River Valleys of the Western Okhotsk Region: Changes in the Drainage Network Pattern and River Flow Direction
摘要
The studied Lantar-Nemuy depression is confined between Dzhugdzhur and Pribrezhny ridges extending along the western coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. The recorded anomalies in the river network structure and occurrence of ancient alluvial deposits suggest repeated displacements of river channels and valley restructuring. The traces of such changes are detected also at the axial part of Dzhugdzhur Ridge: the rivers belonging to the Sea of Okhotsk basin extend their length gradually, the water divide between the Arctic and Pacific oceans being shifted towards northwest. A few cases of rivers captures by the sea have been documented in the coastal part of the region. The river network alterations may result from various causes: differentiated neotectonics movements, the Pleistocene glaciations (glacier development and degradation), accumulation of genetically diversified deposits in river valleys; retrogressive erosion, and marine erosion.