Mud redeposition during river incision as a factor affecting authigenic 10Be/9Be dating: Early Pleistocene large mammal fossil‐bearing site Nová Vieska, eastern Danube Basin

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study examines the suitability of the authigenic 10Be/9Be dating method to the dating of the deposits of an incising river, taking as an example the Nová Vieska river terrace, which accumulated during the neotectonic inversion of the Danube Basin (western Slovakia). The succession was formed by a wandering river with minor preservation of proximal floodplain muds. The frequent occurrence of mud intraclasts reflects significant input of eroded material from underlying, older successions. The ages of 13 authigenic 10Be/9Be dating samples formed three groups: (1) samples from below the base of the river terrace yielded dates of ~4.13–3.70 Ma (including uncertainties); (2) muddy intraclasts from the river terrace gave an age range of ~2.79–1.96 Ma; and (3) in situ muddy layers had ages in the range of ~1.91–1.39 Ma. The large mammal fossil assemblage from channel thalweg deposits yielded a biostratigraphic age of ~3.6–2.2 Ma, matching the age of intraclasts, and thus emphasising the redeposited origin of those fossils. The relatively wide range of authigenic 10Be/9Be dating ages is interpreted as a result of the redeposition of mud from older strata on three scales: decimetre‐scale intraclasts, millimetre‐scale rip‐up clasts mixed into the newly formed beds, and formation of two authigenic rims with different age and 10Be/9Be records around individual particles. Considering these observations, an age range of in situ layers of ~1.91–1.39 Ma is proposed as the depositional age of the river terrace, with the most probable age falling within the most recent part of this interval. The effect of redeposition is thus shown to be potentially limiting to the application of authigenic 10Be/9Be dating to incising rivers, and stands in marked contrast to aggrading river settings, where redeposition of older sediments is limited and the degree of 10Be/9Be variability is low.