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Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia
Climatic Change and the Development of Landscapes
<<< Non-renewable Resources of Northern
Eurasia | Physical Geography Index | General
Physiography of Northern Eurasia in the Cenozoic >>>
Introduction
The history of the modern landscapes of Northern Eurasia dates back to the early
Cenozoic. By that time most of the continent had already undergone orogenesis and later
planation and featured extensive surfaces associated with alluvial plains and eroded
mountains. A distinct change in global climate marked the onset of the Cenozoic: it
involved a progressive decrease in global temperature with superimposed fluctuations. The
range and frequencies of these fluctuations intensified gradually throughout the Paleogene
and Neogene and a sharp increase occurred at the beginning of the Quaternary. These trends
in climate, together with neotectonic processes, controlled the evolution of the
landscapesphere (a global system of landscapes).
This chapter reviews the evolution of the natural environment since the early Cenozoic,
although discussion is limited to the most essential components and events. A
comprehensive review of the evolutionary geomorphology of Northern Eurasia is presented in
a five-volume work, Geomorphology of the USSR (Meshcheryakov and Aseev, 19 74; Aseev and
Korzhuev, 1982; Dumitrashko, 1974; Korzhuev, 1974, 1975) and in the Paleogeomorphological
Atlas of the USSR (Sidorenko and Gorelov, 1983). The evolution of coastal zones is
discussed by Alekseev (1992). Many investigations have focused on the last glacial cycle
and atlases-monographs published by Gerasimov and Velichko (1982), Frenzel et al. (1992),
and Velichko (1993) are of particular interest. Finally, the current knowledge of Cenozoic
history has been summarized by Velichko (1998).
Contents of the Climatic Change and
the Development of Landscapes section:
Other sections of Physical Geography of Nortern Eurasia:
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