Baltic Region), Gaigalas, A., Ed., Vilnius: Mokslas, 1976, pp. 19–37.
Mörner, N.-A., Floden, T., Beskow, B., Elhammer, A., and Haxner, H., Late Weichselian Deglaciation of the Baltic,Baltica, Vilnius: Department of Geography AS LSSR, 1977, no. 6, pp. 33–51.
Orlenok, V.V., Lindin, M.I., and Studenichkin, N.V.,Petrofizika dna Baltiiskogo morya (Petrophysics of the Baltic Seafloor), Kaliningrad: Kaliningrad. Gos. Univ., 1993.
Repečka, M.A., Rybalko, A.E., Mal’kov, B.I., Blazhchishin, A.I., Emel’yanov, E.M., Efimov, A.N., Isachenko, S.M., Spiridonov, M.A., and Yushkevich, V.V., Quaternary System,Geologiya i geomorfologiya Baltiiskogo morya. Svodnaya obyasnitel’naya zapiska k geologicheskim kartam m-ba 1: 500000 (Geology and Geomorphology of the Baltic Sea: General Explanatory Note for Geological Maps, Scale 1 : 500000), Grigyalis, A.A., Ed., Leningrad: Nedra, 1991, pp. 229–256.
Repečka, M., Simkevičius, P., and Radzevičius, R., Composition of Bottom Surface Sediments,Baltica, Vilnius: Academia, 1997, vol. 10, pp. 25–37.
Romanova, E.A., Reconstruction of Paleoceanological Situations of an Inland Sea in the Quaternary Time (with the Baltic Sea as Example),PhD (Geol.-Miner.) Dissertation, Kaliningrad: Fondy AO Inst. Okeanol., Ross. Akad. Nauk, 1991.
Rosa, B., Zagadnienie zmian poziomu Bałtyku południowego-dalychczasowe rospoznania i perspektywy dalszych poszukiwan,Peribalticum, Rosa, B., Ed., Gdansk: Widawnictwo Glańskie, 1991, no. 5, pp. 57–75.
Rukhina, E.V.,Litologiya lednikovykh otlozhenii (Lithology of Glacial Deposits), Leningrad: Nedra, 1973.
Slobodyanik, V.M., Trimonis, E.S., and Kempinskaya, U., Physical Properties of Bottom Sediments,Protsessy osadkonakopleniya vGdan ’skom basseine (Baltiiskoe more) (Processes of Sedimentation in the Gdansk Basin, Baltic Sea), Emel’yanov, E.M., Ed., Kiev: Inst. Okeanologii Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1987a, pp. 174–189.
Slobodyanik, V.M., Trimonis, E.S., and Kuptsov, V.M., Absolute Age of Sediments and Sedimentation Rates in the Gdansk Basin (Baltic Sea),Protsessy osadkonakopleniya v Gdan ’skom Basseine (Baltiiskoe more) (Processes of Sedimentation in the Gdansk Basin, Baltic Sea), Emelyanov, E.M., Ed., Kiev: Inst. Okeanologii Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1987b, pp. 190–195.
Sviridov, N.I., Results of Measurement of Sound Velocity in Bottom Sediments of the Baltic Sea,Baltica, Vilnius: Mokslas, 1977, vol. 6, pp. 173–180.
Sviridov, N.I., Physical Properties of Bedrocks and Sediments of the Baltic Sea,Sov. Geol., 1980, no. 3, pp. 110–116.
Sviridov, N.I., Seismogeological Criteria for the Recognition of Lithostratigraphic Complexes in the Baltic Sea,Il Vsesoyuznyi s ezd okeanologov (II All-Union Conf. of Oceanologists), Sevastopol: MGI Akad. Nauk USSR, 1982, issue 7, part 2, p. 31.
Sviridov, N.I., The Structure of the Upper Sedimentary Cover of the Baltic Sea,Geologicheskaya istoriya i geokhimiya Baltiiskogo morya (Geological History and Geochemistry of the Baltic Sea), Lisitsyn, A.P., Ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1984a, pp. 86–98.
Sviridov, N.I., Nature of Disturbances in the Upper Sedimentary Cover of the Baltic Sea, Sov.Geol., 1984b, no. 6, pp. 72–79.
Sviridov, N.I., Geological and Physical Nature of Geoacoustic Anomalies in the Upper Sedimentary Cover of the Baltic Sea,Geoakusticheskie i gazo-litogeokhimicheskie issledovaniya vBaltiiskom more. Geologicheskie osobennosti raionov razgruzki flyuidnykh potokov (Geoacoustic and Gaseous-Lithogeochemical Studies in the Baltic Sea: Geological Features of the Fluid Flow Discharge), Geodekyan, A.A., Trotsyuk, V.Ya., and Blazhchishin, A.I., Eds., Moscow: Inst. Okeanologii, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1990, pp. 47–56.
Sviridov, N.I., Seismostratigraphic Subdivision of the Sedimentary Sequence,Geologiya i geomorfologiya Baltiiskogo morya. Svodnaya obyasnitel’naya zapiska k geologicheskim kartam m-ba 1: 500000 (Geology and Geomorphology of the Baltic Sea: General Explanatory Note for Geological Maps, Scale 1 : 500000), Grigyalis, A.A., Ed., Leningrad: Nedra, 1991, pp. 50–66.
Sviridov, N.I. and Gaigalas, A.I., The Quaternary Cover of the Baltic Seafloor,Sov. Geol., 1974, no. 5, pp. 113–120.
Sviridov, N.I., Litvin, V.M., Gaigalas, A.I., and Repečka, M.A., Relief of Pre-Quaternary Surface of the Baltic Region,Sov. Geol, 1976, no. 5, pp. 60–69.
Sviridov, N.I., Sivkov, V.V., Rudenko, M.V., and Trimonis, E.S., Geological Traces of Bottom Currents in the Gotland Basin of the Baltic Sea,Okeanologiya, 1997, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 928–935.
Trimonis, E.S., The Composition of Holocene and Late Pleistocene Sediments,Protsessy osadkonakopleniya v Gdan’skom basseine (Baltiiskoe more) (Processes of Sedimentation in the Gdansk Basin (Baltic Sea), Emelyanov, E.M., Ed., Kiev: Inst. Oceanol. Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1987, pp. 149–174.
Uscinowicz, S. and Zachowicz, J.,Objaśnenia do mapy geołogicznej dna Bałtiku 1: 200000, Mojskii, J.E., Ed., Warszawa: Państwowy Institut Geologiczny, 1991.
Uścinowicz, S. and Zachowicz, J.,Objaśnenija do mapy geołogicznej dna Bałtiku 1: 200000, Arkusze: Gdansk, Elblag, Gleba Gdańska, Mojskii, J.E., Ed., Warszawa: Państwowy Institut Geologiczny, 1994.
Vypykh, K., Rossa, B., and Fedorovich, S., The Age of Morain Loams and Clays in the Gdansk Basin Bottom,Geologicheskoe stroenie i razvitie Baltiiskogo morya i zakonomernosti formirovaniya iskopaemykh resursov (The Geological Structure and Evolution of the Baltic Sea and Regularities of the Formation of Mineral Resources), Tallinn: Valgus, 1988, pp. 96–97.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sviridov, N.I., Emelyanov, E.M. Lithofacial complexes of quaternary deposits in the central and southeastern baltic sea. Lithol Miner Resour 35, 211–231 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02821956
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02821956