The formation of the texture and properties of floodplain deposits of the major rivers of northern Yakutia

Abstract

On the basis of a study of the floodplain sediments along the lower course of the Yana River the author has identified four categories of floodplains: low, middle, and low and high levels of a high floodplain. The article examines the sedimentary facies associated with each category of floodplain and of a special category of sediments associated with infilled cutoff lakes on the high floodplain. Following this classification the cryogenic texture and the nature of ice wedges and their associated polygons in each floodplain category are discussed. This leads to a schematic model of the dynamics of polygonal ice‐wedge structures in the floodplain sediments of northern rivers.