Holocene Rhythms of Soil Formation and Sedimentation in the Central Russian Upland

For the first time, the rhythms of soil formation and accumulation of sediments in Holocene in the Central Russian Upland were determined on the basis of radiocarbon analysis of slope, balka, and floodplain soils and deposits. Buried paleosols of different ages were distinguished: Early Atlantic—pd5 (7600–6700 yr Bp), Late Atlantic—pd4 (6180–4800 yr Bp), Subboreal—pd3 (4150–3000 yr Bp), Subatlantic—pd2 (2380–1050 yr Bp). Buried Alleröd-Preboreal and Boreal paleosols and modern 200-yr-old soil on newly deposited sediments were studied. The paleosols were formed within long (more than 1200 yr) phases of geomorphological stability, and buried in transitional-accumulative landscapes. Alluvial, proluvial, deluvial, and other Holocene deposits were accumulated within shorter phases of morpholithogenesis. These pedogenetic and morpholithogenetic phases follow a 1850-yr cycle.