Palaeosoils as indicators of local palaeoenvironmental changes – mosaics from the Hungarian loess studies

ABSTRACT

The loess palaeosoils are known for their palaeoclimatic significance and have also been used for regional stratigraphic correlations. In this paper, three important loess section sites were studied in the frame of an interdisciplinary approach. The soil-sedimentary sequences presented here cover the timespan between the MIS9 and MIS3. Basaharc is one of the key loess sections of the European loess belt. New sections allow for the description of so far unknown facies of the famous Basaharc Double (BD) and Basarharc Lower (BA) palaeosoils. Moreover, they indicate so far unknown sudden environmental changes during the development of the Upper Mende (MF) palaeosoil.

The seven analysed sections of Verőce brickyard allowed the characterisation of the Last Interglacial palaeosoil in various landscape positions.

The detailed investigations of the loess-palaeosol series at Hévízgyörk suggest hiatuses which may have been hidden by a well-developed palaeosol complex formed over multiple interglacial periods during the Late Middle Pleistocene.

This research allows us to complement former knowledge by applying newly available research methods, to obtain new chronological data, and to highlight that soil characteristics of loess palaeosoils are not only influenced by climatic parameters, but also by geomorphological settings.