A history of the circum-Pontic river channels marked by climate and sea level changes during the Late Quaternary (25-8 ka BP)

Maria Radoane

doi:10.21094/rg.2021.141

Maria Radoane Universitatea Stefan cel Mare Suceava

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21094/rg.2021.141

Keywords: fluvial style reconstruction, paleo-hydrological changes, base level oscillation, Black Sea drainage basin, Late Pleniglacial, Late Glacial

Abstract

The present paper synthesizes the evolution of fluvial systems tributary to the Black Sea (within 25 – 8 ka BP time frame) by reviewing the existing paleoclimate, hydro-geomorphology, sedimentology and Late Quaternary chronology. These studies are unevenly distributed throughout the Black Sea (BS) drainage basin and were used to decipher the river response to climatic, eustatic, tectonically induced or vegetation cover changes. The river response was sensitive overall and is visible particularly in terms of the channel planform. The alternation of cold and warm climate phases has controlled to a significant degree the water and sediment inputs along the drainage networks, such that river channels planforms shifted from the braided type to the anastomosed type (with various transitional phases, either wandering or anastomosed), and from macro-meanders to small scale meanders. The climatic model of fluvial evolution was altered by the other controlling factors specific to the large BS drainage basin, including tectonics (in the Pannonian Plain, Western Plain of Romania, Lower Siret Plain), the proximity to coarse-grained sediment sources (typical for medium-sized Carpathian tributaries), the obstruction exerted by glacial sediments generated by the ice cap retreat (as illustrated on the Upper Dnieper), eustatic oscillations (detected on the Danube or Sakarya River). The sea level drop by more than 100 m during the Last Glacial Maximum resulted in the conversion of ca. 30% of the present sea surface to dry land (mostly on the NW continental shelf); several sinuous-anastomosed paleo-channels pertaining to major rivers (Danube, Dniester, Dnieper) with depths ranging between 30 and 90 m were reconstructed on the surface of this emerged land. Black Sea became connected to the Planetary Ocean during the Early Holocene (ca. 9.4 ka BP). The sea waters flooded extensive areas at the NW and advanced upstream along tributary river valleys. The effects of base level rise were reflected in the anastomosed style of river channels and the accumulation of deltaic formations.

References

Akindinova O, Hiscott RN, Aksu AE, Grimes V. 2019. High-resolution Sr-isotopic evolution of Black Sea water during the Holocene: Implications for reconnection with the global ocean. Marine Geology 407: 213-228.

Aksu AE, Hiscott RN, Mudie PJ, Rochon A, Kaminski MA, Abrajano T, Yasar D. 2002. Persistent Holocene outflow from the Black Sea to the eastern Mediterranean contradicts Noah’s Flood Hypothesis. GSA Today 12(5): 4–10

Algan O, Gokasan E, Gazioglu C, Yucel ZY, Alpar B, Guneysu C, Kirci E, Demirel S, Sari E, Ongan D. 2002. A high–resolution seismic study in Sakarya Delta and Submarine Canyon, southern Black Sea shelf. Continental shelf Res 22: 1511–1527

Armaș I, Necea D, Miclăuș C. 2019. Fluvial terrace formation and controls in the Lower River Danube, SE Romania. Quaternary International 504: 5–23

Baker VR. 2007. Introduction. In Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Panin N, Dolukhanov P (eds.): The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. Dordrecht, Springer: 19–23

Badertscher S, Fleitmann D, Cheng H, Edwards RL, Göktürk OM, Zumbühl A, Leuenberger M, Tüysüz O. 2011. Pleistocene water intrusions from the Mediterranean and Caspian seas into the Black Sea. Nat. Geosci., 4(4): 236–239

Begin ZB, Meyer DF, Schumm SA. 1981. Development of longitudinal profiles of alluvial channels in response to base level lowering. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 6: 49–68

Begin ZB. 1987. Application of a diffusion–erosion model to alluvial channels which degrade due to base–level lowering. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 13: 487–500

Benecke N, Hansen S, Nowacki D, Reingruber A, Ritchie K, Wunderlich J. 2013. Pietrele in the Lower Danube region: integrating archaeological, faunal and environmental investigations. Documenta Praehistorica XL: 175–193

