Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the chronology of Caspian level fluctuations and the geological structure of the Volga delta. A comprehensive research of the Damchik section (Astrakhan’ Biosphere Reserve) revealed new data on the Late Holocene history of the marine edge of the delta and the avandelta. During Holocene there was a gradual seaward progradation of the marine part of the delta and the avandelta. This process was phasic and consistent with the Caspian Sea level fluctuations, displayed by environmental changes and sediments: coastal – kultuk and delta (poloy) – alluvial (correlated with the Derbent regression of the Caspian). The main dynamic tendencies of the Holocene Volga delta are large-scale migrations conditioned by fluctuations of the Caspian Sea level. Data on chronology and the geological structure of deltaic deposits obtained in the recent years allows us to specify the paleohydrologic environment of the delta during the last 10 ky.

Keywords: The Caspian Sea, the Volga delta, Holocene, sea level changes, delta formation, geological structure, radiocarbon chronology, development of delta