The peat bog of Ketoi Island: The Middle-Upper Holocene reference section of the Central Kuriles

The results of the complex study of a Holocene peat bog in the southern part of Ketoi Island, which is proposed to serve as a reference section for the Central Kuriles, are discussed. The peat bog’s stratigraphy is based on botanic, palynological, and diatom data, 16 radiocarbon age determinations, and the composition of the volcanic ashes. The peat accumulation initiated approximately 6500 years ago. The successive changes of the island’s vegetation are traced through the Middle-Late Holocene with defining of the phases of its development and dating the paleolandscape transformations related to the climatic oscillations and volcanic eruptions.