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.
Highlights
Over the past decades, many loess-paleosol sequences (LPSs) have been investigated predominantly in the extensive northern hemisphere loess belt (Markovicet al., 2015; Schaetzl et al, 2018; Lehmkuhl et al, 2021)
Based on the record of magnetic susceptibility with depth, a general pattern with low-frequency susceptibility values being generally low in loess units, and high in paleosols can be observed for the Zemun LPS (Figure 3 and Table 2)
Beside distinct elevated magnetic susceptibilities in interglacial paleosols, the highest χlf value (157 × 10−8 m3kg−1) is observed as a sharp peak at 5.80 m depth within the L2 unit. This peak coincides with the field description of a 2–3 cm reddish to brownish loose loess layer and is stratigraphically and magnetically consistent with the L2 tephra layer described in other LPS regionally (e.g., Laag et al, 2018; Antoine et al, 2019)
Summary
Many loess-paleosol sequences (LPSs) have been investigated predominantly in the extensive northern hemisphere loess belt (Markovicet al., 2015; Schaetzl et al, 2018; Lehmkuhl et al, 2021). Studies of LPSs from the CLP (Ji et al, 2002) and the Danube Basin (Lukicet al., 2014; Obreht et al, 2016) demonstrated the strength of combining magnetic and colorimetric parameters. While many multi-proxy studies have been performed on archives covering the last glacial cycle, investigations of European LPSs spanning multiple glacial– interglacial cycles are fewer (e.g., Jordanova et al, 2007; Necula et al, 2013; Basarin et al, 2014; Markovicet al., 2015; Zeeden et al, 2016; Sümegi et al, 2018; Antoine et al, 2019; Obreht et al, 2019). We extend colorimetric data to about 430 kyr with the Zemun LPS record from the Middle Danube Basin (MDB), spanning from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 to MIS 5a
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