Paleotemperatures in the lower Kolyma river, Plakhinskii Yar site

A continuous 15-18 m long sequence of permafrost with ice wedges at the Plakhinskii Yar site (Karetovo yedoma, left side of the Stadukhin Channel, lower Kolyma River) has been studied in terms of structure, stable isotopes, radiocarbon ages, major ion chemistry, and spore-pollen spectra. The obtained data allow quantitative estimates of Late Pleistocene permafrost and climate conditions in the area between 30 and 12 ka BP. The study confirms the previous inference that local winters at 30-28 ka BP were much colder than at present.