Berndt C, Yıldırım C, Çiner A, Strecker M, Ertunç G et al. 2018. Quaternary uplift of the northern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau: new OSL dates of fluvial and delta–terrace deposits of the Kızılırmak River, Black Sea coast, Turkey. Quaternary Science Reviews, 201: 446 –469

Blockley SPE, Lane CS, Hardiman M, Rasmussen SO, Seierstad IK, Steffensen JP, Svensson A, Lotter AF, Turney CSM, Ramsey CB. 2012. Synchronisation of palaeoenvironmental records over the last 60,000 years, and an extended INTIMATE event stratigraphy to 48,000 b2k. Quaternary Science Reviews, 36: 2–10

Blum MD, Tornqvist TE. 2000. Fluvial responses to climate and sea–level change: a review and look forward. Sedimentology, 47: 2–48

Bolikhovskaya NS, Porotov AV, Richards K, Kaitamba MD, Faustov SS, Korotaev VN. 2017. Detailed reconstructions of Holocene climate and environmental changes in the Taman Peninsula (Kuban River delta region) and their correlation with rapid sea–level fluctuations of the Black Sea. Quaternary International, 465: 22–36

Bonsall C, Macklin MG, Boroneant A, Pickard C, Bartosiewicz L, Cook GT, Higham TFG. 2015. Holocene climate change and prehistoric settlement in the lower Danube valley. Quat. Int., 378: 14–21

Borisova O, Sidorchuk A, Panin A. 2006. Palaeohydrology of the Seim River basin, Mid–Russian Upland, based on palaeochannel morphology and palynological data. Catena, 66: 53–73

Brovkin V, Brook E, Williams W et al. 2021. Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system. Nature Geoscience, 14: 550–558

Burstyn Y, Martrat B, Lopez JF, Iriarte E, Jakobson MJ, Lone MA, Deininger M. 2019. Speleothems from the Middle East: An Example of Water Limited Environments in the SISAL Database. Quaternary, 2,16: 3–28

Caraivan G, Fulga C, Opreanu P. 2012. Upper Quaternary evolution of the Mamaia Lake area (Romanian Black Sea shore). Quaternary International, 261: 14–20

Caraivan G, Voinea V, Popescu D, Cerchia C. 2017. Submerged Prehistoric Heritage Potential of the Romanian Black Sea Shelf. In Flemming NC et al. (eds.): Submerged Landscapes of the European Continental Shelf: Quaternary Paleoenvironments, Wiley, 497–517

Chepalyga AL. 1984. Inland sea basins. In Velichko AA, Wright HE Jr, Barnowsky CW (eds.): Late Quaternary Environments of the Soviet Union. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 229–247

Chepalyga AL. 2007. The late glacial great flood in the Ponto–Caspian basin. In Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Panin N, Dolukhanov P (eds.): The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. Dordrecht, Springer: 119–148

Chiriloaei F, Rădoane M, Perșoiu I, Popa I. 2012. Late Holocene history of Moldova River Valley, Romania. Catena, 93: 64–77

Dansgaard W, Johnsen SJ, Clausen HB, Dahl–Jensen D, Gunderstrup NS, Hammer CU, Steffensen JP, Sveinbjornsdottir A, Jouzel J, Bond G. 1993. Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250–kyr ice–core record. Nature, 364: 218–220

Degens ET, Ross DA. 1974. The Black Sea—Geology, Chemistry and Biology. Tulsa, Oklahoma, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 633 p

Drăgușin V, Staubwasser M, Hoffmann DL, Ersek V, Onac BP, Veres D. 2014. Constraining Holocene hydrological changes in the Carpathian–Balkan region using speleothem 18O and pollen–based temperature reconstructions. Clim. Past., 10: 1363–1380

Doğan U. 2010. Fluvial response to climate change during and after the Last Glacial Maximum in Central Anatolia, Turkey. Quaternary International, 222: 221–229

Doğan U. 2011. Climate–controlled river terrace formation in the Kızılırmak Valley, Cappadocia section, Turkey: inferred from AreAr dating of Quaternary basalts and terraces stratigraphy. Geomorphology, 126(1–2): 66–81

Erturaç MK, Kıyak N. 2017. Investigating the fluvial response to late Pleistocene climate changes and vertical deformation: Yeşilırmak Terrace Staircases (central north Anatolia). Geological Bulletin of Turkey, 60: 615–636

