This paper presents 66 radiocarbon (14C) dates obtained at 33 key sites from the Polish part of the European Sand Belt. These calibrated dating results were compared to 34 high-resolution 14C dates obtained from a fluvial-aeolian sediments to identify pedogenic phases from the late Pleniglacial interval to the early Holocene. These identified pedogenic phases were correlated with Greenland ice-core records, revealing high sensitivity of the fluvio-aeolian paleoenvironment to climate changes. Two pedogenic phases were identified from the late Pleniglacial interval (Greenland Stadial GS-2.1b and GS-2.1a), three from the Bølling-Allerød interstadial (Greenland Stadial GI-1), one from the late Allerød–Younger Dryas boundary, and at least one from the Younger Dryas. The ages of these pedogenic phases reveal a distinct delay of 50–100 calendar years after the onset of cool climate conditions during GI-1, reflecting gradual withdrawal of vegetation. Soil horizons from the early Holocene do not show any clear relation with climate change, where breaks in soil formation were caused by local factors such as human activity.

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µDose is a novel compact analytical instrument for assessing low level 238 U, 235 U, 232 Th decay chains and 40 K radioactivity. The system is equipped with a dual α/β scintillator allowing discrimination between α and β particles. The unique built-in pulse analyzer measures the amplitude of each individual pulse, its shape and the time interval between subsequent pulses. This allows the detection of pulse pairs arising from subsequent decays of 214 Bi/ 214 Po, 220 Rn/ 216 Po, 212 Bi/ 212 Po and 219 Rn/ 215 Po. The obtained α and β counts and four separate decay pair counts are used to calculate 238 U, 235 U, 232 Th and 40 K specific activities in measured samples through the use of radioactivity standards. The µDose system may be equipped with various photomultipliers and counting containers to assess radionuclide concentrations of samples of masses ranging between 0.4 g and 4 g. As a result, the user can customize the system to their needs and maximize the instrument's performance. The system is controlled by dedicated software with a graphical user interface and modules for system calibration, data visualization, specific radioactivity calculations and dose rate determination using the infinite matrix assumption.