On the reliability of a stratigraphic interpretation that overlooks geophysical techniques and results when determining the age of loess-soil deposits – Comment on “A remarkable last glacial loess sedimentation at Roxolany in the Dniester Liman (Southern Ukraine)”

Abstract

Chronostratigraphic model of the Pleistocene loess/palaeosol sequence at Roksolany (southern Ukraine) and the abnormal last glacial loess sedimentation suggested by Łanczont et al. (2022; Quat. Sci. Rev., 285, 107521), in our assessment, relies on a misinterpretation of the magnetostratigraphic results and some luminescence dates which are rejected without explanation. We provide evidence (magnetostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility, palaeopedological and sedimentological proxies) that the stratigraphy of the sequence should be reconsidered, with a shift towards older ages, that fits the position of the Matuyama/Brunhes boundary. In our view, the Weichselian (L1) loess at Roksolany is less than 5 m thick (and not 30 m thick), which is in line with sedimentation rates and thicknesses at other loess sites in southern Ukraine and beyond.