Erturaç MK, Şahiner E, Zabcı C, Okur H, Polymeris GS, Meriç N, İkiel C. 2019. Fluvial response to rising levels of the Black Sea and to climate changes during the Holocene: Luminescence geochronology of the Sakarya terraces. The Holocene, 1–12

Erturaç MK. 2021. Late Pleistocene–Holocene characteristics of the North Anatolian Fault at Adapazarı Basin: evidence from the age and geometry of the fluvial terrace staircases. Turkish J Earth Sci, 30: 93–115

Feurdean A, Klotz S, Brewer S, Mosbrugger V, Tamas T, Wohlfarth B. 2008. Lateglacial climate development in NW Romania e comparative results from three quantitative pollen based methods. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 265: 121–133

Feurdean A, Perşoiu A., Tantau I, Stevens T, Magyari EK, Onac BP, Markovic S, Andric M, Connor S, Farcas S, Gałka M, Gaudeny T, Hoek W, Kolaczek P, Kune P, Lamentowicz M, Marinova E, Michczynska DJ, Perşoiu I, Płociennik M, Słowinski M, Stancikaite M, Sumegi P, Svensson A, Tamas T, Timar A, Tonkov S, Toth M, Veski S, Willis KJ, Zernitskaya V. 2014. Climate variability and associated vegetation response throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) between 60 and 8 ka. Quaternary Science Reviews, 106: 206–224

Feurdean A, Tanțău I. 2017. The Evolution of Vegetation from the Last Glacial Maximum until the Present. In Rădoane M, Vespremeanu–Stroe A (eds.): Landforms Dynamics and Evolution in Romania, Springer Nature, 67–83

Fleitmann D, Cheng H, Badertscher S et al. 2009. Timing and climatic impact of Greenland interstadials recorded in stalagmites from northern Turkey. Geophysical Research Letters, 36: L19707

Frenzel B, Pecsi M, Velichko A. 1992. Atlas of Paleoclimates and Paleoenvironments of the Northern Hemisphere. Late Pleistocene – Holocene. Geographical Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart (Germany)

Gabris Gy, Nador A. 2007. Long–term fluvial archives in Hungary: response of the Danube and Tisza rivers to tectonic movements and climatic changes during the Quaternary: a review and new synthesis. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26: 2758–2782

Gabris Gy, Horvath E, Novothny A, Ruszkiczay–Rüdiger Zs. 2012. Fluvial and aeolian landscape evolution in Hungary – results of the last 20 years research. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 91: 111–128

Gebica P, Jacyszyn A, Krapiec M et al. 2016. Stratigraphy of alluvia and phases of the Holocene floods in the valleys of the Eastern Carpathians foreland. Quaternary International, 415: 55–66

Ghenea C, Mihailescu N. 1991. Palaeogeography of the Lower Danube Valley during the last 15000 years. In Starkel L, Gregory KJ and Thornes JB (eds.): Temperate Palaeohydrology, J Wiley, 343–363

Giosan L, Donnelly JP, Constantinescu S, Filip F, Ovejanu I, Vespremeanu–Stroe A, Vespremeanu E, Duller GAT. 2006. Young Danube delta documents stable Black Sea level since the middle Holocene: Morphodynamic, paleogeographic, and archaeological interpretations. Geological Society of America, 34(9): 757–760

Giosan L, Filip F, Constatinescu S. 2009. Was the Black Sea catastrophically flooded in the early Holocene? Quaternary Science Reviews, 28: 1–6

Görür N, Cagatay MN, Emre O, Alpar B, Sakinç M, Islamoglu Y, Algan O, Erka T, Kecer M, Akkok R, Karlik G. 2001. Is the abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf at 7150 yr BP a myth? Marine Geology, 176(1–4): 65–73

Hansen SV, Toderas M, Wunderlich J, Beutler K, Benecke N, Dittus A, Karaucak M, Muller M, Nowacki D, Pint A, Douglas Price T, Ritchie K, Steiniger D, Vachta T. 2017. Pietrele am, Lacul Gorgana. Bericht uber die Ausgrabungen in der neolithischen und kupferzeitlichen Siedlung und die geomorphologischen Untersuchungen in den Sommern 2012–2016. Eurasia Antiqua, 20, 2014, 1–116

