The Solovetskiy Islands (White Sea): Interweaving of Geomorphology and Recent History

The features of the formation of the relief of the Solovetskiy Islands at different stages of development under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors are considered. In the pre-Quaternary, denudative plains were dominant here. In the late Pleistocene, glacial and glaciolacustrine plains were formed. In the Holocene, glacial plains were preserved almost unaltered in the center of the islands. In the edge zones of the islands, where the glacial relief was subjected to intense wave action, stepped abrasion-accumulation-type plains were developed. These are made of a series of marine terraces that formed as a result of glacioisostatic uplifts and eustatic sea level fluctuations. To clarify the factors that determine the different prominence and elevation of marine terraces in the different parts of the archipelago is one of the main problems in the study of the island relief.