Lake Gusinoye (the southern part of East Siberia, Russia): sedimentary history inferred from high-resolution reflection seismic data

Abstract

This paper studies the formation of the sediment cover in Lake Gusinoye. For this purpose, we used high-resolution seismic data. Depression of Lake Gusinoye has a tectonic origin; however, there is no evidence of recent tectonic activity. Sediment thickness in Lake Gusinoye is less than 9 m, and its history is short (<35-45 ka). In addition, seismic stratigraphy records contain three contrasting episodes when the lake level dramatically decreased. It is very likely that there were also other shorter episodes of low-level stands. Thus, seismic structures of lakes Gusinoye and Kotokel have a strong resemblance, and it is most likely that their history began at the same time, ca. 40 ka BP.