EVIDENCE FOR LARGE SCALE CATASTROPHIC FLOODING IN EURASIA
George R. de Neef
2106 Walnut Lane, Vista, CA 92084
MarconTech@cox.net
Abstract
This paper presents pictorial evidence gleaned from Google Earth showing shorelines,
topographical flow patterning, drumlins, flood scours, remnant dry falls and transverse
bars covering millions of square kilometers in Central Asia, the Mediterranean region and
Central Europe and presents a discussion of the flood.
1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Lacustrine Features
4. Subglacial Features
5. Flood Scours and Depositional Landforms
6. Discussion
a. Overview
b. Evolution of the Proglacial Lake
c. Evolution of the Central Asian Flood Tracts
d. Species Transfer
e. Ecological consequences
7. Conclusion
1
Introduction
Drumlin fields, remnant dry falls, scoured landscapes and exposed shorelines may record
vast outburst floods. Evidence for this conclusion comes mainly from North America in
landforms associated with the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, including the well
documented Channeled Scablands (Bretz, 1923, 1969; Weis and Newman, 1976) of the
northwest United States. Similar scoured landscapes are associated with the
FennoScandian and the British ice sheets. This paper presents new information in the
form of Google Earth images suggesting meltwater floods in Central Asia, the
Mediterranean region and Central Europe.
Although only selected images are used here to support the concept of major floods in
this region, this concept is supported by evidence from hundreds of satellite images.
Consequently, only the main and most obvious features are discussed.
This is a preliminary analysis since no quantified field research has been performed.
Field work would be inordinately expensive and would require permission to travel to
and perform research in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and China.
Methods
Satellite images depicted on Google Earth are used to identify drumlins, dry falls,
shorelines and scoured landscapes. Geographical co-ordinates and the observer’s altitude
are given with each image, together with elevation at the center of the image. These
images were collected between late 2008 and early 2010. Google Earth constantly
updates its program and the colouration of some images has changed as G.E. improves its
2
resolution. In many cases in this paper, the older images have been retained because the
artificially enhanced colouration makes the features described stand out better.
The line of inquiry that led to this paper began with a chance remark made by the
moderator of a discussion of Humanity’s various creation myths who stated that the
various deluge myths had to be false because no geological evidence of a deluge has ever
been found in the Middle East. I felt that this was not a supportable statement because
there are submarine canyons at both Gibraltar and the Bosporus, so the Mediterranean
region was not always as we see it today.
What followed was a crash course in the Messinian salinity crisis (Krijgsman et al, 1999)
and Prof. William Ryan’s Black Sea flood hypothesis (Ryan and Pitman, 1998). During
a brief phone conversation I had with Prof. Ryan concerning his hypothesis, he
mentioned a puzzle that had been presented by sediment cores taken from the eastern
Mediterranean that showed strong cooling of the water column down to 2 or 3°C during
the Younger Dryas and which had led to a millenium of anoxic conditions in the sea.
The draining of Lake Agassiz in North America and the postulated consequent climate
change was unlikely to have cooled the Eastern Mediterranean to this extent and this led
me to postulate an analogue of the Laurentide ice sheet in Eurasia.
The following are the results of this investigation:
I first observed what appeared to be massive and ubiquitous flood scarring on the east
coast of the Caspian Sea on Google Earth. From there I followed various flood scours
3
back to their source in Siberia. This paper details the flood from its source to where it
entered the Indian and Atlantic oceans.
Figs. 13(a&b)
Figs. 12(a,b&c)
Fig. 10(d)
Fig. 2(b)
Fig. 10(c)
Fig. 10(b)
Fig. 2(a)
22222222(a
Fig. 4(a)
2(2(a)
Fig. 2(d)
Fig. 5(c)
Figs. 3(a&b)
Fig. 15
Fig. 10(a)
Fig. 4(b)
Fig. 9
Fig. 10(e)
Figs. 7(c&d)
Fig. 6 Fig. 5(b)
Fig. 11(b)
Fig. 11(a)
Fig. 8
Fig. 2(c)
Fig. 5(a)
Figs. 7(a&b)
Fig. 11(c)
Fig. 1 Locations of subsequent images in the text.
Lacustrine Features
Figure 2(a) shows some of the multitude of kettle lakes, as well as brain-like patterns that
occur all over Siberia east of the Urals. Such lakes may form as icebergs melt after being
4
stranded in soft sediment with the drainage of a large lake. Brain-like patterns may also
signify lake-beds (Benn and Evans, 1998).
