In 2011, in the Aleksandrov quarry (Kursk oblast, Russia), the Ryshkovo pedolithocomplex of the Mikulino (Eemian) Interglacial (MIS-5e) was studied. It includes three to four soil profiles separated by humified pedosediments. The lower soil is an eroded gray forest soil, the two middle soils ones are meadow soils at the bottom of the ravine and a soddy-podzolic soil on the paleoslope, and the upper soil is an underdeveloped soil with elements of forest pedogenesis. Morphological, physicochemical, and microbiomorphic studies of the pedolithocomplexes on the slope and in the bottom of the buried coastal ravine filled with colluvial and alluvial–colluvial sediments made it possible to reconstruct at least three pedogenic and four morpholithogenic stages in MIS-5e, which significantly detailed the event history of the interglacial. In the profile of the Ryshkovo pedolithocomplex, the buried humus horizon of the lower gray forest soil is clearly visible reflecting warmer climatic conditions of the first half of the last completed interglacial in comparison with its second half. Soil formation in trans-accumulative landscapes was repeatedly interrupted by erosion–accumulation processes, which reflects the instability (rhythmicity) of the climatic situation during the Mikulino interglacial and correlates well with detailed records from other geological archives.

The discovery of the Bayraki site in Transnistria showed how far from the ancestral homeland—the African continent—and how early (more than a million years ago) the ancestors of fossil man appeared in this region—in the basin of the lower Dniester. Six layers of Early Paleolithic artifacts were found in the section of the parking lot, both in the alluvial and the cover complex of the VII terrace of the Dniester. In the structure of the upper loess-soil strata, three paleosols of the lower and Middle Pleistocene and several levels of paleovresis are distinguished. The age-varying buried small erosive forms made it possible to clarify the number and stratigraphic position of the horizons of finds and paleosols. The two upper horizons of the Acheulian finds are associated with the medium reddish-brown paleosol and its pedosediment. The four lower horizons—the most ancient—are Oldovan, associated with different facies of the alluvial complex. People began to inhabit the floodplain of the Dniester River about 1 million years ago, repeatedly returning to almost the same place for a long time.

The paper presents the results on stratigraphy and chronology of the Late Pleistocene obtained on the basis of both OSL and 14C dating of paleosols and sediments in the Aleksandrov quarry, located in the Central Russian Upland. As this section was confined to the paleo-ravine, its layers reflected multiple alternations of the stages of soil formation, cryogenesis, and sedimentation in the Late Pleistocene. The studied sequence is one of the most detailed soil-sedimentary terrestrial archives in Eastern Europe owing to its specific geomorphological position. The climate changes from the Mikulino interglacial (MIS 5e) to the Holocene (MIS 1) are reflected. The Ryshkovo pedolithic complex (MIS 5e, 127–117 ka) with extremely detailed pedogenetic stages lies at the base of paleodepression. The first Early Valdai cooling, which is reflected by the Seim stratum, has an OSL age of 115 ka. Two interstadial paleosols, Kukuevo and Streletsk, were formed in the Early Valdai time (MIS 5c and MIS 5a). The Mlodat loess separating them has an OSL age of 91 ka. The Middle Valdai is represented by two main interstadial paleosols, Alexandrovka (53 ka BP in 14C) and Bryansk (33 ka BP in 14C). In the filling of the Late Valdai dells, there are zoogenically processed late-glacial loams formed during warming epochs, Bølling and Allerød. The presented chronostratigraphic scheme is compared with analogs obtained for other loess-soil archives of Eastern, Central, and Western Europe.

Recent and Late Pleistocene soils of the central forest-steppe in the East European Plain have been studied. The main objective of the work is to reveal changes in the properties of the Bryansk paleosol (final phase of MIS 3), one of the most important geosols of the Late Pleistocene. These changes could be induced by cryogenesis during the Valdai glaciation maximum (MIS 2) and by the Holocene pedogenesis (MIS 1) under different conditions of the modern microtopography. We have studied the catena of Holocene soils underlain by the Bryansk paleosol within a small closed depression in the Kazatskaya Steppe of the V.V. Alekhin Central Chernozemic Biospheric Reserve in Kursk oblast. The depression is supposedly the result of loess subsidence. Haplic Chernozems develop on the microelevation; Luvic Chernozems, on the microslope; and Luvic Chernozems (Stagnic), in the bottom of the depression. The upper humus horizons of the Holocene soils are similar in all parts of the microcatena. On the slopes and in the lower part of the microdepression, the Ah2 subhorizon is replaced by the AE horizon, and the Bk horizon becomes carbonate-free and turns into the Bt horizon. The change in the “normal” profile of the paleosol of the Bryansk Interstadial began already at the latest stages of its formation. The Bryansk soil was strongly deformed by cryogenic processes during the maximum of the Valdai glaciation (Vladimir cryogenic horizon). The secondary diagenesis of the Bryansk paleosol is associated with soil formation in the Holocene. Holocene soils are superimposed on the profile of the Bryansk paleosol, transforming it differently in various parts of the catena. On the microelevation, the diagenesis in the Holocene is regarded as minimal. The Bryansk paleosol is most transformed in the bottom of the microdepression.

The genesis, evolution, and paleoecology of soils of the Early Valdai interstadials were investigated in the Aleksandrov quarry (Kursk oblast), a key section of the Late Pleistocene deposits in the periglacial area of the East European Plain. The soils developed in the uppermost parts of the buried hollows (investigated in 2009) were compared with the soils developed in the lower parts of the same hollows (investigated in 1988). The data obtained suggest that the soils in the upper parts of the hollows were developed under wetter and, at the same time, more percolative water regime than the soils in the lower parts of the hollows. These soils were formed in a semihumid climate under the forest-steppe vegetation. Forest groves existed in the upper parts of the erosional network amidst herbaceous meadow steppes. In general, the soil cover pattern of the Early Valdai interstadials corresponded to the modern soil cover pattern within the analogous landscapes.