Eurasian Catastrophic Floods:The Tsasuchei Jokulhlaup in Southern Transbaikalia

摘要

Traces of giant flows with water discharge and velocity exceeding 10~7 m~3/s and 20 m/s, respectively, are known in several Eurasian regions. Linear ridges and ravines of various sizes are among the most characteristic signs of the existence of such flows in the past. Among various (eolian, fluvial, and tectonic) hypotheses of their genesis actively discussed so far, the concept of the catastrophic fluvial nature of these structures advanced by M.G. Grosvald seems to be the best substantiated. Parallel positive landforms, 1-10 km long and 0.5-2 km wide, reported first from the Manych Ravine which is regarded as a late Cenozoic strait between the Caspian and Black Sea basins, received the name "Baer's mounds." The mounds are separated by up to 30-40 m deep ravines.