95 km
Fig. 2(a) Kettle lakes and brain-like patterns in Siberia.
Figure 2(b) shows a shoreline in the foothills of the Verkhoyansk Mountains, near
Yakutsk, east Siberia. If this shoreline can be unequivocally linked to the event described
here, it would mean that the proglacial lake may have been more than 4,000 km across.
Note the subaerial erosion to the north and east and the deposition in the southwestern
5
quadrant. Dry lakebed shorelines in the western United States appear very similar to this
one.
180 km
Shoreline
Fig. 2(b) Shoreline near Yakutsk
6
Shoreline
65 km
Fig. 2(c) Shoreline and exposed lakebed northeast of Lake Baikal.
7
Shoreline
Flood tract
200 km
Maina sites
Fig. 2(d) Minusa basin and the Yenisei river
Note the forested flood scarring in the eastern portion of this image. These floodwaters
likely originated on the volcanic Azas Plateau (Komatsu et al, 2006) and these or similar
jökulhlaup floods may have precipitated the failure of the ice dam presented in this paper.
Volcanism in various parts of Eastern Siberia may have contributed meltwater to the lake
over time, preventing its freezing over.
The altitude of the shoreline in the northwest corner (Fig. 2(d)) agrees well with the
altitude of the shoreline in Figure 2(b), as well as the altitude of the shoreline found north
of Lake Baikal (Fig. 2(c)) at approximately 750 m above present day sea level. The only
8
exception is a shoreline on the eastern side of the northernmost extremity of the Urals
which lies at a lower elevation, where the highlands themselves were not high enough to
constrain the lake. The lake here must have been contained by a combination of highland
and icecap. This shoreline may have formed in a more local lake subsequent to the
drainage of the megalake.
40 km
Fig. 2(e) Shorelines of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, Utah (Green and Currey, 1998).
Note the similarities with shorelines illustrated above.
9
Subglacial Features
The main floodwater source appears to be the Kulunda steppe area (Fig. 3(a)). The
valleys of this steppe may have originated as subglacial tunnel valleys. Such valleys
form pressurized conduits and commonly exhibit overdeepening, which, with
deglaciation, may become water filled to form lakes. (Brennand and Shaw, 1994).
The valleys of the Kulunda steppe contain numerous lakes fitting this description. At
their southwestern extremities, these valleys terminate in a huge flood tract showing
scoured bedrock and little deposition (Sjogren and Rains, 1995). The sparsity of
sediment reflects high floodwater velocity and volume, with deposition of the sediment
excavated from the tunnel channels 1,000 km or more downstream, north of the Aral Sea
and in the Caspian sink.
10
185 km
Fig. 3(a) The two largest valleys of the Kulunda steppe.
Note the various lakes present in these valleys.
11
235 km
Fig. 3(b) Detail of the flood scour southwest of Kulunda.
This image shows part of the scour just west of the valleys of Fig. 3(a). The scour here is
much larger than this image but showing the whole scour causes it to become invisible
because too much detail is lost.
Further subglacial features consist of a large, irregularly shaped field of drumlins, whose
orientations are closely aligned with those of the valleys of the Kulunda steppe,
commencing just north of Kulunda. From here the field extends approximately 950 km
westwards and 250 km north-south between the latitudes 53° 52’ N and 57° 42’N and the
12
longitudes 65° 24’E and 80° 0’E. It straddles the border between Kazakhstan and the
Russian Federation. All the drumlins in this extensive field, as well as other associated
bedforms, are precisely aligned with each other, even features separated by over 1,000
km. This fact makes it tempting to postulate that the entire ice sheet was hydraulically
lifted and moved as a unit by this outburst flood and the pressure from the lake.
Approximately 200 km southwest from the western extremity of the drumlin field, near
the town of Kustanay, lie two enormous outburst flood scars, each about 185 km in
length, extending in a west-south-westerly direction, again closely aligned with the
orientation of the drumlins. The town of Semiozneroye lies at the commencement of the
northernmost scar. It is interesting to note that the largest and most clearly defined
drumlins are the ones furthest removed from the outburst scars.
13
140 km
Fig. 4(a) The eastern extremity of the drumlin field just northwest of Kulunda.
Note the water filled potholes and the large scale flow pattern in the southeast corner of
the image.
14
Semiozneroye
205 km
Fig. 4(b) Two outburst scars, outlined in white, near Kustanay.
