Pedostratigraphy and chronology of the Late Pleistocene for the extra glacial area in the Central Russian Upland (reference section Aleksandrov quarry).

• The loess-paleosol section (MIS 5e to MIS 3) on the Russian Upland was studied. • OSL and 14C-dates were obtained for paleosols, sediments, and cryogenic deformations. • For MIS 5e interglacial the duration of pedogenesis was estimated from 12 to 15 ka. • Stages of periglacial conditions during the early, middle and late Valdai were dated. • The obtained chrono-stratigraphic scheme was correlated with other ones in Europe. New results on stratigraphy and chronology, obtained on the basis of OSL and 14C-dating of paleosols, sediments, and cryogenic deformations in the Aleksandrov quarry situated at the Central Russian Upland, are discussed. Due to the location of the site in a paleodepression, the section presents various stages of soil formation, cryogenesis and sedimentation starting from the Mikulino interglacial to the middle last glacial time. The studied sequence is well preserved and one of the most detailed soil-sedimentary terrestrial archives within Eastern Europe. It reflects climatic variations comprising the timespan from the marine isotopic stage (MIS) 5e to MIS 3. At the base of the paleodepression the pedogenetic stages are extraordinary detailed. Distinct paleosols are alternating with erosion-accumulative stages, forming the Ryshkovo pedolitocomplex during the Mikulino interglacial. During the Early Valdai time two interstadial paleosols were developed, and the Middle Valdai section comprises two main interstadial paleosols as well. In general, interstadial paleosols of the Late Valdai time are absent in the studied quarry. For the first time, the chronological boundaries of the MIS 5e interglacial are recorded and thus, the duration of soil formation could be determined from 12 to 15 thousand years. Furthermore, stages of periglacial conditions during the Early, Middle and Late Valdai time were dated. The obtained ages form the base for a chronostratigraphic framework, which was correlated with those of the loess-paleosol archives of Eastern, Central, and Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]