Hiscott RN, Aksu AE, Yasar D, Kaminski MA, Mudie PJ, Kostylev V, MacDonald JC, Lord AR. 2002. Deltas south of the Bosporus record persistent Black Sea outflow to the Marmara Sea since ~10 ka. Mar. Geol., 190: 95–118

Hiscott RN, Aksu AE, Mudie PJ, Marret F, Abrajano T, Kaminski MA, Evans J, Cakiroglu AI, Yasar D. 2007. A gradual drowning of the southwestern Black Sea shelf: Evidence for a progressive rather than abrupt Holocene reconnection with the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the Marmara Sea gateway. Quaternary International, 167–168: 19–34

Howard, AJ, Macklin, MG, Bailey, DW, Mills S, Andreescu R. 2004. Late–glacial and Holocene River development in the Teleorman Valley on the southern Romanian Plain. Journal of Quaternary Science, 19(3): 271–280

Huhmann M, Kremenetski KV, Hiller A, Brückner A. 2004. Late quaternary landscape evolution of the upper Dnister valley, western Ukraine. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 209: 51– 71

Ichim I, Rădoane M (1990). Channel sediment variability along a river: A case study of the Siret River (Romania). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 15: 211–225

Kadurin S, Yanko–Hombach V, Smyntyna O. 2020. The Ukraine: In Search of Submerged Late Palaeolithic Sites on the North–Western Black Sea Shelf. In G. Bailey et al. (eds.): The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes, Coastal Research Library 35

Kasse C Bohncke SJP, Vandenberghe J, Gábris Gy. 2010. Fluvial style changes during the last glacial–interglacial transition in the middle Tisza valley (Hungary). Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 121: 180–194

Kasse C, Hoek WZ, Bohncke SJP, Konert M, Weijers JWH, Cassee ML, Van der Zee RM. 2005. Late Glacial fluvial response of the Niers–Rhine (western Germany) to climate and vegetation change. Journal of Quaternary Science, 20: 377–394

Kern Z, Demeny A, Perșoiu A, Hatvani IG. 2019. Speleothem records from the Eastern part of Europe and Turkey – Discussion on stable oxygen and carbon izotopes. Quaternary, 2(3): 31, 1–26

Kiss T, Sümeghy B, Sipos Gy. 2014. Late Quaternary paleodrainage reconstruction of the Maros River alluvial fan. Geomorphology, 204: 49–60

Leopold LB, Bull WB. 1979. Base level, aggradation, and grade. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 123(3): 168–202

Lericolais G, Guichard F, Morigi C, Minereau A, Popescu I, Radan S. 2010. A post Younger Dryas Black Sea regression identified from sequence stratigraphy correlated to core analysis and dating. Quaternary International, 255: 199–209

Lericolais G, Guichard F, Morgi C, Popescu I, Bulois C, Gillet H, Ryan WBF. 2011. Assessment of Black Sea water–level fluctuations since the last glacial maximum. In Buynevich I, Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Martin RE. (eds.): Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Black Sea Region: beyond the Flood Hypothesis. The Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 33–50

Lericolais G, Bourget J, Popescu I, Jermannaud P, Mulder T, Jorry S, Panin, N. 2012. Late Quaternary deep–sea sedimentation in the western Black Sea: new insights from recent coring and seismic data in the deep basin. Glob. Planet. Change, 103: 232–247

Macklin MG, Bailey DW, Howard AJ, Mills S, Robinson RAJ, Mirea P, Thissen L. 2010. River Dynamics and the Neolithic of the Lower Danube Catchment. In “The lower Danube in the prehistory: landscape changes and human–environment interactions” – Proceedings of the International Conference Alexandria, 3 – 5 November 2010

Matlakhova E. 2021. Paleohydrological Extreme Events in the River Valleys of the Central Part of the East European Plain in the Late Pleistocene. IAG Webinar presentation

Mol J. 1997. Fluvial response to Weichselian climate changes in the Niederlausitz (Germany). J. Quat. Sci., 12: 43–60

Moreno A, Svensson A, Brooks SJ, Connor S et al. 2014. A compilation of Western European terrestrial records 60e8 ka BP: towards an understanding of latitudinal climatic gradients. Quaternary Science Rev, 106: 167–185