Flood Scours and Depositional Landforms
The flood scours and deposits described in this paper exhibit various geomorphic
features, including channels, sediment bars, lobes and fans, scoured bedrock and
hydraulically plucked depressions, giant ripples, dry falls and cascades, and sheet erosion
megalineations.
Two flood scours emanate from the western end of the Kulunda steppe and eventually
reconverge in the Aral Sea basin.
15
The northern trace extends northwest from Kulunda towards Pavlodar, Astana and the
Lake Tengiz area, in the general direction of the outburst scars, where it becomes
indistinct as the entire area shows massive evidence of flooding. From there, a huge
swath of flood-modified terrain including the Turgai drainage route reflects flow into the
Aral basin (Fig. 6), and westwards north of the Aral directly into the Caspian.
The southern tract carried flood discharge southeast from Kulunda to Lake Zaysan where
it deposited an enormous sandbar at 48° 41’ N, 83° 21’ E. From here the flood continued
eastwards through Lake Ulungur and into the Junggar Pendi basin, creating a 100 km
long dry cascade at 45° 40’ N, 87° 40’ E. (Fig. 5(a)).
Whether or not the Junggar Pendi basin once held a lake is not readily discernable on
Google Earth, although there are some possible shorelines that are not readily explained
in the context of this flood, because they do not follow a contour but rise in a
southeasterly direction, toward the Himalayan massif, and are therefore probably older
than this event. What is clear, however, is that numerous other floods entered this basin
at various times, landforms indicate one example at 45° 45’N, 86° 00’E, and another at
44° 20’N, 90° 45’E.
From this basin the flood waters drained through a prominent pass, the Dzungarian Gate
(45° 18’N, 82° 28’E), downflow from which the flood scoured enormous tracts,
encompassing lakes Alakol and Balkash. The flood then flowed west from Lake Balkash,
leaving a scour tract over 300 km wide (Fig. 5(b)) and terminating in the Aral Sea Basin
(Fig. 6) where it left antidunes extending in a field about 175 km wide with wavelengths
of 7 to 8 km. and an amplitude of ~10 meters.
16
Applying the formula, λ=2πU2/g (Kennedy, 1963; Alexander, 2008), where λ denotes
wavelength, U is the mean velocity and g is the acceleration of gravity, a wavelength of
8 Km implies a flow velocity of approx. 112 m/sec.
Some distance upstream from the antidunes, where the flood trace is distinct enough to be
measurable, the width of the tract is ~325 km, the maximum depth of the flood ~200 m
and the cross-sectional area ~32.5x106 m2. While the flow velocity indicated by the
antidunes is not directly applicable to this cross-section, even using half the stated section
would yield an instantaneous flow of ~1820 Sverdrup. These velocities and volumes
seem preposterous but close inspection of the antidunes show their section to be roughly
sinusoidal. They also occur where the flood encountered a, by comparison, shallow body
of water (the Aral) and their very low amplitudes would indicate extreme velocities.
Another factor to consider is that this flood raised the level of the Mediterranean by over
400 meters at the Isthmus of Suez, as I will discuss later, and, in order to overwhelm the
various drainage outlets of the Mediterranean basin to this extent, the flows required
would have had to be gargantuan.
The northern, and far larger, flood tract is so large and the margins so indistinct that the
flow cannot be estimated using Google Earth.
From the Aral, the flood continued westwards and south over the entire eastern seaboard
of the Caspian with the largest flows in the northern and southern extremities of the
region. There is evidence that this flood continued on into the Sea of Azov, across the
lowlands of Central Europe to the Baltic and North Seas, and across the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean from where it flowed out through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Isthmus
17
of Suez. For examples of this evidence, Major et al (2002) reported a clay layer in the
Black Sea that was probably deposited between 15 and 14 Ka BP, and Hiscott et al
(2002) described a sediment delta in the Sea of Marmara at the mouth of the Bosporus
consisting of two lobes, divided by a prominent lowstand unconformity, that formed
between 23.5 and 10 ka BP. This unconformity could have been a result of the same
flood that created the enormous tracts described here. That the lower lobe was not
completely removed was probably because the highest velocity flows in the Sea of
Marmara were short lived as sea level here rose quickly.
Because Siberia and Kazakhstan are thinly populated and much of the region containing
these flood scours is arid, the scours in this region can be followed on Google Earth, but
in Europe, centuries of agricultural practice have largely obscured the finer details,
leaving only the larger elements of the scours clearly visible.
