Late Quaternary history of the Kerch Strait — the stratotype region for the Black Sea

The Kerch Strait has periodically connected to the Black, Azov, and Caspian seas throughout its Late Quaternary history. The strait's deposits reflect the changes in the natural environment of the entire Ponto-Caspian region, which are a response to global climate change. Several studies have been done on the region's stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, geomorphology, and paleogeography. However, most of the current knowledge about the paleogeography of the area is based on the analysis of empirical data collected more than 25 years ago, and due to the lack of detailed geochronological studies, many palaeogeographical problems remain unresolved. This paper presents a reconstruction of environmental change in the Kerch Strait during the Late Quaternary. The reconstruction is based on the results of a comprehensive study of the sedimentary sequences in the Kerch Strait carried out by the author and colleagues over the past ten years. The study examines the deposits of two stratotype sections of the Karangatian (Eemian) transgression and the four boreholes' sections in Tuzla Island in the central part of the strait. A biostratigraphic division of the Upper Quaternary deposits of the Kerch Strait was carried out based on a malacofaunal study. Mollusc assemblages corresponding to various paleogeographic stages of development were identified, and their paleoecological characteristics were described. Luminescence and radiocarbon ages made it possible to determine the time intervals of established paleogeographic stages in the strait's history. Detailed luminescence dating of the Karangatian transgression sediments of the Eltigen and Tuzla stratotype sections has been carried out for the first time. Six main stages in the Kerch Strait natural environment development were established in the Late Quaternary and correlated with global and regional climatic events: Karangatian, with three stages (MIS 5e-c); Tarkhankutian (MIS 5a); Post-Karangatian (MIS 4); Surozh (MIS 3); Neoeuxinian, with two stages (MIS 2); and Chernomorian (MIS 1). Two episodes of the Caspian waters flowing through the Kerch Strait into the Black Sea were identified in MIS 5c and at the end of MIS 2.