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Frontiers in Earth ScienceVolume 9, 25 May 2021, Article number 600086

A Detailed Paleoclimate Proxy Record for the Middle Danube Basin Over the Last 430 kyr: A Rock Magnetic and Colorimetric Study of the Zemun Loess-Paleosol Sequence(Article)(Open Access)

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  • aSection 5: Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics, Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Hanover, Germany
  • bUniversité de Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), CNRS, Paris, France
  • cChair of Geomorphology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
  • dBayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
  • eInstitute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  • fChair of Physical Geography, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
  • gSerbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

In mid-latitude Eurasia, loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) provide the most widespread sedimentary records of Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution. In the Middle Danube Basin (MDB), these archives cover at least the last million years of climate history, and occasionally contain archeological findings. The studied Zemun LPS is located on the right bank of the Danube in Northern Serbia. The site was declared as a protected site, based on Paleolithic artifacts found on the riverbank and stemming from unknown stratigraphic levels of the loess cliffs exposed along the Danube. The present study aims to provide a stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and temporal context for the Zemun LPS by means of environmental magnetic and colorimetric methods. Our investigations result in a chronostratigraphic scheme allowing direct comparison with other well-established reference records in the MDB and elsewhere. Two potential tephra layers tentatively assigned to the so-called L2 and Bag tephras, which are both widespread in the MDB and beyond were investigated for their bulk magnetic properties. The resulting integrated age model suggests that the Zemun LPS records a detailed history of a quasi-continuous accumulation of mineral dust from Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 11–5a (c. 430–60 ka). The outcome of our integrative approach indicates a continuous aridification over the last four interglacial/glacial cycles and we discuss potential changes in seasonality over time. © Copyright © 2021 Laag, Hambach, Zeeden, Lagroix, Guyodo, Veres, Jovanović and Marković.

Author keywords

diffuse reflectance spectrometryenvironmental magnetismloess-paleosol sequencespaleoclimate dynamicsstratigraphy

Indexed keywords

Engineering controlled terms:ColorimetryLithologyMagnetismStratigraphy
Engineering uncontrolled termsArcheological findingsClimate historyColorimetric methodsMarine oxygen isotopesPaleoclimate proxyPotential changeQuasi-continuous accumulationsSedimentary records
Engineering main heading:Sediments
GEOBASE Subject Index:aridificationclimate variationdepositional sequenceglacial-interglacial cycleloessmagnetic fieldmagnetic propertypaleoclimatePaleolithicpaleosolproxy climate recordrock propertyseasonality
Regional Index:Danube Basin

Funding details

Funding sponsor Funding number Acronym
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
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  • 1

    We want to thank the Zemun sampling team. We want to thank Kathrin Worm (LIAG Grubenhagen) for the additional colorimetric measurements and Eva Meier (University of Bayreuth) for language improvements of this manuscript. DV was supported through a fellowship provided by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. All data will be made available on the Pangaea Data Repository. This is IPGP contribution 4210.

  • ISSN: 22966463
  • Source Type: Journal
  • Original language: English
  • DOI: 10.3389/feart.2021.600086
  • Document Type: Article
  • Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.

  Laag, C.; Section 5: Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics, Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Hanover, Germany;
© Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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