The following are a number of images from various locations to illustrate flood features:
18
130 km
Fig. 5(a) Dry cascade.
This image shows the dry cascade and associated flow patterning north of the Junggar
Pendi basin in western China. This feature is over 100 Km in length.
19
175 km
Fig. 5(b) Flood scour west of Balkash.
This image shows a detail of the flood scour between Lake Balkash and the Aral Sea.
The white flecks are scoured out depressions that have become dry lakebeds mineralized
with white salts (According to IGRAC – the International Groundwater Resources
Assessment Center – this region is the largest and most strongly affected of all the
World’s saline groundwater regions).
The flow here was from east to west.
20
145 km
Fig. 5(c) Turgai flood scour.
This image shows part of the flood scour northeast of the Aral Sea. The dark specks are
scoured out depressions that have become marshes and small lakes. The flow here was
from northeast to southwest.
21
560 km
Fig. 6 The Aral Sea, showing sediment deposition to the north and to the northeast, and
antidunes to the east.
22
60 km
Fig. 7(a) The Karakum desert south of the Aral and East of the Chink Kaplankyr.
Much of the terrain in this image is overlain with modern sand dunes but the underlying
flow patterning is clearly discernable.
The feature shown is in Turkmenistan. Virtually all of Turkmenistan is covered with
flow patterning of one kind or another, all the way to the Afghan border.
23
100 km
Fig. 7(b) Chink Kaplankyr or the Karashor depression.
These falls are almost 100 km across and, according to Google Earth, are approximately
300 m high. Note the horseshoe falls at the northwestern end and the flow patterning to
the southwest.
24
78 km
Fig. 7(c) Ustyurt Chink.
These dry falls are at the head of a series of erosion features that extend to the east
Caspian shore. The horseshoe falls (top) are approximately 15 km across.
25
410 km
Fig. 7(d) Ustyurt Chink in the southeast corner of the image and the erosion features
leading from it to the Caspian Sea.
The northern part of the image shows another of the many dry falls in this region.
26
Fig. 8 Sediment layering at the shore of the Caspian near Cheleken. (photograph by
Rejep Kurbanov, titled ‘Snake’)
Note the regularly stratified thin lower beds typical of alluvial deposition in a dry climate.
These beds are topped by an anomalous erosion surface overlain by two thick beds. Note
the boulders in the bottom of the first thick bed.
At the onset of the flooding, the level of the Caspian may have been relatively low
compared to the elevation this location, leading to the anomalous erosional surface. As
the flood progressed, inundation of this area led to the deposition of the thick beds and
boulders.
27
185 km
Fig. 9 Extensive flood scouring in the Dagestan region on the northwest coast of the
Caspian.
Flow from southeast to northwest.
28
22 km
Fig. 10(a) Flood tract just north of Crimea near the Dnieper.
This image shows how agriculture is obscuring the flood tract.
60 km
29
53 km
Fig. 10(b) Transverse bars in Moldova.
This whole region shows evidence of massive flooding and close inspection of the
features on Google Earth shows flow from the southeast to the northwest.
30
65 km
Fig. 10(c) Flood tract in Belarus.
The cluster of blue squares (embedded photographs) shows the location of the Chernobyl
power plant.
31
46 km
Fig. 10(d) Topographical ripples in northern Lithuania near Biržai.
32
Fig. 10(e) Flood tract south of the Yildiz mountains, western Turkey.
33
80 km
Fig. 11(a) Overview of the northern end of the Red Sea at the Isthmus of Suez.
Note the scarp east of the isthmus and the eroded strata west of the scarp. This scarp may
be a remnant feature where floods exited the Mediterranean Basin (the Straits of Gibraltar
would also have been a drainage route). This flood raised the level of the Mediterranean
~300 meters above its present level, based on the elevation of the base of the scarp.
There are also numerous shorelines in the desert west of the isthmus, at the elevation of
this scarp. This elevation also corresponds to some of the upper limits of the flow
patterned terrain in Turkmenistan.
34
2 km
Fig. 11(b) One of the shorelines west of Suez.
Shorelines here are more distinct than elsewhere, probably because of the high flow
velocity of water approaching the isthmus.
35
37 km
Fig. 11(c) Erosion features at the strait of Bab el Mandeb near the mouth of the Red Sea.
