An introduction to the Middle and Upper Pleistocene loess–paleosol sequence at Ruma brickyard, Vojvodina, Serbia

Abstract

Six Loess units and five paleosols are preserved in the 20 m thick exposure of Middle and Late Pleistocene sediments at Ruma brickyard, Vojvodina, Serbia. Amino acid geochronology provides stratigraphic correlations between Loess–Paleosol units SL L1-S1, SL L2-S2, SL L3-S3 and SL L4 at Ruma with loess of Glacial cycles B, C and D, and E, respectively, at other central and southeastern European localities. The profile represents one of the best potential sections in the region for reconstructing detailed paleoclimates and paleoenvironments of the last ca. 350,000 yr. Initial sedimentological, magnetic and malacological evidence indicate many episodes of drier conditions in the region than in other parts of central and southeastern Europe during the later part of the Middle and Late Pleistocene.