Sandy deposition in a small dry valley in the periglacial zone of the Last Glacial Maximum: A case study from the Józefów site, SE Poland

Abstract

In this paper, we report the results of the research on the fluvio-aeolian deposit succession in the Józefów site in the region of Roztocze Tomaszowskie (SE Poland). Based on the lithofacial and textural analyses, as well as TL and IR-OLS dating, three lithofacial units have been documented, including their age. They are as follows: 1) a fluvial (lower) unit deposited in the Pleniglacial in the channel of a sandbed braided river under permafrost conditions; 2) a fluvio-aeolian (middle) unit which originated due to alternating aeolian and fluvial deposition and redeposition within a floodplain and/or a zone of abandoned channels at the end of the Pleniglacial and the beginning of the Late Glacial when permafrost was gradually degrading and the climate humidity was decreasing. The top part of the fluvio-aeolian deposits has been reworked by pedogenic processes leading to the development of a soil, which indicates a break in the sediment deposition; 3) an aeolian (upper) unit accumulated due to the development of the sandy aeolian forms (moving dunes) at the end of the Late Glacial and the beginning of the Holocene.