The flow here was from the northwest to the southeast, down the Red Sea. The flood
scoured this headland, leaving the remnants seen here.
Evidence of erosion, parallel to the coast and above sea level, occur near the Straits of
Gibraltar at positions
36° 04’ N, 5° 43’ W,
35° 54.5’N, 5° 26.5’W,
35° 50’N, 5° 37.35’W and
36
36° 12’ N, 6° 01’ W,
35° 47’ 46” N, 5° 53’ 20” W.
3.5 km
Fig. 12(a) A cape on the south coast of Spain just west of the Straits of Gibraltar.
Note the plucked erosional topography north of the town of Paloma Baja, west of the
ridge. After rising over the ridge, the east to west flow eroded sediment on the
downstream side of the ridge.
37
5.5 km
Fig. 12(b) Cape Trafalgar, south coast of Spain, west of the previous image.
Scour patterns on this image depict a different landscape than that in adjoining regions.
Similar erosion at three locations in Morocco, west of the Straits, does not show up as
well on images because the coast there is steep and much rockier.
Bear in mind that, depending on the timing, when this erosion occurred, the eustatic sea
level may have been up to 125 meters lower than today, making the elevation of the
upper limit of these erosion features (~200m asl at the previous image and ~140m asl in
this one) that much more remarkable.
38
110 km
Visible erosion features
Fig. 12(c) The Straits of Gibraltar with the locations of erosional evidence.
At the height of the flood, the difference in elevation of sea level east and west of the
strait was over 400 m. The high-water mark is no longer preserved, but high flow
velocities downstream of the choke point at the narrowest part of the straits left clear
evidence of flow scour at the points indicated.
The following two images have been copied with permission from the Geological Society
of London:
39
Fig. 13 (a) Perspective view of the Gulf of Cadiz sea-floor topography. Arrows show
major Mediterranean Outflow water pathways. (b) Physical provinces of the Gulf of
Cadiz. (modified from Heezen and Johnson 1969; Kenyon and Belderson 1973; Nelson et
al. 1993, 1999; Barraza et al. 1999; Maldonado et al. 1999; Habgood et al. 2003).
40
From Viana and Rebesco (2007). Courtesy, Geological Society, London.
Fig. 13(a) Major Mediterranean Outflow Water pathways. Outflow presently follows the
upper part of the northern slope of the sea and was clearly not responsible for the
formation of the scour and wavefield. I suggest that this scour was formed by the flood
under discussion.
Fig. 13(b) shows the scour emanating from the Straits of Gibraltar, extending out 100 km
into the Atlantic plus a field of sediment waves extending a further 100 km.
Akmetzhanov et al (2007) mention that this sediment forms waves and the wavelength
increases with distance from the Straits. At the furthest reaches, the wavelength
approaches 1,000 m and, in general, the sediment column fines upwards, suggesting a
reduction in flow velocity as the sediment was deposited. This would be consistent with
reduction in flow velocity as the Mediterranean drained back down to sea level. That the
longest wavelength waves are formed furthest out and that the wavelength decreases
towards the straits can also be consistent with steadily reducing flow velocities in that the
strongest flows would have deposited the longest waves the furthest out from the straits
and, as the flood subsided, lower flow velocities would have deposited steadily shorter
sediment waves closer to the straits. In an article from the same publication, Llave et al
(2007) commented that these waves occur widely in the Sea of Cadiz and that they occur
only in the upper layers of sediment, implying that they are not the result of an ongoing
process. The progression of scour nearest the straits, followed by sand waves further out,
41
and finally mud waves and intermittent mud waves is consistent with strong outflow from
the Mediterranean, with velocities weakening with distance from the straits.
Shoreline
Outburst
Scars
Lake Ogygos
Drumlins
Shorelines
Tunnel Valleys
Flood Scarring and
Shoreline
Breach Scour
Key
Inferred lake shoreline
Lake shore bounded by ice, therefore indeterminate
Flood flow lines evidenced by fluvial geomorphic features
Fig. 14 – Flood Overview.
42
Discussion:
Overview
The scale of the flood event under discussion is breathtaking, with dry falls so large (e.g.,
Chink Kaplankyr) that if one were to stand on top of the 300 m high falls at one end, the
curvature of the Earth would cause more than a third of the length of the feature to be
beyond sight. From the flow patterning around and beyond the falls, it becomes apparent
that this feature was wholly immersed by the flood and would have presented itself not as
a waterfall but as a stationary wave or chute on the floodwater surface. Once one has
absorbed the enormity of this postulated flood, the next step involves the realization that
these dry falls are but one of many similar features found within a swath of destruction
1000 km wide, covering the entire eastern seaboard of the Caspian.
