Reconstruction of the Late Holocene Environment of Central Yakutia Based on Fossil Invertebrates and Plants from a Buried Lake at the Vilyuy River Valley

We present the first record of Holocene fossil insect assemblages from Central Yakutia. A stratigraphic sequence in the locality within the Vilyuy River valley is a buried oxbow. The late Holocene water body inherited an impervious stratum from the late Pleistocene. The organic layer preserved rich...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water
Main Authors: S. A. Kuzmina, M. V. Micharevich, A. E. Basilyan, V. M. Lytkin, G. I. Shaposhnikov, A. N. Vasilyeva, M. P. Pavlova, E. Ponomarenko, A. A. Galanin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
insects
freshwater invertebrates
vegetation
gyttja
oxbow
climate
Hydraulic engineering
TC1-978
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
TD201-500
Leech
Yakutia
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/w15152790
https://doaj.org/article/0e9a648fe57e4f399d2c1447a1db69fb
Description
Summary:We present the first record of Holocene fossil insect assemblages from Central Yakutia. A stratigraphic sequence in the locality within the Vilyuy River valley is a buried oxbow. The late Holocene water body inherited an impervious stratum from the late Pleistocene. The organic layer preserved rich fossil assemblages of macrofossils including insects and other invertebrates, plants, and charcoal. The ancient flora and fauna include species that are common in Yakutia as well as those that are rare and absent in the region. The most abundant finds are leech cocoons and bogbean seeds. The macrofossils of some insects were found along with remains of their host plants. Despite the absence of intensive human land use in the area, traces of fires were recorded. The oxbow represents the environment of a floodplain wetland that developed separately from the ecosystem of the adjacent sand dunes.

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