The late Golovnino transgression of the middle Pleistocene in the KunashirIsland (Kuril islands)

Lithology and facial characteristics of the upper part of the Golovnino For mation in the Kunashir Island (Kuril Islands) are investigated, The disting uished interlayers of volcanic ash may he used as the age and correlation m arkers. The results of diatom and spore-pollen analyses suggest the middle Pleislocene (Mindel-Riss Interglacial) age of the studied sediments. Two tr ansgressive-regressive cycles of the respective sedimentation period corres pond in time to the O-isotope stages 11-9, The elucidated paleogeographic e nvironments indicate that the sea level was 20-25 m higher than now during the first transgressive phase and 5 m higher during the second. The regress ive phases are marked by the tuff accumulation and a stratigraphic hiatus, In the middle Pleistocene, the estimated rate of tectonic uprising of the K unashir Island was 0.28 mm/year. The middle Pleistocene paleogeographic eve nts in the island are correlated with those in Japan, the Chukchi Peninsula , and Alaska.