Chink Kaplankyr fossil falls totally dwarf the Dry Falls of the Channeled Scablands,
Washington State, with widths of ~100 km and ~1.5 km, respectively.
Based on the present estimated surface area of the Mediterranean at 2.5X106 km2, the rise
in level of the Mediterranean at over 400 m (this figure is based on eustatic sea level at
-125 m and erosional landforms at 300 m above sea level), and the corresponding
increase in surface area probably quadrupling (this area includes the lake), the volume of
floodwater probably exceeded 2x106 km3, possibly twice that. This flood could therefore
have caused up to 12 m of eustatic sea level rise, assuming the global ocean surface area
to be 335,258,000 km2. A rise of this magnitude matches the 13.5 ±2.5 m and 7.5 ±2.5 m
of the 14.2 ka and 11.5 Catastrophic Rise Events which have been linked with Heinrich
events. (Blanchon and Shaw, 1995).
43
The sudden exposure of 4,000 km of mud and silt in this lakebed would provide high
volumes of material for aeolian transport and a very large dust signature in ice-sheet
cores. Such a signature appears in the GISP2 ice core at 11.5 ka, the onset of the
Younger Dryas cooling period (Blanchon and Shaw, 1995; Alley et al, 1997), making this
date applicable to this event.
The proglacial lake that was the origin of this flood was so large and its draining so swift
that, instead of draining into the Mediterranean Sea in its entirety, its outflow raised the
level of the Mediterranean, causing ponding in the Mediterranean basin and establishing
a temporary equilibrium with the remnants of the lake, as the sea expanded to cover large
parts of North Africa, filling the Dead Sea depression, covering much of Turkey and the
Black Sea region and the lowlands of Central and Eastern Europe, plus Asia Minor and
the Caspian region and expanding into Siberia all the way to the ice sheet bordering the
Arctic Ocean. The last vestiges of this lake drained away slowly as the Mediterranean
drained through Suez and Gibraltar. Comparing the available outlets of the
Mediterranean basin, with Gibraltar at less than 15 km at its narrowest and the scar at
Suez at 38 km at its narrowest, and the flood tracts in central Asia where the smaller of
the main tracts is over 300 km across and where the flow was at least 200 m deep,
flowing at high velocity, and the eastern seaboard of the Caspian, at 1,000 km across,
showing extensive flood scarring all along its length, it becomes clear why this flood
ponded in the Mediterranean basin and raised the level of the sea more than 400 m. It is
probable that the highest initial discharge volumes flowed across central Europe to the
Baltic and North seas, especially as the initial flood pulse had to rise over the Yildiz
44
mountains of western Turkey before entering the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean,
the Bosporus being far too narrow to accommodate this flood.
I have based the size of this expansion on a survey of the regions that would be inundated
by a sea level of 300 meters above present day sea level.
Evolution of Proglacial Lake Ogygos
I propose naming this proglacial lake ‘Lake Ogygos’, in honour of the king of Boeotia
who, according to Plato, ruled at the time of the Deluge.
The following scenario outlines the proposed evolution of this lake:-
At the onset of the last Glacial Maximum, the formation of ice sheets along the Arctic
coast caused isostatic depression, allowing the incursion of Arctic waters into northern
Siberia. A subsequent period of strong cooling froze the northern reaches of one or more
of these proglacial incursions, isolating the fauna in these waters from the Arctic.
Through water supply by runoff, these lakes coalesced and rose to an equilibrium
elevation with the water surface ~750 m above present-day sea level. The maturity of the
shorelines shown in Figs. 3 & 4 evidence long-term, stable lake levels.
Concurrently, in the western reaches of Siberia, a large ice sheet accumulated and
reached as far south as present-day Kazakhstan. The existence of this ice sheet is clearly
evidenced by the drumlins (Fig. 4(a)) and other associated bedforms. Thus, highlands to
the south and east, and the ice sheets to the west and the north constrained Lake Ogygos.
As the last glacial maximum drew to a close, the lower albedo of the lake allowed it to
absorb enough heat energy to melt its way into the ice sheet to the west, eventually
45
breaking through at Kulunda. The final trigger may have been provided by a jökulhlaup
flood, such as the one shown in Fig. 2(d), suddenly raising the lake level, causing
massive, simultaneous failure of the entire ice dam. Lower temperatures north of the
Arctic Circle would have maintained the thickness of the ice sheets there, preventing the
lake from draining northwards.