Nádor A, Thamó–Bozsó E, Magyari Á, Babinszki E. 2007. Fluvial responses to tectonics and climate change during the Late Weichselian in the eastern part of the Pannonian Basin (Hungary). Sedimentary Geology, 202: 174–192

Nádor A, Sinha R, Magyari A, Tandon SK, Medzihradszky Zs, Babinszki E, Thamó–Bozsó E, Unger Z, Singh A. 2011. Late Quaternary (Weichselian) alluvial history and neotectonic control on fluvial landscape development in the southern Körös plain, Hungary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 299: 1–14

Nowacki D, Langan CCM, Kadereit A, Pint A, Wunderlich J. 2018. A paleolake in the Lower Danube Valley revealed using multi–proxy and regionalization approaches. Quaternary International, (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.09.021

Panin AV, Adamiec G, Arslanov KA, Bronnikova MA, Filippov VV, Sheremetskaya ED, Zaretskaya NE, Zazofskaia EP. 2014. Cronologia absolută a evenimentelor fluviale în sistemul fluvial superior al Niprului și implicațiile salepaleogeografice. Geochronometria, 41(3): 278–293

Panin A, Adamiec G, Filippov V. 2015a. Fluvial response to proglacial effects and climate in the upper Dnieper valley (Western Russia) during the Late Weichselian and the Holocene. Quaternaire, 26: 27–48

Panin A, Matlakhova E. 2015b. Fluvial chronology in the East European plain over the last 20 ka and its palaeohydrological implications. Catena, 130: 46–61

Panin A, Adamiec G, Buylaert JP, Matlakhova E, Moska P, Novenko E. 2016. Two Late Pleistocene climate–driven incision/aggradation rhythms in the middle Dnieper River basin, west–central Russian Plain. Quaternary Science Reviews, 166: 266–288

Panin N. 1983. Black Sea coastline changes in the last 10,000 years. A new attempt at identifying the Danube mouth as described by the ancients. Dacia N.S., XXVII(1/2): 175–184, Bucuresti

Panin N, Jipa D. 1998. Danube River sediment input and its interaction with the north–western Black Sea. Results of the EROS–2000 and EROS–21 Projects. GeoEcoMarina, 3: 23–35

Panin N, Popescu I. 2007. The northwestern Black Sea: Climatic and sea–level changes in the Late Quaternary. In Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Panin N et al. (eds.): The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. New York: Springer, pp. 387–405

Perşoiu I. 2010. Recostruction of Holocene geomorphological evolution of Someşu Mic Valley. Unpublished PhD thesis “A. I. Cuza” University, Iași, Romania (in Romanian)

Perșoiu I, Rădoane M, Urdea P. 2017. River Behavior During Pleniglacial–Late Glacial. In Rădoane M, Vespremeanu–Stroe A (eds.): Landform Dynamics and Evolution in Romania, Springer, 443–468

Perșoiu I, Sipos G, Rădoane M, Hutchinson SM, Michczyńska D, Perșoiu A. 2022. Tectonic and climatic imprints in the Late Quaternary evolution of the “Someș Plain” fluvial fan, North–East Pannonian Basin, Central Europe. (Geomorphology, submitted)

Popescu I, Lericolais G, Panin N, Wong HK, Droz L. 2001. Late Quaternary channel avulsions on the Danube deep–sea fan, Black Sea. Marine Geology, 179: 25–37

Popescu I, Lericolais G, Panin N, Normand A, Dinu C, Le Drezen E. 2004. The Danube Submarine Canyon (Black Sea): Morphology and sedimentary processes. Marine Geology, 206: 249–265

Popescu I, Panin N, Jipa D, Lericolais G, Ion G. 2015. Submarine canyons of the Black Sea basin with a focus on the Danube Canyon. In CIESM Workshop Monographs n 47, Briand F (ed.): Submarine canyon dynamics in the Mediterranean and tributary seas – An integrated geological, oceanographic and biological perspective, CIESM Publisher, Monaco, 232 p

Posea G. 2005. Geomorphology of Romania. Editura Fundaţiei România de Mâine, Bucureşti, 443 p. (in Romanian)

Rădoane N. 2002. Geomorfologia bazinelor hidrografice mici. Editura Universității din Suceava, 258 p.

