Abstract. At the Nussloch section located south of Heidelberg, a more recently exposed new loess wall was pedologically investigated. The profiles were investigated multidisciplinarily including grain-size spectra, organic and carbonate content, magnetic susceptibility, as well as biomorphology and malacology and infrared optically stimulated luminescence (IRSL). The lower part of the Late Pleistocene includes the subdivided Eemian paleosol and the Wuermian loess about 18 m thick. A Bt horizon, a humic-rich horizon (“Humuszone”) and several tundra gleysols (“Nassböden”) of different intensity, with and without Bw horizons could be detected. Five brown soils (WB2 – WB6) are intercalated in the loess. The brown soils WB2, WB4 and WB5 correlate to interstadial periods, as evidenced by the mollusc spectra. Furthermore, WB1 correlates to one of the three Early Wuermian interstadials (“Mosbacher Humuszone”). Soil WB1 with an age estimate of about 75 ka BP represents the reduced Early Wuermian sequence. The most intensive brown soil (WB4) has the typical soil criteria of an arctic brown soil, which most likely correlates to the about 30 ka old Lohne Soil (“Lohner Boden”). The Late Wuermian loess covering the Lohne Soil is about 12 m thick and intercalated by at least ten tundra gleysols. The equivalent of the E2-Nassboden forms a tundra gley complex including also the weak brown soils WB5 and WB6. The youngest Upper Wuermian loess about 4.50 m thick covers the Eltville tephra and is designated to correlate to the E4/E5 complex. The paleopedological results are in excellent agreement with the results and interpretation by means of malacology and magnetic susceptibility enabling detailed stratigraphic and paleoclimatic reconstruction.
A new loess-palaeosol sequence from the westernmost loess area along the upper Danube River in SW Germany is presented. The profile Datthausen comprises a sequence of Middle Pleniglacial (MPG) and Upper Pleniglacial (UPG) palaeosols, separated by a prominent erosional discontinuity. The uppermost MPG palaeosol consists of two olive-brown horizons, showing morphological characteristics of the "Lohne Soil" that represents the uppermost MPG palaeosol in many loess-palaeosol profiles in the humid loess regions of central Europe. Sedimentological, palaeopedological and micromorphological analyses, combined with luminescence dating, were carried out. Compared to the profiles Nussloch and Schwalbenberg II in the Rhine River region, the profile Datthausen shows more intense pedogenesis, mainly due to its position in a depression and lower loess-accumulation rates. Further, the MPG/UPG transition at Datthausen seems to date later in time, likely matching Greenland interstadial (GIS) 4 and/or GIS 3, rather than GIS 7 to GIS 5. We conclude that the Lohne Soil is a reliable pedostratigraphic marker, whereas its use as a chronometric marker sensu stricto (which should have formed during one well-defined phase of soil formation) is impeded as it evolved during several interstadials. Its use as a chronometric marker sensu lato (which may have formed over several phases of soil formation) is impeded, too, as its chronological position in different loess-palaeosol profiles may not be specific enough. The differences in pedogenesis and chronology between the profiles Nussloch and Schwalbenberg II on one side and the profile Datthausen on the other side are attributed to site-specific factors such as topography. The influence of these factors on pedogenesis at the local scale may prevail over the general climatic regime controlling soil formation at the regional level. Therefore, spatial diversity of palaeosols needs to be considered when matching loess-palaeosol profiles with marine and ice-core records for evaluating the impact of climate forcing on terrestrial palaeoenvironments.
Abstract. The Riß Ice Age, defined as a single uniform period by Penck & Brückner (1901/1909), has been divided into three morphostratigraphic units by Schreiner (1998, 1992) for the Rhine glacier area, Young Riß, Middle Riß (Doppelwall Riß) and Older Riß. In the study presented here using palaeopedological criteria, the question of the existence of interglacial climatic conditions between the individual divisions was examined. A total of at least three interglacial periods in the Riß complex could be proven. The results achieved from one soil (soil pocket in Bittelschieß) are ambiguous due to beheading activity. It could, however, be proven at several locations that interglacial soil formation occurred between the Young and Middle Riß. The interglacial period between Middle and Older Riß can be divided into two separate shorter periods. However, the evidence provided by sandy gravel does not prove with certainty that indeed colder climatic conditions were the cause of the division. The older section of this double interglacial period is characterised by thermophilic elements such as Pterocarya and Buxus in the clays of Bittelschieß. This inner Riß interglacial period is probably equivalent to the Holstein interglacial period. When compared with the pcriglacial area, it can be stated with certainty, that the loess from the last but one ice age, know as Riß loess in the alpine classification system, can only be temporally equivalent to the Young Riß.
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