Reconstruction of average January temperatures during the early Holocene in the North-East of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra

The aim of the study was to establish the period of accumulation of peatland with ice wedges near Vorkuta town based on series of calibrated radiocarbon dates, to anchor in time the isotope-oxygen curve of syngenetic ice wedge from peatland and to reconstruct the mean January air temperature for the appropriate Holocene period. Analysis of a series of 14C dates showed that peatland near Vorkuta was actively formed between 10.5 and 6 cal. ka BP. Winter conditions in the Vorkuta area were quite severe, that favored to frost cracking of the peatland and syngenetic growth of ice wedges within the drier sites and peat-soil wedges within the watered sites. Ice wedge growth was the most active within the Greenlandian Stage of Holocene, between 10,5 and 9,7 cal. ka BP, the reconstructed mean January air temperature for this period varied between −23 and −25 oC; currently, such temperatures are recorded only during the coldest winters