Evolution of the Central Asian Flood Tracts
At the time of the outburst flood, the aforementioned West Siberian ice sheet had
progressed southwards to fill in against the Kazakh Highlands to the south, forcing the
escaping floodwaters at Kulunda over the highlands southward to the Junngar Pendi
Basin, creating the feature shown in Fig. 5(a) and from there onwards toward Lake
Balkash and the Aral Sea. Concurrently, water flowed westwards towards present-day
Astana, creating the flood scour and the Lake Tengiz basin. This branch of the flood,
however, became the dominant flow and proceeded to undermine the ice from
downstream, lifting it hydraulically and allowing vast amounts of water to escape
subglacially, as evidenced by the flood scours shown in Fig. 4(b), and, applying the
meltwater explanation for glacial bedforms, (e.g., Shaw, 2002) the vast field of drumlins.
Erosion of the southern margin of the ice field diverted the floodwaters away from the
southern flood tract to the Junggar Pendi area, allowing all the floodwaters to flow
through the Turgai area, until the temporary equilibrium between the falling lake and the
rising Mediterranean was reached. This equilibrium probably served to further break up
the ice sheet so that, as the Med slowly drained away, the rest of the megalake drained
away with it, leaving some smaller lakes in its wake such as Yenisei Lake and Lake
46
Mansi (Baker, 2007), and a smaller lake in Yakutia (Fig. 2(b)), which subsequently
drained into the Laptev Sea, leaving an erosional incision in the sea shelf just east of the
Taymyr peninsula (Grosswald, 1998).
I base the diversion scenario on the fact that, while the southern flood tract was
temporarily gargantuan, with a possible discharge in the order of 2000 sverdrup or
greater, only underdeveloped flood scours and depositional landforms remain. For
instance, the dry cascade (Fig. 5(a)) did not evolve into dry falls (Fig. 7(b)). Other
features such as sandbars and scours, are also relatively undeveloped. Also, the very
large scour that includes lake Tengiz (Fig. 15), which lies at a somewhat higher elevation
than most of the other flood features, is a surface breach, similar to a dyke breach that
leaves a pond or lake in its wake, as opposed to a sediment laden subglacial outburst that
leaves no depression and even sometimes leaves a slight mound, as is the case with the
outburst scours (Fig. 4(b)). Furthermore, the southern flood tract was forced up the Irtysh
and Ulungur valleys to a very much higher elevation (over 400 m higher) before cresting
the divide and descending into the Junggar Pendi area. Because flow had to rise over this
divide, it was destined to be short lived as lower paths became available westwards
between the margin of the ice sheet and the highlands to the south as evidenced by the
Lake Tengiz and other scours (Fig. 15).
47
205 km
Fig. 15 Lake Tengiz and its flood scour.
Species Transfer
The proglacial lake scenario could explain the presence of seals (nerpas) in present dayLake Baikal and the Caspian Sea, (Reeves et al, 2002). Reeves et al, (2002) estimated
that the Baikal seal diverged from the Ringed seal of the Arctic approximately 500,000
years ago, which does not fit the chronology of the most recent Lake Ogygos. The
possibility exists, however, of many Lake Ogygos’s over glacial times.
48
Flow across Central Europe to the Baltic could explain the fact that the Aral, Caspian,
Black and Baltic seas share a fish species first identified in 1758 in the Baltic. (Coad,
2007). The proposed scenario of a gentle final drainage of the megalake allows survival
of these species. The fact that there are no seals in the Black or Mediterranean seas is
perhaps due to subsequent hostile environments in these seas.
Ecological Consequences
The sudden draining of a lake with the dimensions of Lake Ogygos would have had a
profound impact on the ecology of the region. The loss of 4,000 km of evaporative
surface would have disrupted rainfall patterns and 4000 km of exposed mud and silt
would have resulted in dust storms the magnitude of which can only be imagined. These
aeolian sediments are probably represented in some of the loess deposits in Eurasia and
Beringia, particularly in north-eastern Siberia, where the organic rich lake bottom silt
could have buried existing snow and ice and where I propose that this may have played a
part in creating the yedoma of the region.
