Revisiting the loess/palaeosol sequence in Paks, Hungary: A post-IR IRSL based chronology for the ‘Young Loess Series’

Abstract

In Hungary, many loess/palaeosol sequences have been found to be discontinuous. In order to allow for correlations with other Quaternary records, reliable chronologies are needed. We therefore apply post-IR infrared (IR) stimulated luminescence (post-IR IRSL; pIRIR290) dating to the uppermost 20 m of the loess sequence at Paks. The pIRIR290 ages are compared with blue quartz OSL ages to test for potential age overestimation due to poor signal re-setting, and the observed good agreement is taken to imply that the more difficult to bleach pIRIR290 signal was reset prior to deposition. Our pIRIR290 based chronology reveals that most of the Late Pleistocene loess was deposited during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 and during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This is in disagreement with formerly published ages. The discrepancy can most likely be explained by anomalous fading (resulting in an age underestimate); this conclusion is supported by our uncorrected ‘standard’ IRSL ages. We further confirm that the Basaharc Double soil complex can be correlated with MIS 7; the underlying loess and soils cannot be dated accurately because the pIRIR290 signal approaches saturation.