[Gebhardt] Seismic investigation of Lake Issyk-Kul sediments - paleoclimatic and tectonic evolution of the lake and its basin

German Title: Seismic investigation of Lake Issyk-Kul sediments - paleoclimatic and tectonic evolution of the lake and its basin

Abbreviation: 289

Current Status: completed with report


Main Applicant:Dr. Catalina Gebhardt


Resources Recipient


Other Persons


Conveyor Begin: 1 February, 2011
Conveyor End: 31 January, 2017
Conveyor Duration: 72
Year: 2011


Description

The goal of the project ISSYKKUL-SEIS was to establish a paleoclimate record of the Lake Issyk-Kul region using all existing sparker seismic profiles. A thorough interpretation of the data set was carried out and revealed large stacked‐delta complexes on both the eastern and western end of the lake (Lake dimensions: Length 180 km, 60 km; stacked-delta complex width up to 60 km). The stacked-delta complexes contain at least 7 stratigraphic sequences; the seismic signal did not penetrate to the acoustic bedrock. Each sequence contains a succession of sediments that were deposited either during rising or falling sea level, marked by a series of distinct deltas. A lake‐level curve could be established using the depth of the delta edges. This curve shows 4 phases of lake‐level increase interrupted by a total of 4 phases of lake‐level decreases. This record, however, does not include terraces that are currently subaerially exposed, because they are not mapped in the seismic images. One of the subaerially exposed lake terraces at ca. 20 to 40 m above the current lake level was dated to 26 to 10.5 ka by Bowman et al. (2004), suggesting wetter conditions during MIS 2 than today.

Related Publications

Gebhardt, A. C., Naudts, L., De Mol, L., Klerkx, J., Abdrakhmatov, K., Sobel, E. R., De Batist, M. (2017). "High-amplitude lake-level changes in tectonically active Lake Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan) revealed by high-resolution seismic reflection data" Clim. Past 13 p73-92