On the character of Black Sea level rise during the Holocene

The character of changes in the mollusk fauna in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments within the Bulgarian, Northwestern, Crimean, and Kerch segments of the Black Sea shelf has been examined. A bed containing fossil remains of brackish-water and marine mollusks was recognized in these sediments; the bed accumulated, based on results of radiocarbon datings, 500–1000 years ago. The obtained data do not support the existing notion of a catastrophic fill-up of the Black Sea Basin by marine Mediterranean water [19].     

Hydrotroilite as a bioindicator of paleohydrological and paleoclimatic processes in the Caspian basin

The results of studying the distribution of hydrotroilite (a product of bacterial sulfate-reduction) in deep-water bottom sediments in the Southern and Middle Caspian Sea are considered and its relationships with paleoclimatic and paleohydrological processes in the sea basin are analyzed.     

Bottom Sediments of the Caspian Sea as an Indicator of Changes in Its Water Regime

Qualitative changes in the Caspian Sea water regime for the last 20–25 kyr are analyzed based on studying the particle-size distribution, the composition of clay minerals, the mineral composition of the coarse clastic fraction, and the magnetic susceptibility of deep-sea bottom sediments.     

Synchronous Changes in the Diatom Complexes and Hydrological Conditions in the Middle and Southern Caspian Paleobasins

The content of the diatom complexes of dominating ecological groups in the columns of bottom sediments in the middle and southern Caspian was found to correlate well with the changes in the ion–salt composition of aqueous extracts from these sediments. It was established that the joint interpretation of the two indices increases the reliability of detecting time variations in the hydrological regimes of these basins.     

Apsheron Threshold and Its Role in the Processes of Sedimentation and Formation of Hydrological Regimes in the Southern and Middle Caspian Basins

It is shown that, in the Late Cenozoic, the Apsheron threshold was a natural boundary between the sea and lake–sea basins in the southern and middle Caspian regions. It is established that the lithological–petrographic composition and structure of the bottom sediments in the adjacent southern and middle Caspian basins were formed independently, or the interaction between them was very limited.     

Magnetic Susceptibility of Deep-Water Sediments of the South and Middle Caspian Sea

The dependence of magnetic susceptibility () of bottom sediments from the Caspian Sea on the composition of magnetoactive minerals contained in the heavy subfraction of fine-grained sand (0.125–0.100 mm) was established. Changes in the curve shape and value reflect a pulsating pattern of the input different (in magnetic properties) magmatic and metamorphic clastic minerals into sediments, as well as different intensities of the formation of authigenic magnetoactive iron sulfides under conditions of the multiple alternation of transgressive and regressive phases in marine basins. Values of and shapes of curves for the studied sedimentary sequences show that sediments in the South and Middle Caspian basins are characterized by different specific features.     

Analysis of Palynological Complexes of Deep-Sea Sediments in the Middle and Southern Caspian

Palynological complexes of deep-sea sediments, which formed under changing climatic and hydrological conditions of the Late Quaternary sea basins and adjacent land, are studied. It is shown that alternating phases of climate aridization and humidification have caused the appearance of peculiar associations of spores, pollen, and microfossils, as well as characteristic lithological indications in bottom sediments.