Formation of lithological composition of neo-Pleistocene moraines in the far northeast of European subarctic of Russia

In connection with the preparation of a new ver sion of the general and regional stratigraphic sche mes of Quaternary deposits, it is necessary to carry out a wellfounded and reliable lithostratigra phic separation and correlation of the Quaternary sections. The special features of the lithological composition of moraines are due to the combined influence of remote, transit and local feeding provinces. As a result of a detailed lithological research of the NeoPleistocene moraines in the Far North of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, three moraine horizons with different lithological characteristics were identified. But these signs are not specific enough for the recognition of the moraines age. This, in general, is understandable, since significant differences in the material composition of moraines deposited by glaciers from different feed ing provinces, arise when the morainecontaining ice moves along the preglacial bed of different lithological composition. Within the north of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, the Mesozoic rocks of a quite uniform composition are abundant. Moraine containing ice, moving along them, had lost the individual characteristics that it had at the begin ning of its movement from the glaciation center. However, the lithological characteristics of mоraines, taking into account the factors of glacio sedimentogenesis, make it possible to establish the stratigraphic confinement of moraine horizons and to carry out their intra and interregional correlations. In particular, the orientation of elongated rock fragments and the presence of key boulders in moraines are reliable and regionally consistent lithological correlatives. Thus, the Pechora moraine was formed at the expense of the Northeastern terrigenousmineralogical province. The formation of the Vychegda moraine is associated with two feeding glacial provinces: in the west of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra with the Fennoscan dian glaciation center, and in the east with the Polar and Subpolar Urals. During the formation of the Polar moraine, the terrigenous material arrived from the PayKhoyNovaya Zemlya regions and the Barents Sea shelf. Only the lower reaches of the Shapkina River were covered by the glacial tongue from the northwest. The specific feature of the Pechora and Polar moraines is the presence in the petrographic spectrum of crinoidbryozoan limestones from the Novaya Zemlya ablation area