The Agh Band loess-palaeosol sequence – A terrestrial archive for climatic shifts during the last and penultimate glacial–interglacial cycles in a semiarid region in northern Iran

Abstract

Abstract The Northern Iranian loess profiles host important information on Quaternary climate and palaeoenvironmental changes in the region. They build an important link between the Eurasian loess belt and European and Central Asian archives. Due to a climatic gradient with decreasing precipitation from the west to the east and from the south to the north, loess-palaeosol sequences formed synchronously under different climatic conditions can be studied over short distance in the Iranian Caspian Lowland. The Agh Band profile is located in the so called Iranian “Loess Plateau”, a semi-arid region with 200–350 mm annual precipitation. The loess deposits at Agh Band reach a thickness of >60 m. An about 50 m thick step-profile was prepared and the litho/pedostratigraphy was investigated. Samples for laser-diffractometry grain-size measurements were taken every 2 cm. The magnetic susceptibility was measured in 4 cm intervals and the CaCO3-content in 8 cm intervals. To establish a chronological framework a pIRIR290 luminescence dating approach was applied to the 4–11 μm polymineral fraction. The results show that the Agh Band profile yields a climate archive reaching from MIS 7 to MIS 2. Several chronological hiatuses of some 10 ka show that periods of intense loess accumulation were interrupted by phases of only minor loess sedimentation and/or erosion. The Agh Band profile is subdivided by several shifts in grain-size distribution. The coarsening- and fining up trends correlate with increasing and decreasing wind-velocity, respectively. In the central part of the Agh Band loess sequence a weakly developed palaeosol is preserved which was developed at around 80 ka. Furthermore, the loess deposits formed from about 100 ka to 60 ka ago show banded structures. A pedocomplex including two well-developed palaeosols consisting of Bw(y) horizons and a CB-horizon as well as intercalated loess can be found in the lower part of the sequence also evidenced by the increased values of magnetic susceptibility. The corresponding luminescence age estimates indicate that the palaeosols represent a period of increased humidity and landscape stability during late MIS 7 and MIS 6. Hence, in the Agh Band loess, various changes in the palaeo-sedimentary system, triggered by changes in climate can be observed. This yields important information on the sensitive response of sedimentary systems and landscapes within semi-arid regions to shifts in moisture and possibly temperature.