Late PleistoceneHolocene Ostracod Assemblages
of the Northern Caspian Sea Shelf

M. P. Chekhovskaya^a, A. Yu. Stepanova^b, T. A. Khusid^a, A. S. Matul^a, and A. Z. Rakowski^c

^a Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia

^b Borisyak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

^c Christian Albrecht University, Kiel, Germany

e-mail: mjach47@mail.ru

Received September 25, 2012; in final form, January 12, 2013

Abstract—Analysis of the ostracod assemblages and the distribution of benthic foraminifera Ammonia bec-
carii in the core section GS 194-08-1 recovered at a depth of 7.5 m near the Volga delta front showed changes
in environmental conditions in response to sea-level fluctuations. The pre-Novocaspian ostracod assemblage
reflects the conditions that were dominant during the Late Khvalynian transgression, with a depth of about 20–
30 m, and a salinity range of 12–13‰. The Early Novocaspian sediments contain an ostracod assemblage that
represents a deeper water environment compared to the present, with an inferred depth of 12–16 m. The faunas from
the younger Novocaspian sediments with abundant monospecific populations of Cyprideis torosa and co-occur-
ring benthic foraminifera Ammonia beccarii represent modern-like environmental conditions.

10.1134/S0001437014020040

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