Late Cenozoic Paleoclimates in the Baikal Region

Data in the literature on Early Cenozoic paleoclimates are presented. Paleoclimates of the Late Miocene – Early Quaternary time are characterized in detail. The intricate structure of the paleoclimate involved warming (subtropics) and aridization by the late Miocene – early Pliocene, a stable tendency toward cooling and wetting in the second half of the Late Pliocene followed by short episodes of formation of cryogenic structures, the oldest in the section. The weathering character radically changed at the Neogene-Quaternary boundary. In the Eopleistocene (during the first and the last thirds – Donau?, Günz?) traces of drying and cooling were observed to be followed by formation of the oldest loess deposits, ventifacts, and solifluxion disturbances of ice veins. In the middle Eopleistocene the climate was warmer than it is now (mixed coniferous-broad-Ieaved forests and mollusk fauna). In the first half of the Early Pleistocene, it was warmer (Günz-Mindel?) and in its second half it was colder (Mindel?) than it is now.