Rădoane M, Rădoane N, Dumitriu D, Miclăuș C. 2008. Downstream variation in bed sediment size along the east Carpathians Rivers: evidence of the role of sediment sources. Earth Surf. Process. Landf., 32: 674–694.

Rădoane M, Nechita C, Chiriloaei F, Rădoane N, Popa I, Roibu C, Robu D. 2015. Late Holocene fluvial activities and relations with subfossil trunks: case study Moldova and Siret Rivers, Romania. Geomorphology, 239: 142–159.

Rădoane M, Chiriloaei F, Sava T, Nechita C, Rădoane N, Gâza O. 2018a. Holocene fluvial history of Romanian Carpathian rivers. Quaternary International, 527: 113–129.

Rădoane M, Chiriloaei F, Rădoane N, Nechita C. 2018b. Mid and Late Holocene flooding reconstruction based on fluvial archives of the East Carpathian rivers. Revista de Geomorfologie, 20: 17–33.

Rasmussen SO, Seierstad IK, Andersen KK, Bigler M, Dahl–Jensen D, Johnsen SJ. 2008. Synchronization of the NGRIP, GRIP, and GISP2 ice cores across MIS 2 and palaeoclimatic implications. Quaternary Science Reviews, 27: 18–28.

Rowe PJ, Mason JE, Andrews JE, Marca AD, Thomas et al. 2012. Speleothem isotopic evidence of winter rainfall variability in northeast Turkey between 77 and 6 ka. Quaternary Science Reviews, 45: 60–72.

Ryan WB, Pitman WC, III, Major CO, Shimkus K, Moscalenko V, Jones GA, Dimitrov P, Gorur N, Sakinc M, Seyir HY. 1997. An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf. Marine Geology, 138(1–2): 119–126.

Ryan WBF. 2007. Status of the Black Sea flood hypothesis. In Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Panin N, Dolukhanov PM. (eds.): The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement. pp. 63–88. Springer: Dordrecht.

Schumm SA. 1977. The fluvial system. Wiley, New York. 338 p.

Schumm SA. 1993. River response to base level change: Implications for sequence stratigraphy. Journal of Geology, 101: 279–294

Sidorchuk A, Borisova O, Panin A. 2001. Fluvial response to the Late Valdai/Holocene environmental change on the East European Plain. Global and Planetary Change, 28: 303–318

Sidorchuk A, Panin A, Borisova O. 2008. Climate–induced changes in river runoff on the north–Eurasian plains during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Water Resources, 35: 386–396

Sidorchuk A, Panin A, Borisova O. 2009. Morphology of river channels and surface runoff in the Volga River basin (East European Plain) during the Late Glacial period. Geomorphology, 113: 137–157

Sidorchuk A, Panin A, Borisova O. 2011. Surface runoff to the Black Sea from the East European Plain during Last Glacial Maximume Late Glacial time. In Buynevich I, Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Martin RE (eds.): Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Black Sea Region: Beyond the Flood Hypothesis, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 473, pp. 1–25

Sipos Gy, Kiss T, Toth O. 2016. Constraining the age of floodplain levels along the lower section of River Tisza, Hungary. Journal of Environmental Geography, 9(1–2): 39–44

Soulet G, Delaygue G, Vallet–Coulomb C et al. 2010. Glacial hydrologic conditions in the Black Sea reconstructed using geochemical pore water profiles. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 296: 57–66

Soulet G, Ménot G, Lericolais G et al. 2011. A revised calendar age for the last reconnection of the Black Sea to the global ocean. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30: 1019–1026

Soulet G, Menot G, Garreta V, Rostek F, Zaragosi S, Lericolais G, Bard E. 2011. Black Sea “Lake” reservoir age evolution since the Last Glacial—Hydrologic and climatic implications. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 308: 245–258

Spratt RM, Lisiecki LE. 2016. A Late Pleistocene sea level stack. Climate of the Past 12: 1079-1092.