The dust cloud would probably have circled the Northern Hemisphere, coating the
remaining glaciers and ice sheets with a thin layer of dust, accelerating their melting and
perhaps further raising sea levels. Habitat loss due to marine inundation, the flood itself,
reductions in precipitation and temperature and years of stifling dust storms would have
reduced available fodder and severely impacted the herbivores of the region. The
weakened survivors would have been further stressed by heavy predation by the sudden
increase in the ratio of predators to prey, which probably included man, all of whom were
also trying to survive the suddenly harsh conditions, and all of which may have resulted
49
in an ecological collapse which would have fragmented ecosystems, leaving their
remaining members vulnerable to eventual extinction.
Conclusion
Much work remains to be done. Features identified on Google Earth need to be verified
on the ground and flood tracts need to be dated, beach lines and obscured flood tracts
need to be more fully explored. Understanding this event would explain why no early
human habitation sites have been found in northern Eurasia and this knowledge could
change the way possible sites are investigated, bearing in mind that they would have been
flooded and covered with sediment. Once the shores of Lake Ogygos have been more
fully defined, they could be further investigated for signs of human habitation, such as the
Maina group of Paleolithic sites where the Yenisei river enters the Minusa basin
(Yamskikh et al., 2001, Vasiliev et al., 2001) (see Fig. 2(d)).
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank John Shaw of the University of Alberta who kindly and
generously agreed to read my rather incoherent first draft and who assisted me greatly in
turning it into a presentable paper.
I would also like to thank my wife Elaine for her proofreading and her boundless patience
and support while I performed this research and the librarians at the Vista Public Library,
who never failed to find a paper I needed.
50
And lastly, but undoubtedly most importantly, the principals of Google Inc., for allowing
free and unfettered access to the Google Earth program, without which access this paper
would never have seen the light of day.
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List of Images
Fig. 1
Locations of subsequent images in the text.
Fig. 2(a)
Kettle lakes and brain-like patterns in Siberia.
Fig. 2(b) Shoreline near Yakutsk.
Fig. 2(c) Shoreline and exposed lakebed northeast of Lake Baikal.
Fig. 2(d) Minusa basin and the Yenisei river.
Fig. 2(e) Shorelines of prehistoric Lake Bonneville, Utah.
Fig. 3(a)
The two largest valleys of the Kulunda steppe.
Fig. 3(b) Detail of the flood scour southwest of Kulunda.
Fig. 4(a)
The eastern extremity of the drumlin field just northwest of Kulunda.
Fig. 4(b) Two outburst scars, outlined in white, near Kustanay.
Fig. 5(a)
Dry cascade.
Fig. 5(b)
Flood scour west of Balkash.
Fig. 5(c)
Turgai flood scour.
Fig. 6
The Aral Sea, showing sediment deposition to the north and to the northeast,
and antidunes to the east.
Fig. 7(a)
The Karakum desert south of the Aral and East of the Chink Kaplankyr.
Fig. 7(b) Chink Kaplankyr or the Karashor depression.
54
Fig. 7(c)
Ustyurt Chink.
Fig. 7(d) Ustyurt Chink in the southeast corner of the image and the erosion features
leading from it to the Caspian Sea.
Fig. 8
Sediment layering at the shore of the Caspian near Cheleken.
Fig. 9
Extensive flood scouring in the Dagestan region on the northwest coast of the
Caspian.
Fig. 10(a) Flood tract just north of Crimea near the Dnieper.
Fig. 10(b) Transverse bars in Moldova.
Fig. 10(c) Flood tract in Belarus.
Fig. 10(d) Topographical ripples in northern Lithuania near Biržai.
Fig. 10(e) Flood tract south of the Yildiz mountains, western Turkey.
Fig. 11(a) Overview of the northern end of the Red Sea at the Isthmus of Suez.
Fig. 11(b) One of the shorelines west of Suez.
Fig. 11(c) Erosion features at the strait of Bab el Mandeb near the mouth of the Red Sea.
Fig. 12(a) A cape on the south coast of Spain just west of the Staits of Gibraltar.
Fig. 12(b) Cape Trafalgar, south coast of Spain, west of the previous image.
Fig. 12(c) The Straits of Gibraltar with the locations of erosional evidence.
Fig. 13 (a) Perspective view of the Gulf of Cadiz sea-floor topography.
Fig. 13 (b) Physical provinces of the Gulf of Cadiz.
Fig. 14
Flood Overview.
Fig. 15
Lake Tengiz and its flood scour.
55