Roxolany and Novaya Etuliya—key sections in the western Black Sea loess area: Magnetostratigraphy, rock magnetism, and paleopedology

Abstract

Loess/paleosol sequences in the western Black sea area at Roxolany (48 m thick) and Novaya Etuliya (30 m thick) were studied using paleo- and rock-magnetic methods in conjunction with micromorphology and Mössbauer investigations. Although seemingly complete, the sites show variability in the type and number of loess/paleosol cycles, and inconsistency of the Matuyama/Brunhes boundary (MBB) stratigraphic position. At Roxolany, nine pedocomplexes (PK) and several incipient paleosols, alternating with thick loesses, were observed with the MBB being located between PK 6 and PK 7. At Novaya Etuliya, 13 PKs occur upon terrace XII with Khapry fauna and with the MBB in the upper part of PK 7 and the Jaramillo subchron within the lower part of PK 8. The depth functions of rock magnetic properties, organic carbon content C org, both for bulk samples and for clay extracts, along with micromorphology and Mössbauer spectra, allowed objective identification of individual soils within PKs, and maximizing the resolution of paleopedological reconstructions of global climatic stages. The Mössbauer studies demonstrate that paleosols are basically enriched in ferric montmorillonite. Oxidized magnetite, ultrafine iron hydroxides and hematite are intimately associated with clay minerals. In contrast, Fe-compounds in loess consist mainly of ferrous silicates. These data indicate that the paleosol magnetism is basically of bio-chemogenic origin and is related to pedogenic transformation of Fe-compounds in a changing environment, while loess magnetism is primarily detrital. Pedogenic magnetically “soft” and partly oxidized magnetite may also originate during or even after burial. This ensuing transformation of Fe minerals in paleosols seems to be crucial for the understanding of the timing of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) in subaerial sediments. Given that paleosols formed on the similar parent material (loess), their typological variability seems to depend on climate and/or chronology. Hence, the different paleosol types from Roxolany and Novaya Etuliya provide key information for intra- and inter-regional correlation of loess/soil sequences, and represent valid paleoclimatic proxies.