SMALL-SCALE STRATIGRAPHY IN A LARGE RAMP DELTA: RECENT AND HOLOCENE SEDIMENTATION IN THE VOLGA DELTA, CASPIAN SEA

Abstract

The Volga delta differs from all other major deltas in the world by its extremely gentle onshore and offshore gradient (∼5 cm/km) and by being affected by the rapid sea-level changes of the Caspian Sea, at rates up to a hundred times the global sea-level rise. This paper reports (1) the morphological and facies development of part of the lower delta during the last full sea-level cycle between 1929 and 1995, as monitored using remote sensing and field mapping, and (2) the Holocene development of the delta from outcrop data and augered transects.