Starkel L, Thornes JB. 1991. Temperate Palaeohydrology – Fluvial Processes in the Temperate Zones during the last 15.000 years. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Starkel L. 2002. Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition documented in the fluvial environment of Polish rivers. Global and Planetary Change, 35: 157–167

Starkel L, Michczyńska DJ, Gębica P, Kiss P, Panin A, Perşoiu I. 2015. Climatic fluctuations reflected in the evolution of fluvial systems of Central–Eastern Europe (60–8 ka cal BP). Quaternary International, 388: 97–118

Staubwasser M, Drăgușin V, Onac BP, Assonov S, Ersek V, Hoffmann DL, Vereș D. 2018. Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 115: 9116–9121

Svensson A, Andersen KK, Bigler M, Clausen HB, Dahl–Jensen D, Davies SM, Johnsen SJ, Muscheler R, Parrenin F, Rasmussen SO, Rothlisberger R, Seierstad IK, Steffensen JP, Vinther BM. 2008. A 60 000 year Greenland stratigraphic ice core chronology. Climate of the Past, 4: 47–57

Tămaş T, Onac BP, Bojar AV. 2005. Lateglacial–Middle Holocene stable isotope records in two coeval stalagmites from the Bihor Mountains, NW Romania. Geol. Q, 49: 185–194

Tămaș T, Bojar AV, Constantin S, Lauritzen SE. 2007. The δ18O record of a Holocene stalagmite from V11 Cave, NW Romania. Studia Universitatis Babes–Bolyai, Geologia, 52(1): 77–79

Țuțuianu L, Vespremeanu–Stroe A, Pendea F, Sava T. 2018. Mid and Late Holocene evolution of Brateș Lake region (Danube floodplain) based on the multiproxy analysis. Revista de Geomorfologie, 20: 43–55

Țuțuianu L, Vespremeanu-Stroe A, Preoteasa L, Rotaru S, Dima A, Dimofte D. 2021. Wetlands and lakes formation and evolution on the Lower Danube Floodplain during Middle and Late Holocene, Quaternary International 602, 82-91

Vandenberghe J. 2002. The relation between climate and river processes, landforms and deposits during the Quaternary. Quaternary International, 91: 17–23

Vandenberghe J. 2003. Climate forcing of fluvial system development: an evolution of ideas. Quaternary Science Reviews, 22: 2053–2060

Vandenberghe J. 2008. The fluvial cycle at cold–warm–cold transitions in lowland regions: a refinement of theory. Geomorphology, 98(3–4): 275–284

Vandenberghe J, Kasse C, Popov D, Markovic SB, Vandenberghe D, Bohncke S, Gabris G. 2018. Specifying the External Impact on Fluvial Lowland Evolution: The Last Glacial Tisza (Tisa) Catchment in Hungary and Serbia. Quaternary, 1, 14, 23 p

Vandenberghe J, Sidorchuk A. 2020. Large Palaeomeanders in Europe: Distribution, Formation Process, Age,Environments and Significance. In J. Herget and A. Fontana (eds.): Palaeohydrology, Geography of the Physical Environment. Springer Nature, 169–186.

Vespremeanu E, Golumbeanu M. 2018.The Black Sea. Phisical, Environmental and Historical Perspectives. Springer Geography, 150 p.

Vespremeanu–Stroe A, Zăinescu F, Preoteasa L, Tătui F, Rotaru S, Morhange Ch, Hanganu J, Timar–Gabor A, Cârdan I, Piotrowska N 2017. Holocene evolution of the Danube Delta: an integral reconstruction and revised chronology. Mar. Geol., 388: 38–61

Yanchilina AG, Ryan WB, McManus JF et al. 2017. Compilation of geophysical, geochronological, and geochemical evidence indicates a rapid Mediterranean–derived submergence of the Black Sea’s shelf and subsequent substantial salinification in the early Holocene. Marine Geology, 383: 14–34

Yanina TA. 2014. The Ponto–Caspian region: environmental consequences of climate change during the Late Pleistocene. Quaternary International, 345: 88–99

Yanko–Hombach V, Gilbert AS, Panin N et al. (eds.) 2007. The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. New York: Springer, 384 p

Yanko–Hombach V. 2007. Controversy over Noach’s Flood in the Black Sea: geological and foraminiferal evidence from the shelf. In Yanko–Hombach V, Golbert AS, Panin N, Dolukanov PM (eds.): The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate and Human Settlement. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 149–203

Yanko–Hombach V, Kislov A. 2018. Late Pleistocene–Holocene sea–level dynamics in the Caspian and Black Seas: Data synthesis and Paradoxical interpretations. Quaternary International, 465: 63–71