ИСТИНА

The main purpose of the research is creating community access information mapping system of dating of sediments, realized in the form of specialized services based on geoportal architectures. Developed information mapping retrieval system will include data obtained by the original method of determining the dating of alluvial deposits, created at the Department of Geomorphology of the Faculty of Geography M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University. The originality of the source data together with the latest geographic information and network technologies will create a comprehensive scientific product open to a wide range of users. Methodological approaches implemented in the system are in the modern trends of the global geo-information community. Within the project it was analyzed 150 published sources to pick absolute dates on alluvial and associated (floodplain peats, slopewash loams within erosion forms) deposits. After filtering out some 10% of unreliable dates, 1170 radiocarbon and luminescence dates were included into the date base. Each date was supplied with basic information on geographic location, geomorphological position, catchment area (as classes divisible by 10), characteristics of geological section and dated materials. Documented sections refer to fluvial forms in a wide range of catchment sizes from <1 km² to 120,000 km² at lower Vychegda River and 410,000 km² at lower Don River. In the data base catchment areas are presented as classes from 0 to 6 at intervals with a 10-fold increment: 0 – 10º - … 106 km². The “zero class” (area <1 km²) refers to gullies and small valleys with ephemeral flow that are termed balka-valleys, or balkas (they have vegetated bottoms which distinguishes them from arroyos, wadi and similar forms in arid regions). Balkas in steppes have catchment areas in the range 10º-10¹ km², while catchments of the same size in the forest zone with humid climate belong to valleys with perennial flow. The main advantages of the system are openness and availability to wide list of users, which, together with an integrated system of data quality control, will provide a significant scientific product. This product can be used not only for scientific and educational purposes, but also for a wide range of practical problems.